StanChart, Circle, Ripple and QRT join ICE-led OKX round at $25bn valuation

Key points

Circle, QRT, Ripple, and SC Ventures by Standard Chartered invested in OKX at a $25 billion pre-money valuation, with the amount raised undisclosed.
The round extends an earlier tranche led by ICE in March 2026, deepening the exchange's institutional shareholder base.
All four new investors held prior commercial relationships with OKX before converting them into equity positions.
OKX has listed more than 40 tokenised US stocks and ETFs for non-US, non-European clients since July, and licensed ICE's Brent and WTI benchmarks for perpetual futures since May.
OKXICE launched a tokenised securities venue under an SEC exemption the day before this investment was announced, signalling an accelerating push into regulated capital markets infrastructure.

Circle, Qube Research & Technologies (QRT), Ripple, and SC Ventures by Standard Chartered have taken stakes in crypto exchange OKX at a $25 billion pre-money valuation, extending a round that Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) led in March. The amount raised was not disclosed.

Each new investor arrives with an existing commercial tie to OKX. Circle issues the USDC stablecoin, QRT operates as a major trading counterparty, Standard Chartered holds client collateral in custody, and Ripple listed its RLUSD stablecoin on the platform in April. The structure of the round, converting business relationships into equity stakes, suggests OKX is consolidating its institutional network as a shareholder base rather than recruiting purely financial backers.

OKX’s expansion beyond spot crypto is moving quickly on multiple fronts. In May, ICE agreed to license its Brent and WTI oil benchmarks for OKX perpetual futures. By July the exchange was offering more than 40 tokenised US stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to clients outside the United States and Europe. The day before this announcement, OKXICE launched a tokenised securities venue (TSV) under a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) exemption. Founder and chief executive Star Xu framed the capital as fuel for continued growth and real-world asset tokenisation.

What this means

distribution & BD: OKX's pattern of converting commercial counterparties into equity holders raises a pointed question for any firm already doing business with the exchange: whether that relationship is being actively managed toward a deeper structural alignment, and whether the terms of existing arrangements should be revisited in that light.
collateral & funding desk: Standard Chartered's custody of client collateral at OKX, now combined with an equity stake via SC Ventures, concentrates roles that are typically kept at arm's length; desks routing collateral through OKX should assess whether that concentration introduces governance or conflict-of-interest exposures worth pricing.
regulatory & policy affairs: The OKXICE tokenised securities venue launching under an SEC exemption the day before this round closed is unlikely to be coincidental timing; tracking which exemption is being used and how the TSV's scope is defined will determine how competitors, custodians, and regulators frame the next wave of tokenised-equity infrastructure.
treasury & allocator: With tokenised US stocks, ETFs, and commodity-benchmark perpetuals now live on OKX for eligible non-US clients, allocators benchmarking against traditional equity and commodities indices may want to stress-test whether OKX's product set creates executable synthetic exposures that alter their existing venue mix.

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Ledger Insights

ledgerinsights.com

StanChart, Circle, Ripple and QRT join ICE-led OKX round at $25bn valuation

Key points

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