OKX has closed a strategic funding round at a $25 billion pre-money valuation, drawing in stablecoin issuer Circle, payments firm Ripple and Standard Chartered's venture arm SC Ventures, the exchange said on Tuesday.

The fourth backer, identified by OKX as QRT, rounds out a syndicate that spans stablecoins, cross-border payments and traditional banking. OKX disclosed the round through a corporate announcement and an October 6 post on X, stating: "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."

Who joined the round?

Circle, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, brings a settlement partner already embedded in exchange flows.

Ripple, the company behind the XRP Ledger, adds an institutional payments adjacency.

SC Ventures, the venture arm of British bank Standard Chartered, contributes a regulated banking reference point.

OKX did not disclose the dollar size of the round or the stakes acquired by any participant.

What does OKX plan to do with the capital?

Founder and CEO Star Xu said the proceeds would accelerate tokenization work.

"The exchange was our starting point, and we are evolving into a broader global financial technology platform," Xu said.

That pivot is already underway. Earlier in 2026, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), operator of the New York Stock Exchange, invested in OKX and formed OKXICE, a joint venture aimed at moving traditional securities onchain.

On Sunday, OKXICE filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a tokenized securities platform built for around-the-clock trading of U.S. stocks. The SEC approved tokenized stock trading in September, the regulatory opening OKXICE is now walking through.

Why does Standard Chartered's involvement matter?

SC Ventures' entry places a regulated British bank inside OKX's cap table, alongside Circle and Ripple, both of which operate under U.S. and other regulatory frameworks.

The mix gives OKX strategic shareholders drawn from payments, stablecoins and traditional banking — categories the exchange has sought to entrench itself in since the ICE deal.

How does the round fit the broader market structure?

The OKX raise lands inside a wider push by TradFi firms into tokenization. BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have used blockchain rails to tokenize money-market funds for years.

In January, an S&P 500 licensing entity cleared crypto platform Trade XYZ to debut a derivatives contract on Hyperliquid that tracks the stock index around the clock.

The Trump administration has installed regulators more receptive to tokenization, accelerating corporate filings like OKXICE's.

What comes next?

OKXICE's SEC filing will be assessed under the agency's September framework for tokenized equities. A clearance to operate a 24/7 venue for U.S. stocks would set a precedent for any other exchange seeking to extend traditional settlement hours into continuous trading.

OKX has not published a timeline for closing the round or any follow-on capital tied to the tokenization buildout. The exchange used the term "strategic investment" in its X announcement, signaling partner alignment over dilutive primary capital.