NYSE stock exchange operator partners with OKX to launch crypto futures and tokens

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is also making an undisclosed minority investment that values the crypto platform at $25 billion.

[Photo: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the company that powers the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and other capital markets, has struck a strategic partnership with crypto platform OKX. 

The partnership will allow ICE to license OKX spot crypto prices and launch U.S.-regulated crypto futures contracts, and also allow OKX to begin distribution of those futures, in addition to tokenized equities.

In all, it means that crypto-native users on the OKX platform will have access to the U.S.-based financial markets through tokenized equities.

Additionally, ICE is also making an undisclosed minority investment in OKX, reflecting a valuation of $25 billion, OKX said on Thursday.

“American stocks should be accessible”

Haider Rafique, global managing partner at OKX, says the partnership will serve as a way for international investors to access U.S. equity markets. 

“People around the world are trying to access the U.S. market, but they’re often unable to—there’s a lot of hoops to jump through,” he says. “The most exciting thing is that this partnership allows us and ICE to bring twenty-four-seven, tokenized securities—all the equities on the New York Stock Exchange—onto the OKX app. American stocks should be accessible to people around the globe.”

Not only that, but since OKX is a crypto platform with no set trading hours, Rafique says that means investors can make changes to their portfolios on the fly, any time, day or night.

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