The Funding: Why NYSE parent ICE chose OKX for a reported $200 million investment at a $25 billion valuation

Traditional finance giants continue to make big moves in crypto. Just last month, BlackRock, Citadel Securities, and Apollo Global Management disclosed purchases of DeFi governance tokens or plans to acquire them. This week, Intercontinental Exchange, the publicly listed parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, announced an investment in and partnership with crypto exchange OKX.

ICE took what it described as a "minority position" in OKX. The company reportedly invested about $200 million, valuing the crypto exchange at about $25 billion, and secured a seat on OKX’s board of directors. The two companies plan to explore collaborations around market structure, clearing, data, and institutional access to digital assets.

But why did ICE choose OKX, and what exactly does it hope to achieve through the partnership?

Many investors and analysts I spoke to said they were surprised by ICE selecting OKX. The move into crypto itself was less surprising, given that the exchange operator has already announced several initiatives in the space.

"I was definitely surprised. Given ICE's previous investment in Coinbase, I was not expecting them to make a move like this," said Dan Elitzer, co-founder at Nascent. "OKX is primarily based in Asia, and while they have been making a big push into the U.S. recently, I was very surprised to see them land this rather than one of the homegrown exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, or Gemini. That was my initial reaction, just genuine surprise at the choice of partner."

But several observers said the decision starts to make more sense when viewed through three factors: global distribution, structural fit, and strategic positioning.

ICE already dominates U.S. markets through the NYSE, but it lacks a direct channel to international retail and crypto-native traders. OKX says it has more than 120 million customers globally. That reach could matter if ICE plans to distribute tokenized equities or other digital assets beyond the U.S.

"It makes sense for ICE to want access to global exposure. Also, these businesses tend to be priced less aggressively than their American counterparts, and the move can make sense on a financial calculus," said Lex Sokolin, co-founder and managing partner at Generative Ventures.

Steve Lee, co-founder of Neoclassic Capital, echoed this view, saying many other leading crypto platforms are either publicly listed, too large, or constrained by country-specific regulatory considerations that make direct investment more complicated, making OKX a better fit for ICE.

Some also pointed to structural similarities between the two companies.

“OKX is fundamentally a derivatives-driven exchange, with the large majority of its revenue coming from derivatives trading,” said Amir Hajian, a researcher at crypto investment firm Keyrock. "ICE’s own business is built around derivatives and futures markets, so the product focus and institutional culture are closely aligned."

Competitive positioning may also have played a role. As crypto platforms expand into equities and other asset classes, some may increasingly look more like rivals.

Coinbase, for instance, has already taken steps toward becoming an “everything exchange,” spanning crypto, equities, commodities, and prediction markets. “From ICE’s perspective, that trajectory may point toward a future competitor rather than a neutral distribution partner,” Hajian said.

Richard Galvin, executive chairman and CIO at Digital Asset Capital Management, and Sam Andrew, director of research at North Island Ventures, both also said ICE may have avoided partnering with Coinbase because it could view the company as a future competitor.

The NYSE had participated in Coinbase’s Series C $75 million funding round in January 2015, and ICE later sold its 1.4% stake in Coinbase for $1.2 billion in 2021 following the exchange’s listing.

Michael Blaugrund, vice president of strategic initiatives at ICE, has said that future competitors for firms like ICE may not look like traditional institutions such as CME or Nasdaq. They may instead resemble DeFi protocols or so-called “super apps.”

What exactly is ICE trying to achieve here?

Several people said ICE’s motivation with the OKX deal appears less about making a directional bet on crypto and more about securing access to the infrastructure that could underpin future financial markets.

Hajian said most people think of ICE as an exchange company, but it is a data company that happens to run exchanges, noting that last year, roughly 45% of ICE’s revenue came from data services and mortgage technology.

"The real story is that ICE is executing its data monetization playbook on crypto," Hajian said. "ICE paid billions for Ellie Mae and for Black Knight acquisitions, not because mortgages are exciting, but because they wanted to own the data infrastructure of an entire market lifecycle. They are doing the same thing here."

