ICE and OKX form joint venture to offer tokenized equities

Intercontinental Exchange and crypto exchange OKX announced a 50-50 joint venture on Monday to develop infrastructure for tokenized equities and other digitally native financial products. The new company will register in the United States as a broker-dealer and a Futures Commission Merchant and will seek regulatory approvals to allow OKX customers to access ICE futures and NYSE tokenized equities markets.

The venture is structured to let OKX users in the U.S. and overseas trade regulated futures and tokenized shares on ICE markets. The partners will also explore additional blockchain-enabled products that comply with U.S. financial rules and regulatory standards.

ICE invested in OKX in March at a reported $25 billion valuation and took a board seat as part of that transaction. Company officials described the joint venture as building on that relationship by combining ICE’s market technology and benchmarks with OKX’s blockchain expertise and retail reach. OKX reports about 120 million users worldwide.

Andrew Cuomo, who has advised OKX since 2023 and previously served as New York governor, commented: “The next chapter of financial markets will be defined by how well innovation and government regulation can move forward together. This partnership brings together OKX’s world-class blockchain technology and ICE’s trusted market infrastructure to help build a more modern, transparent, and resilient financial system for the future.”

Trabue Bland, ICE senior vice president of futures exchanges, added: “The ICE-OKX joint venture is a step towards building the infrastructure that will define how global markets operate in the decades ahead. ICE's global benchmarks and regulated market technology have earned the trust of institutions and traders everywhere and now, through our partnership with OKX, we are working towards extending that reach to OKX’s 120 million retail traders.”

The venture will operate under U.S. broker-dealer and FCM registration to facilitate access for OKX customers and to clear and settle futures trades on ICE platforms. The partners said they will pursue required approvals from U.S. regulators and will conform to applicable securities and commodities rules as they launch products.

OKX has expanded its services beyond cryptocurrency trading into traditional asset trading and prediction markets. ICE is the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange and operates regulated trading and clearing venues for equities, futures and other products. The joint venture intends to connect regulated market infrastructure with tokenized securities, including possible custody and settlement services that use distributed ledger technology while remaining inside existing regulatory frameworks.

Cuomo served as New York’s 56th governor and previously held roles as state attorney general and U.S. housing secretary. The announcement did not include a launch date or a detailed product timetable; the venture’s plans are contingent on completing regulatory reviews and registrations.