Key Takeaways
- OKX secured new strategic backing at a $25B valuation from Ripple, Circle, SC Ventures, and Qube.
- The round deepens OKX’s ties to Wall Street as it expands into stablecoins and tokenized finance.
- It remains to be seen if OKX can scale regulated finance products despite its 2025 U.S. compliance setback.
OKX Keeps Valuation as New Strategic Investors Pile In
OKX has added another group of heavyweight financial backers without giving up ground on its valuation.
The crypto exchange has completed an extension funding round at a $25 billion valuation, with participation from crypto payments firm Ripple, USDC stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group, Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures, and quantitative investment firm Qube Research & Technologies. The amount raised was not disclosed.
The deal follows a March transaction in which Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), invested about $200 million in OKX at the same $25 billion valuation.
Holding that valuation while bringing in another group of strategic investors is notable at a time when crypto companies are competing for both capital and credibility from the traditional finance world.
Wall Street Ties Are Getting Deeper
The investor list is more important than the undisclosed funding amount.
Circle and Ripple sit at the center of the expanding stablecoin and digital payments market. SC Ventures brings the backing of a major global bank, while Qube adds an institutional trading name to the shareholder base.
OKX has already been working with Standard Chartered and Blackrock on tokenized collateral infrastructure, including allowing Blackrock’s BUIDL fund to be used in institutional trading workflows.
ICE has also deepened its relationship with the exchange. A joint venture between the companies recently moved to develop infrastructure for 24/7 tokenized U.S. stock trading.
“Our vision is very simple: hold it, pay with it, invest it, and grow it. We want to build the financial technology platform for the next generation, one that combines crypto technology with the standards people expect from global financial institutions,” said OKX founder and CEO Star Xu, in a statement.
“That is the foundation for this round. It gives us the capital to keep growing and to tokenize real-world assets, and Circle, QRT, Ripple, and Standard Chartered are investing alongside us,” he continued. “The exchange was our starting point, and we are evolving into a broader global financial technology platform.”
OKX Money Expands the Stablecoin Bet
The funding arrives alongside the launch of OKX Money, a standalone app aimed at consumers in emerging markets.
Users can fund accounts using more than 50 currencies, which can then be converted into dollar-backed stablecoins including USDC, USDT, and USDG. The product combines savings, transfers, and card payments, with eligible USDG balances offering rewards of up to 10% APY.
The strategy pushes OKX beyond exchange trading and toward a broader financial-services model built around stablecoins, payments, and tokenized assets.
Regulatory History Remains a Risk
The institutional backing also comes after a major regulatory setback for the firm.
In 2025, an OKX operating entity pleaded guilty in the U.S. to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and agreed to pay more than $504 million in penalties and forfeiture.
That history remains relevant as OKX expands into regulated financial markets.
Still, the latest round sends a clear signal: major banks, crypto infrastructure companies, and the owner of the NYSE are increasingly willing to put capital directly behind OKX.
For a company trying to position itself between crypto exchanges and traditional market infrastructure, that may be more consequential than the funding amount itself.
