Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owner of the New York Stock Exchange, and crypto exchange OKX have formed a 50-50 joint venture to build infrastructure for tokenized securities and blockchain-native financial products, with former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo named as co-chair alongside ICE senior vice president Trabue Bland.
The venture, pending regulatory approval, is structured to operate as a U.S.-registered broker-dealer and futures commission merchant. Under the proposed model, OKX’s 120 million global users would gain access to ICE futures products and NYSE-linked tokenized equities — including the ability to trade around the clock, per a Monday joint announcement by the companies. The venture will also explore what the companies described as “adjacent opportunities for regulatory-compliant blockchain-enabled markets.”
The announcement extends a partnership that took shape in March, when ICE invested roughly $200 million in OKX at a $25 billion valuation, securing a board seat. NYSE separately announced earlier in 2026 that it was developing a blockchain venue for 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks and ETFs, settled instantly using stablecoins. Monday’s joint venture effectively accelerates that build by coupling ICE’s regulated market infrastructure with OKX’s retail and institutional distribution network.
Cuomo’s involvement adds regulatory credibility. As governor, he oversaw creation of the New York Department of Financial Services — still one of the most influential crypto regulators in the U.S. He began advising OKX in 2023, including during a DOJ investigation that led the firm to plead guilty to anti-money laundering violations and pay more than $504 million in penalties. OKX has since relaunched in the U.S. and substantially expanded its institutional footprint. ICE has simultaneously deepened its digital asset exposure through a reported $2 billion investment commitment in prediction platform Polymarket.
The deal arrives as the tokenized real-world asset market crosses $51 billion in total capitalization, according to Bernstein research, with tokenized equities identified as the fastest-growing segment. The SEC green-lit DTCC’s tokenization trial on approved blockchains in December 2025, and Coinbase is separately pursuing a U.S. launch of tokenized equities pending an SEC exemption.
For the broader market, the ICE-OKX structure signals that traditional financial infrastructure is not building a parallel system — it is converging with crypto-native rails. The key variable remains regulatory approval for the broker-dealer structure, and whether the SEC will grant it at pace with the industry’s momentum.
