ICE invests in OKX at $25B valuation, expands tokenization push

Traders Union
All News
Crypto News
Ice invests in okx

Highlights

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owner of the NYSE, invested in crypto exchange OKX at a $25 billion valuation.
The companies plan to collaborate on tokenized stocks, derivatives, and crypto market data licensing.
The partnership signals deeper integration between traditional finance and digital asset infrastructure.

While the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, the agreement grants ICE representation on OKX’s board and establishes cooperation to study potential trading of tokenized equities and derivatives linked to NYSE listings on OKX’s infrastructure.

Global tokenization push

The partnership reflects growing interest among major financial institutions in tokenizing traditional assets. Executives from both companies say digital versions of financial instruments could become a key component of future global capital markets.

As part of the deal, ICE will license OKX’s cryptocurrency spot price data to support the launch of regulated crypto futures products in the United States. In return, OKX plans to provide its roughly 120 million users with access to ICE’s U.S. futures markets and potentially to tokenized equities tied to NYSE listings.

“These investments are not the end point but the beginning of deeper cooperation,” said OKX founder and CEO Star Xu.

TradFi and crypto move closer

The deal highlights the accelerating convergence between traditional financial infrastructure and the digital asset industry. As trading activity gradually shifts toward blockchain-based systems, major exchange operators are increasingly exploring partnerships with crypto platforms to develop new global market structures.

For ICE, the partnership offers access to a large global crypto user base and emerging 24/7 trading models. For OKX, cooperation with the owner of the NYSE strengthens its institutional credibility and could help bridge the gap between digital asset markets and regulated financial infrastructure.

Following news of the partnership, OKX’s native token OKB surged more than 36% to $120 before pulling back to around $96 at the time of writing.

If supported by regulators, tokenized versions of traditional financial instruments could become a major new segment of global markets, offering continuous liquidity, broader investor access, and more efficient settlement through blockchain infrastructure.

As we reported, OKB price sees a jump — What is fueling the token rise

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.