OKX has raised new money at a $25 billion valuation, and the list of backers reads like a map of where crypto meets traditional finance. Circle Internet Group, Ripple and Standard Chartered’s investment arm, SC Ventures, all took part, along with the hedge fund Qube Research & Technologies, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The company declined to say how much it raised. What it did say is that the deal extends a March round in which Intercontinental Exchange, parent of the New York Stock Exchange, invested roughly $200 million at the same valuation. ICE also took a seat on OKX’s board at the time.
OKX founder and CEO Star Xu was blunt that this was not a cash call. “We didn’t raise capital because we needed it,” he wrote on X. “We chose to bring in strategic partners who share our long-term vision for stablecoins, payments, institutional markets, and the next generation of financial infrastructure.”
What came before the round
The raise follows a product launch and a regulatory filing in the preceding days. The exchange released a money app aimed at stablecoin users in emerging markets, converting local currency into dollar stablecoins including USDC and USDG. Its joint venture with ICE has also filed to list 63 tokenized US stocks for round-the-clock trading.
The market reacted. OKB, the exchange’s token, traded around $135.92 at the time of CoinMarketCap’s report, up about 8% over 24 hours.
