OKX announced that it has added Circle, Ripple, Qube Research & Technologies and Standard Chartered’s venture arm to its shareholder roster as part of a strategic investment round. The move coincides with the exchange’s push to broaden its stablecoin‑focused financial services. CEO Star Xu confirmed on October 6 that the round, valued at a $25 billion pre‑money valuation, also included participation from Intercontinental Exchange, which had led a $200 million investment in March. The valuation remained unchanged from the earlier round.

The new investors were selected for their alignment with OKX’s long‑term vision for stablecoins, payments infrastructure and institutional liquidity, rather than because the exchange required additional capital. Circle, which issues the USDC stablecoin, already integrates its token across OKX’s platform. Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is available through OKX’s unified order book, and QRT provides institutional liquidity and risk capacity. Standard Chartered serves as custodian for BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized Treasury fund used in an institutional collateral framework developed with OKX.

The investment deepens OKX’s connections to firms that supply infrastructure across its ecosystem, from stablecoin issuance to custody and payments. Ripple said the partnership could expand cooperation in stablecoins, payments and institutional markets, while Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire described the transaction as a continuation of an existing relationship focused on on‑chain market infrastructure. QRT’s involvement adds an institutional trading component, and Standard Chartered’s venture arm offers OKX a link to a global bank as crypto firms seek to embed traditional financial assets on blockchain networks.

The composition of the round explains why OKX accepted new investors without raising a higher valuation seven months after ICE’s initial investment. The exchange is effectively adding partners positioned across several layers of the financial stack it aims to build, including stablecoin issuance, custody, liquidity and payments.

On Tuesday, OKX launched OKX Money, a standalone application that lets users save, send and spend dollar‑backed stablecoins. The app supports more than 50 fiat currencies and allows holdings of USDG, USDC or USDT. It integrates stablecoin balances with global transfers and virtual or physical cards, and it does not charge foreign‑exchange fees or conversion markups. Eligible users can earn up to 10 % annual yield on qualifying USDG balances without staking or lock‑up periods, and a loyalty program offers up to 10 % cashback on eligible card purchases. Availability, rates and features vary by market and customer eligibility.

OKX Money targets consumers who have not previously used crypto applications, a group the exchange estimates to represent roughly 70 % of its intended audience. The service will initially roll out in selected markets where currency volatility, limited banking access and high foreign‑exchange costs make holding or spending dollars challenging. Expansion will be gradual rather than immediate across all jurisdictions where OKX operates under regulatory frameworks.

The success of OKX Money will depend on whether the exchange can translate its infrastructure advantage and existing crypto customer base into everyday financial activity. Winning new users who are unfamiliar with crypto requires different distribution, compliance and support capabilities than those needed to run a trading venue. The new investors have their own incentives: Circle and Ripple seek broader stablecoin distribution, QRT aims to deepen institutional market access, and Standard Chartered is expanding its exposure to digital‑asset infrastructure. OKX now faces the challenge of demonstrating that these relationships can generate meaningful payment volumes and user adoption beyond the trading activity that originally built its platform.