OKX has secured a new round of investment from Circle, Ripple, Standard Chartered’s venture arm, and Qube Research. The deal values the company at $25 billion on a pre-money basis. The specific amount of capital raised remains undisclosed. This investment follows a previous round in March involving the Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, at the same valuation.
The company is shifting from a traditional exchange model toward a comprehensive financial technology platform. CEO Star Xu stated that the strategy involves integrating existing industry players rather than building internal solutions from scratch. This approach is exemplified by the joint venture with ICE, which recently filed to launch 24/7 trading for tokenized shares of 63 U.S. companies on OKX’s blockchain.
Operational updates include the launch of a consumer application offering a 10% yield on dollar-pegged stablecoins. Additionally, the company reports that artificial intelligence now manages approximately 95% of its codebase, with monthly expenditures for this technology reaching $10 million.
Market analysts from Macquarie and TD Securities suggest that the success of tokenized stocks depends on liquidity and regulatory clarity. While institutional interest remains cautious due to the temporary nature of current SEC frameworks, retail investors are expected to drive initial demand. Major competitors like Kraken and Coinbase are pursuing similar strategies by expanding into financial infrastructure and tokenized assets.
