Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) today announced a strategic relationship and investment in OKX, a blockchain technology and trading company serving more than 120 million people globally.

ICE’s investment reflects a valuation of OKX of $25 billion. The terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Alongside the investment, ICE will have a board seat on OKX’s Board of Directors and establish a broad strategic collaboration to leverage OKX’s proven blockchain infrastructure and global reach alongside ICE’s world-class market technology, regulatory frameworks, and institutional community.

The companies intend to evaluate joint initiatives across market structure design, clearing and risk management, data, and institutional access to digital assets, including:

• Regulated crypto futures: ICE will license OKX’s spot crypto prices and launch U.S.-regulated futures contracts tied to those markets giving institutions a trusted, compliant route to digital asset exposure
• Global distribution: Subject to regulatory approval, OKX will provide access to ICE’s U.S. futures and NYSE tokenized equities markets, enabling OKX’s crypto-native users to have regulated access to the world’s most iconic financial markets
• Institutional-grade digital infrastructure: The relationship will aim to advance clearing and risk management solutions, multi-chain custody and wallet architecture, and the structural connectivity required for institutions to participate confidently in digital asset markets.

“Our strategic relationship with OKX will expand global retail access to ICE’s pre-eminent regulated markets and accelerate our plans to offer on-chain infrastructure and tokenized assets to U.S. investors,” said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, ICE Chair & Chief Executive Officer. “Star has created a highly successful company, with enormous distribution which will now connect NYSE and ICE markets to OKX’s customer base, bringing an exciting new stage for both vectors of finance.”

“This relationship brings together OKX’s digital-asset execution stack and ICE’s regulated-market technology – operators of two high-performance matching engines and transparent order books – to help build a more reliable market structure that bridges digital assets and equities, strengthens cross-market price formation, and meets institutional standards for risk and compliance,” said Star Xu, Founder and CEO of OKX.

OKX operates under licensing frameworks in jurisdictions, including the United States, Europe, the UAE, Singapore, and Australia. OKX has built trading infrastructure that has processed trillions of dollars in trading volume, alongside a multi-chain on-chain ecosystem, wallet technology, and developer tools that enable participation across centralized and open markets. OKX also operates an institutional trading and custody business and a global payments business.

ICE’s minority position in the OKX group is not expected to have a material impact on ICE’s 2026 financial results or capital return plans.