OKX and NYSE Owner ICE Form Joint Venture to Link Crypto and Traditional Markets

OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, have announced a joint venture aimed at connecting traditional financial markets with digital asset infrastructure. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is leading the initiative, according to the companies.

The development matters because it puts a major crypto exchange and one of the best-known U.S. market infrastructure operators into a formal effort around tokenized assets and crypto-linked market access. If approved by regulators, the venture is expected to operate as a registered broker-dealer and futures commission merchant, a structure that would place the project inside established U.S. market rules.

The companies said the goal is to let OKX’s 120 million users in the U.S. and internationally access ICE futures and NYSE tokenized equities markets. The venture will also explore related opportunities for regulated, blockchain-enabled markets.

Cuomo, who previously served as New York’s 56th governor, New York State Attorney General and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, began working with OKX in 2023. He said the partnership combines OKX’s blockchain technology with ICE’s market infrastructure to support a more modern financial system.

The joint venture follows a March announcement in which ICE and OKX outlined plans to introduce tokenized stocks and crypto futures products. ICE also made a strategic investment in OKX at a $25 billion valuation, while its broader digital asset activity has included backing Bakkt and a $2 billion investment in prediction market platform Polymarket.