Hedge fund QRT joins Ripple, Circle, and SC Ventures in OKX’s $25B extension round

Crypto exchange OKX has secured fresh funding at a $25 billion valuation from Qube Research & Technologies (QRT), a global quantitative hedge-fund manager, alongside existing investors Circle, Ripple and Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. OKB, the native token of the OKX ecosystem, rose about 6% to $138 on the financing news, which extends the crypto exchange’s March funding round, in which Intercontinental Exchange invested $200 million at the same valuation. The deal also gives the New York Stock Exchange owner a direct stake in one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges. OKX said the latest capital will support efforts to strengthen its market infrastructure, without providing details on the amount raised. The funding comes as traditional financial firms are increasingly working with crypto platforms on new market infrastructure. Following ICE’s investment in OKX, the companies developed OKXICE LLC, a joint venture focused on tokenized stock trading. OKXICE said it is seeking approval to offer tokenized stocks representing 63 US public companies, including NVIDIA, Apple and Coca-Cola, under the SEC’s five-year innovation exemption. The exemption a...