Crypto exchange OKX said Tuesday that it has raised new funding at a $25 billion pre-money valuation, with participation from Circle, QRT, Ripple and SC Ventures, the investment arm of Standard Chartered.
In a post on X, OKX wrote: “We’re announcing a strategic investment from @Circle, QRT, @Ripple and SC Ventures by @StanChart at a $25 Billion pre-money valuation. This is how we’re aligning critical builders behind our vision for the next generation of onchain markets.”
Company ties the raise to tokenization plans
OKX said in a statement that the financing and related partnerships bring together some of the most important builders in financial infrastructure around its vision for the next generation of onchain markets.
“Through strategic investment and partnership, OKX is aligning some of the most critical builders of financial infrastructure behind its vision for the next generation of onchain markets,” the company said.
OKX CEO and founder Star Xu said the capital would help the company tokenize real-world assets. “The exchange was our starting point, and we are evolving into a broader global financial technology platform,” he added.
Earlier ICE investment and SEC filing
Earlier this year, Intercontinental Exchange invested in the digital asset firm in a move aimed at accelerating tokenization. The two companies’ joint venture, OKXICE, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Sunday to launch a tokenized securities platform for around-the-clock trading of U.S. stocks.
Wall Street interest in blockchain infrastructure
According to Bitcoin Magazine, a growing number of major Wall Street firms are showing interest in the technology that powers Bitcoin. The report said traditional finance groups such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have for years used blockchain rails to tokenize money market funds.
The article said tokenization has become a bigger Wall Street theme since the United States elected pro-crypto President Donald Trump. It also said Trump appointed regulators that have taken a friendlier stance toward oversight of the crypto sector, and that the SEC approved tokenized stock trading in September.
More links between traditional finance and crypto
The report also cited other large deals between traditional finance and crypto. One example it gave was the S&P 500 in January giving crypto platform Trade[XYZ] approval to debut a new derivatives contract on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, allowing traders to trade the stock index 24/7.
This report first appeared in Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Mathew Di Salvo.