OKX has secured fresh investment at a $25 billion pre-money valuation from Circle, Ripple, Standard Chartered’s venture arm, and trading firm Qube Research. The amount was not disclosed. Decrypt said the financing extends a March investment by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, at the same valuation.
Backers line up around OKX’s expanding business
Decrypt said the investor group stands out because each firm is tied in some way to OKX’s next phase. Circle issues USDC. Ripple runs payments and issues RLUSD. Standard Chartered holds the assets behind BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury fund under an arrangement with OKX. Qube is already an OKX client that provides trading capacity.
In Decrypt’s framing, all of them either compete with the areas OKX is moving into or already do business with the exchange.
Star Xu outlines a broader fintech push
According to the report, Star Xu said the exchange was only the starting point and that OKX is becoming a broader financial technology platform where customers can hold, spend, invest, and grow money in one place. Decrypt summarized that approach as buying into the parties that already control key pieces rather than building every part internally.
OKXICE files for tokenized U.S. stock trading
The clearest example in the report is the ICE joint venture. OKXICE filed on Sunday to launch round-the-clock trading in tokenized shares of 63 U.S. companies. The product would run on OKX’s own blockchain and settle in stablecoins.
In the same week, OKX also launched a consumer app offering 10% on dollar stablecoins. Xu also said AI now handles roughly 95% of the company’s code at a cost of $10 million per month.
Questions remain over tokenized equity demand
Decrypt cited Macquarie as saying this week that tokenized stocks will depend on whether enough liquidity can be attracted to keep prices reliable at times such as 3 a.m. on a Sunday. Macquarie also said the temporary nature of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission framework makes institutions hesitant to connect their systems.
Both Macquarie and TD Securities expect early demand to come from retail investors, since institutions already have low-cost access to U.S. equities.
Exchanges are making similar moves
Decrypt said major exchanges are placing similar bets. Kraken’s parent company is spending billions to become financial infrastructure. Coinbase has added perpetuals, tokenized stocks, and Bitcoin loans. The report said tokenized equities integrated with crypto trading infrastructure, including perpetuals and 24/7 trading, are shaping up as a key theme of this cycle.
Major crypto assets fall after evening selloff
Large-cap crypto assets were lower by 3% to 5% after a late-evening selloff. BTC fell 3% to $83,600. ETH dropped 5% to $2,580. SOL was down 3% at $117. HYPE fell 5% to $89. ZEC lost 5% to $1,310.
Among stronger altcoin moves, STX rose 5% and RAY gained 8%. In broader markets, oil rose 2% to $90 while gold fell 1% to $4,140. Stock futures were also lower as bonds continued to move higher, with the Dow down 0.5% and the Nasdaq down 0.6%.
Long liquidations top $540 million
Over the past 24 hours, crypto markets saw more than $540 million in long liquidations, led by ETH liquidations.
Winklevoss twins file for a Zcash ETF
The Winklevoss twins filed for a Zcash ETF under the ticker WINK with a 0.25% fee. Their own fund also signaled nonbinding interest in buying up to $100 million of shares. Decrypt said this would be the third U.S. Zcash fund after products from Grayscale and Bitwise.
Founders Fund leads Anvil token purchase
Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund led a $5 million token purchase in Anvil, with Pantera and Bullish also joining. Anvil is a protocol that lets businesses back payment promises with crypto collateral rather than borrow against those promises.
Arbitrum joins Paxos’s Global Dollar Network
Arbitrum has joined Paxos’s Global Dollar Network so it can earn a share of the interest on stablecoins sitting on its network. USDG went live Tuesday across Morpho, GMX, Fluid, and Maple. A separate proposal asks the DAO to put 100 million ARB behind it.
Ledger adds Bitcoin-backed loans inside wallet app
Ledger launched Bitcoin-backed loans inside its wallet app, allowing users to borrow USDC or USDT without selling their BTC. Every action requires physical approval on the hardware device. The service runs on Morpho, the same lending protocol behind Coinbase’s version.
FNB opens crypto trading to nearly 9 million customers
South Africa’s second-largest bank, FNB, opened crypto trading to nearly 9 million customers through its existing share-trading app in partnership with local exchange VALR. Customers can buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, or USDT from about 55 cents, but the assets cannot leave the bank’s system.
ETF flows split between Bitcoin and Ether
Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $119 million in net inflows on Tuesday. Spot Ether ETFs saw $202 million in net outflows.
Meme coins and onchain movers
Meme coin leaders were sharply lower. DOGE fell 7%, SHIB dropped 8%, PEPE lost 6%, PENGU fell 10%, TRUMP declined 9%, SPX slipped 8%, and BONK dropped 10%.
Leaders on the Robinhood chain were mixed. Pons rose 2% to $275 million. AI gained 12% to $124 million. Cashcat fell 13% to $130 million. v4 rose 20% and Note climbed 22%, leading top movers.
Top Solana movers included Rari up 42x, Auton up 117x, Tweetcraft up 30x, and A1 up 12x.
Protocol revenue and the Abstract shutdown
Among onchain protocols, Pump led revenue with $2.74 million. Hyperliquid followed with $1.92 million, and StonkFun posted $428,000.
Abstract, the Ethereum network tied to Pudgy Penguins, is shutting down on December 15 after its parent company lost tens of millions funding it, according to the report. Roughly $47 million still sits on the chain, and anyone who does not move funds before shutdown will lose access.
Decrypt also said Robinhood has put about $25 million of Bitcoin on its balance sheet.
NFT market was mostly flat
NFT leaders were mostly unchanged. CryptoPunks held at 33 ETH, BAYC fell 1% to 5.85 ETH, and Pudgy Penguins rose 2% to 3.12 ETH.
Claus, up 20%, and PRTSCN, up 39%, led the NFT movers.