OKX and ICE Forge Strategic Partnership to Advance Tokenized Stocks and Futures Trading

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has announced a deep strategic partnership with crypto exchange OKX, valuing OKX at $25 billion post-investment. The two companies will jointly develop blockchain-based compliant financial products, including the launch of futures contracts driven by OKX spot prices in the U.S. market, as well as tokenized stocks of NYSE-listed companies.

This collaboration stems from multiple discussions between senior executives of both companies. OKX representative Haider Rafique and ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher initially met, gradually promoting technical alignment and product planning. OKX will leverage its global user base of over 120 million to provide ICE with extensive user reach, while ICE will contribute its mature trading and clearing infrastructure to support high-speed, secure on-chain asset transactions.

The two parties plan to launch the first batch of tokenized asset services in 2026, using blockchain technology to reduce the transaction costs and barriers to entry for traditional financial products. Simultaneously, the teams are jointly researching new custody solutions, cross-chain wallet systems, and data interoperability mechanisms, aiming to provide institutional investors with a more efficient and compliant access path to digital assets. It is worth noting that ICE's investment is a minority stake and will not affect its 2026 financial guidance or capital return plan. OKX completed its compliant relaunch in the United States in April of this year and is now gradually expanding its local team to support joint projects with ICE. This partnership marks a shift from competition to collaboration between traditional financial giants and crypto platforms, driving the evolution of financial markets towards a more open and transparent digital infrastructure.