ICE & OKX Forge $25B Partnership for Tokenized Stocks

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has entered a significant strategic partnership and made a minority investment in crypto exchange OKX, valuing the firm at $25 billion. This collaboration includes plans for a joint venture aimed at providing regulated access to tokenized NYSE equities and ICE futures contracts. The initiative targets securing U.S. broker-dealer and futures commission merchant (FCM) registrations.

Upon receiving regulatory approvals, the joint venture will enable OKX's over 120 million users globally to access ICE futures and tokenized NYSE-listed stocks. This integration is anticipated to launch in the latter half of 2026. Additionally, ICE will license OKX's spot crypto prices to develop its own regulated U.S. crypto futures products, offering institutional investors compliant exposure and expanding ICE's benchmark distribution.

The partnership signifies a major step for traditional finance embracing tokenization, combining ICE's regulatory and risk management infrastructure with OKX's blockchain execution capabilities. This move is expected to offer OKX users potential benefits such as near-instant settlement and fractional ownership of traditional assets within their existing crypto ecosystem, while enhancing OKX's credibility and market position.