OKX raises at $25B valuation with Circle, Ripple, StanChart

Key points

• OKX raised an undisclosed sum at a $25B valuation, announced Oct. 6
• Circle, Ripple, Qube and SC Ventures took part in the round
• Extends March round in which ICE invested $200M at same valuation
• OKX-ICE venture filed to offer tokenized shares of 63 U.S. companies

Crypto exchange OKX said Tuesday it has raised new capital at a $25 billion valuation from Circle, Ripple, Qube Research & Technologies and SC Ventures, the venture arm of Standard Chartered. The company did not disclose how much it raised, according to CoinDesk and Cointelegraph.

CoinDesk reported the valuation was on a pre-money basis. Cointelegraph, citing a press announcement from OKX, said the money came from existing partners and investors.

An extension of the March round

According to Cointelegraph, the new funding extends a round announced in March, when OKX raised $200 million at the same $25 billion valuation from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange.

Founder and CEO Star Xu said in the announcement that the company is changing its focus. “The exchange was our starting point, and we are evolving into a broader global financial technology platform,” he said, as quoted by CoinDesk. OKX also said it wants customers to be able to hold, spend, invest and grow their money from one platform, per CoinDesk.

Tokenized stock plans with ICE

The raise comes as OKX and ICE advance a joint venture to trade tokenized equities. CoinDesk reported the venture filed this week to offer round-the-clock trading in tokenized shares of 63 U.S. companies. Trading would run on OKX’s X Layer blockchain and settle with stablecoins including USDC, USDT and USDG. CoinDesk said the shares would keep dividend and voting rights under an SEC framework.

Cointelegraph reported that the filing was made Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the agency’s new innovation exemption. The two outlets differ slightly on timing; Cointelegraph’s account is the more specific.

The investor list ties OKX to several parts of the financial system. Circle issues USDC, one of the stablecoins named in the tokenized stock plan. Ripple is a crypto payments and infrastructure company. SC Ventures is part of a large global bank. Qube Research & Technologies is an investment firm.

What analysts expect

CoinDesk reported that investment bank Macquarie expects early adoption of tokenized stocks to come mainly from retail investors rather than institutions. Macquarie cited regulatory uncertainty and integration costs as barriers for institutional participation.

OKX has not said how it will divide the new capital among products. Cointelegraph reported that the funds are meant to support the shift toward a platform that combines crypto technology with the standards people expect from global financial institutions. The SEC has not publicly commented on the joint venture’s filing in the reports reviewed.