Notably, Bakkt was ICE’s first attempt to build digital asset infrastructure internally before spinning it out. Bakkt struggled to achieve adoption as originally envisioned.

ICE’s Bakkt experience “resulted in a $1.1 billion write-down, a near-bankruptcy, and a 97%+ stock decline from peak,” Hajian said, adding that it should temper expectations about execution timelines for the OKX deal. “Announcements are not products," he said.

Another likely motivation behind the partnership is clearing infrastructure. Hajian said that if ICE eventually extends its clearing infrastructure into crypto derivatives and tokenized securities, it could create a unified risk management layer across both traditional and digital markets. That type of clearing system “would be extraordinarily difficult to replicate,” he said, adding that the clearing layer is “the toll booth of financial markets."

Another possible reason is positioning ahead of a future OKX public listing. The crypto exchange has previously signaled interest in pursuing an IPO, potentially in the U.S. ICE’s investment could serve as an institutional endorsement ahead of such a process. If OKX were eventually to list on the NYSE, ICE could benefit not only from listing fees but also from trading activity and data licensing tied to the platform, Hajian noted.

Even if the partnership produces "limited synergies," ICE would still have the option to exit through a future public listing, said Andrew of North Island Ventures.

Overall, several investors said the ICE-OKX deal represents another step in the broader tokenization trend rather than a single turning or inflection point in TradFi-crypto convergence.

“The real shift will come when tokenized equities, bonds, and other financial assets are actually issued and traded at scale on blockchain rails,” said Brandon Potts, partner at Framework Ventures.

Risks and challenges

While the ICE-OKX deal is significant, regulatory approval remains one of the biggest uncertainties, particularly for plans involving tokenized equities trading on global crypto exchanges, said Quynh Ho, head of venture investment at GSR.

Execution challenges also remain, as integrating crypto platforms with legacy financial systems requires deep technical and operational coordination, she added.

Another risk lies in reputational exposure. Crypto exchanges operate across multiple jurisdictions and have historically faced regulatory scrutiny around compliance and anti-money-laundering standards. “The compliance bar for these partnerships has to be extraordinarily high, and the due diligence cannot stop at the investment date,” Hajian said.

Despite those challenges, many investors said deals like ICE and OKX show that the broader direction of crypto is becoming clearer, with traditional finance increasingly exploring onchain infrastructure.

"This partnership goes far beyond investment — it's a deep strategic alignment built on shared vision for the future of tokenized securities, derivatives, and the seamless merging of TradFi with digital assets," said Haider Rafique, global managing partner at OKX. "We're two three-letter powerhouses with complementary strengths, and my aspiration is that this evolves into an even bigger, long-term relationship. The real excitement is in jointly building the hybrid market infrastructure that connects everything."

ICE did not respond to questions sent for this article and instead referred me to its public announcement.

Could Nasdaq, CME, and others be next?

Many investors expect partnerships between TradFi and crypto platforms to continue growing. As regulatory clarity improves and tokenization gains traction, TradFi firms may increasingly seek distribution through crypto-native platforms.

“Nasdaq is the most obvious next mover,” Hajian said, pointing to the company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to trade tokenized securities. “A Nasdaq-Coinbase partnership for tokenized securities distribution is plausible," he added.

London Stock Exchange Group could be another candidate, according to Hajian. Earlier this year, LSEG launched Digital Settlement House.

On the crypto side, Hajian said BitGo is one of the most discussed acquisition candidates. Bybit and Bitget could also become potential partners for Asian exchanges such as the Singapore Exchange or the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, he added.

Ho of GSR named Nasdaq and CME Group as potential companies that could tie up with Kraken or Bybit. She also said European players such as Euronext and Deutsche Börse may look for local crypto partners.

Potts of Framework said he would watch Nasdaq, CME Group, Cboe Global Markets, and London Stock Exchange Group. On the crypto side, he said the most attractive partners may extend beyond exchanges themselves. “The most attractive companies will be those with large pre-installed user bases, deep liquidity, or battle-tested technology stacks,” Potts said.