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What the new funding round and valuation signal

OKX has secured new investment as part of its plan to evolve from a crypto exchange that only facilitates digital asset trading into a broader financial technology platform. The amount raised was not disclosed, but the round was completed at a $25 billion pre-money valuation, in line with the deal in March that included Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.

The company’s new investors include Circle, Ripple, quantitative investment manager Qube Research & Technologies (QRT) and SC Ventures, the venture capital arm of Standard Chartered. The lineup shows that OKX is bringing together both stablecoin issuers and traditional finance connections under its growth strategy.

  • Circle is best known as the issuer of the USDC stablecoin.
  • Ripple provides payments infrastructure and issues the RLUSD stablecoin.
  • QRT is acting as an institutional counterparty providing liquidity and trading capacity for OKX.
  • SC Ventures adds access to the Standard Chartered ecosystem.

Why OKX's tokenized stock and payments plan matters

OKX wants to build a more comprehensive platform where users can hold, spend, invest and grow assets in one place. That approach fits a wider industry trend in which crypto exchanges are expanding into payments, stablecoins, stocks, derivatives and tokenized real-world assets.

One of the clearest steps in that strategy is the OKXICE joint venture with ICE. The venture this week filed to offer tokenized stock trading under the framework of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and said it aims to enable around-the-clock trading in tokenized shares of 63 U.S. companies.

According to the plan, trading will run on OKX's X Layer blockchain, with stablecoins such as USDC, USDT and USDG used for settlement. The company says tokenized shares will preserve dividend and voting rights, while the model is being seen as one of the early tests of the SEC's five-year new tokenization framework.

What risks stand out for institutional demand and market impact?

Investment bank Macquarie and TD Securities said it remains unclear how attractive the structure will be for institutional investors. Their assessment suggests that enough companies, investors and liquidity providers will need to come together on the platform for prices to remain reliable at all hours.

Macquarie said early adoption may come more from retail investors, since institutions already have efficient access to U.S.-listed shares. In addition, the temporary nature of the SEC exemption could make it harder for institutional players to commit budget to technology integration before the permanence of the rules is clearer.

Even so, the development is seen as important because it tests stablecoins not only in crypto trading but also as a settlement tool in regulated markets. Standard Chartered's provision of custody services for BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized Treasury fund under a collateral arrangement with OKX and BlackRock also points to the deepening link between crypto and traditional finance.

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