Ripple has joined a funding round for cryptocurrency exchange OKX that values the platform at $25 billion, while Brevan Howard—one of the Wall Street names that bankrolled Ripple last year—is deepening its relationship with the blockchain company as a client.

OKX raises new capital at unchanged $25 billion valuation

OKX secured fresh capital at a $25 billion valuation from a mix of backers spanning a stablecoin issuer, a British bank, and a London-based quantitative trading firm. Circle, Ripple (which issues the RLUSD stablecoin), and SC Ventures—the investment arm of Standard Chartered—all took part, along with Qube Research & Technologies (QRT), which is making its first appearance on the exchange's cap table. OKX did not disclose the size of the raise.

In March, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, invested roughly $200 million in OKX at that same $25 billion figure. Seven months later, the price tag is identical. Haider Rafique, OKX's global managing partner, said the funding is about “strengthening OKX's long-term market infrastructure.”

ICE is also OKX's partner in a bigger project. On October 5, their joint venture, OKXICE LLC, said it is seeking approval to sell tokenized shares—equities represented as digital tokens on a blockchain—in 63 US public companies, including Nvidia, Apple, and Coca-Cola.

The plan depends on a new SEC rule called the innovation exemption, introduced in September after the Clarity Act stalled in the Senate. It allows approved platforms to trade tokenized US stocks on public blockchains for up to five years without registering as full stock exchanges. However, the tokens must carry the same rights as real shares, including dividends and voting. SEC approval of the application is the remaining step before any of those 63 tokenized stocks can begin trading under the exemption.

Ripple turns an investor into a customer

According to an announcement, Brevan Howard, a global alternative investment manager, is now coming on board with Ripple as a customer. Notably, the firm was one of the backers of Ripple's $500 million raise in November 2025. That round valued Ripple at $40 billion and was led by funds tied to Fortress Investment and Citadel Securities, with participation from Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, and Marshall Wace.

Ripple has products to sell to its investors in part because it spent heavily to build them. Ripple Prime, a prime brokerage service, came out of Ripple's $1.25 billion purchase of Hidden Road, which closed in October 2025. It offers clearing, financing, and trading across currencies, derivatives, bonds, and digital assets, all in one place.

In May 2026, Ripple Prime obtained a $200 million debt facility from Neuberger Specialty Finance to expand its margin lending, and the unit has reportedly tripled its revenue year over year since launching in the US.

Ripple's President Monica Long said last year that the company had doubled its customers quarter on quarter in stablecoin payments, and that its RLUSD stablecoin had just passed $1 billion in market value.