OKX Secures Strategic Capital from Circle, Ripple and Standard Chartered

The capital injection extends a financing effort originally initiated by Intercontinental Exchange in March. While the individual stakes remain private, the four new participants—Circle, Ripple, Qube Research & Technologies, and SC Ventures—already maintain operational ties to the exchange. These relationships span stablecoin integration, institutional custody, and liquidity provision, reinforcing OKX’s strategy to transition from a pure-play exchange into a broader financial technology firm.

Star Xu, founder and CEO of OKX, noted that the funds will bolster the company's efforts to tokenize real-world assets and expand its platform architecture to mirror global financial standards. The partnership with Standard Chartered, for instance, already enables institutional clients to use BlackRock’s BUIDL fund as collateral while maintaining off-exchange custody. Similarly, Circle’s equity move follows months of technical integration, including the deployment of native USDC on the X Layer network. By aligning with firms like QRT for risk capacity and Ripple for stablecoin-based payments, OKX aims to solidify its position as a gateway for traditional capital entering the on-chain economy.