OKX Expands Financing with $25 Billion Valuation
According to Bloomberg, cryptocurrency exchange OKX has completed a new round of financing with a valuation of $25 billion. Investors include existing partners and hedge fund Qube Research & Technologies. Circle, Ripple, and Standard Chartered's investment arm SC Ventures also participated. OKX did not disclose the amount.
The company stated that this is an extension of a financing round from March, when the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), invested approximately $200 million at the same valuation and secured a board seat. Seven months later, the valuation has not been adjusted. Haider Rafique, Global Managing Partner at OKX, said the funds from this round will be used to strengthen long-term market infrastructure.
Qube, a London-based quantitative firm spun off from Credit Suisse in 2018, is a new addition to the shareholder list. It has been operating the Moebius crypto fund, which is approximately $1 billion in size, and holds a position in algorithmic trading firm Tread.fi. Thomas Eaton, Director of Quantitative Trading, stated that the investment reflects confidence in the long-term growth of digital assets and 24-hour markets.
The collaboration in March focused on tokenized securities, clearing, data, and institutional access. The joint venture OKXICE LLC announced on Monday that it is seeking approval to sell tokenized stocks of 63 U.S. listed companies, including Nvidia, Apple, and Coca-Cola. The application is utilizing the innovative exemption introduced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in September, following the CLARITY Act being stalled in the Senate.
Rafique defined this relationship in March as a joint effort to build a hybrid market infrastructure connecting traditional finance and digital assets, stating that OKX aims to become one of ICE's front ends, bringing NYSE stocks and futures products on-chain. The inclusion of Circle and Ripple means that stablecoin issuers and payment companies are now part of the same shareholder group.
The buyers include bank-affiliated venture capital, stablecoin companies, and quantitative funds, while the sellers are OKX's equity expanded at the original valuation. This is infrastructure financing, not a valuation reassessment. Funds are directed towards tokenized securities and 24-hour market interfaces. OKX, ICE, and stablecoin partners benefit from issuance and trading access, while tokenized stock platforms without license exemptions face pressure.
Source: Public Information
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OKX allocated about $200 million and a board seat to ICE in March, setting the valuation at $25 billion. This time, there is no repricing; instead, Circle, Ripple, SC Ventures, and Qube are brought into the same round. Rafique has stated since March the intention to be a reliable infrastructure partner for ICE, and the October extension integrates payments, stablecoins, and quantitative trading into the same framework.
The funds are not being used for new coins. The joint venture OKXICE is applying to sell tokenized stocks of 63 U.S. companies, utilizing the innovative exemption that became available in September. The entry of Circle and Ripple as shareholders corresponds to the need for stablecoin settlement and payment pathways for tokenized stocks. Qube brings its own approximately $1 billion crypto fund and Tread.fi position, purchasing access to the 24-hour market trading interface, not a retail growth story.
The path is similar to the parent company of the NYSE investing in a crypto exchange and is also close to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange testing tokenized settlements using cloud and blockchain. The difference is that OKX aims to make NYSE stocks its own front end, rather than just providing institutions with a dedicated data line. The industry is at a stage where traditional exchanges control the issuance rights on-chain, and the exemption window determines who can be the first to sell the initial batch of tokenized U.S. stocks.
The essence is a restructuring of the industry chain. The valuation remains frozen at $25 billion, but the new shareholders cover exchanges, banks, stablecoins, and quantitative funds. Stock issuance is still within the U.S. regulatory framework, while trading and custody interfaces are allocated to OKX. Whoever holds exemptions, stablecoins, and front-end access simultaneously will be the first to achieve on-chain transactions for these 63 companies.
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- Valuation remains unchanged, but the shareholder structure is being modified.
- The stocks are still the same, but the settlement layer is changing.
- Once the exemption window opens, the front end will seize the opportunity ahead of licensing.