OKX Adds Circle, Ripple Investors as It Launches Money App

OKX added Circle, Ripple, Qube Research & Technologies and Standard Chartered’s venture arm, SC Ventures, as investors at a $25 billion pre-money valuation. Chief Executive Star Xu confirmed the transaction on Oct. 6. The exchange did not disclose how much it raised.

The valuation matches OKX’s March financing, when Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, invested about $200 million. Xu described the latest transaction as a strategic financing rather than a fundraising effort driven by the need for capital.

“We didn’t raise capital because we needed it,” Xu said. “We chose to bring in strategic partners who share our long-term vision for stablecoins, payments, institutional markets, and the next generation of financial infrastructure.”

The new investors have existing business ties with OKX. Circle issues USDC, which is available on the exchange. Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin trades through OKX’s unified order book. QRT provides institutional liquidity and risk capacity.

Standard Chartered is the custodian for BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized Treasury fund. The fund is used in an institutional collateral framework developed with OKX. SC Ventures gives OKX a connection to the bank’s digital-asset and financial infrastructure work.

Ripple described the investment as a way to expand cooperation with OKX in stablecoins, payments and institutional markets. Circle Chief Executive Jeremy Allaire linked the transaction to the companies’ existing work on USDC and blockchain-based market infrastructure.

OKX also launched OKX Money, a standalone app for saving, transferring and spending dollar-backed stablecoins. In participating markets, users can fund accounts with more than 50 currencies and hold USDG, USDC or USDT. The app supports international transfers and virtual or physical cards.

OKX reports that users will not pay foreign-exchange fees or conversion markups when they make purchases in another currency. Eligible customers can earn up to 10% annually on qualifying USDG balances without staking or a lockup. The app’s loyalty program offers up to 10% cashback on eligible card purchases. Rates and features vary by market and customer eligibility.

About 70% of the people OKX aims to reach through Money have never used a crypto application, according to the company. The app is designed to limit the amount of blockchain technology users see when managing their accounts.

OKX is initially offering Money in selected markets where currency volatility, limited banking access and foreign-exchange costs can affect how people hold or transfer dollars. The exchange operates in more than 30 jurisdictions under different regulatory frameworks and plans to expand the app gradually.