OKX Scores Big-Name Investors in Push Beyond Crypto Trading

OKX gets new funding from Circle, Ripple, Standard Chartered at a $25B value as it aims to become a full financial platform.

OKX, one of the world's largest crypto exchanges (a platform where people buy and sell digital coins), just attracted some heavyweight investors as it tries to grow into much more than just a trading venue.

The exchange announced fresh investment from four well-known financial players. The deal values OKX at $25 billion on a "pre-money" basis (its worth before the new money is added in). The exact amount invested wasn't revealed.

The new investors are:

Circle — the company behind the USDC stablecoin (a digital coin tied to the U.S. dollar to keep its value steady)
Ripple — a payments company that issues the RLUSD stablecoin
QRT (Qube Research & Technologies) — a firm that provides trading and liquidity (the ability to buy/sell easily)
SC Ventures — the investment arm of banking giant Standard Chartered

This follows an earlier March investment from ICE, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Why does this matter? OKX wants to stop being just a crypto exchange and become a one-stop financial platform where you can hold, spend, invest, and grow money all in one place. CEO Star Xu said the exchange was just their "starting point."

The headline project: tokenized stocks. OKX and ICE are teaming up to let people trade tokenized shares (regular company stocks turned into digital tokens on a blockchain) of 63 U.S. companies — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Trades would settle using stablecoins like USDC, USDT, and USDG. Investors would still keep dividend and voting rights.

But there are doubts. Investment firms Macquarie and TD Securities warned that:

Big institutions may stay away because they already trade U.S. stocks easily
The project relies on a temporary SEC rule (U.S. regulator permission that only lasts five years), making companies nervous to invest heavily
Early users will likely be everyday retail investors

In short: OKX is making a bold bet to blend crypto and traditional finance. Whether the big players follow remains to be seen.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/06/okx-draws-investment-from-stanchart-circle-ripple-as-it-pushes-beyond-crypto-exchange-roots