Author: Luke, Mars Finance
Is OKX Planning to Go Public in the US?
On June 23, 2025, when The Information's crypto journalist Yueqi Yang disclosed that global crypto giant OKX is considering a US IPO, the entire market was instantly electrified. The news was like a lightning bolt breaking the calm of the crypto world. The market's reaction was almost instinctive - the platform token OKB, deeply connected to OKX's ecosystem, was violently pushed up by over 15% within an hour, breaking through the psychological threshold of $55.
The surge driven by rumors reveals a logic far more profound than the K-line chart. It clearly shows that in investors' eyes, OKX's company valuation has formed an inseparable symbiotic relationship with its issued crypto asset OKB, which has a market value of over $3 billion. A company seeking to be listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ should traditionally be measured by metrics like price-to-earnings ratio and revenue growth. However, the market's frenzy declares that the protagonists of OKX's capital drama are not just the company itself, but also the token empire it has single-handedly created.
[The translation continues in the same manner for the entire text, maintaining the specified translations for names and terms.]However, its greatest advantage - the deeply integrated OKB token ecosystem - is also its biggest challenge. OKB is not just a platform token, but has penetrated every corner of the OKX ecosystem, used for fee discounts, governance, and staking. More importantly, OKX promises to use 30% of spot trading fee revenue to regularly repurchase and burn OKB from the secondary market, creating deflation and enhancing token value.
In the context of an IPO, this creates an unprecedented valuation puzzle. How can a listed company explain to shareholders that its business model is so deeply tied to an independent crypto asset with huge speculative potential? When the company uses revenue that could have been used for dividends to support a token's price in the open market, how should this expenditure be accounted for? This creates a potential conflict of interest between company shareholders and OKB token holders. According to SEC guidance, OKX's "buyback and burn" plan will likely cause its token to be viewed as a security.
Finally, no matter how OKX tries to repair its image, its indelible history will remain a Damocles sword hanging over its head. The $500 million settlement agreement and the past controversies of founder Star Xu will be repeatedly scrutinized in the prospectus and due diligence, becoming a major deduction for a public market seeking a clean leadership background.
When Crypto Giants Embrace Wall Street
From being fined a sky-high amount for serious violations to now considering a Wall Street listing, OKX's journey is a microcosm of the entire crypto industry's development trajectory. It marks the end of a wild growth era and the beginning of an era seeking order.
This IPO will be the ultimate test of OKX's self-renewal. If successful, OKX will not only complete its own redemption but also provide a compliant path for other global exchanges to emulate. If it fails, it will be a harsh warning to the entire industry that the bridge from crypto's unbridled freedom to Wall Street's strict rules is still being built with great difficulty.
Regardless of the outcome, OKX's "charge" towards Wall Street sends a clear signal: the "Wild West" era of crypto exchanges' unbridled growth is coming to an end. The future path has only two options: either proactively enter the regulatory framework like OKX, trading transparency for survival space; or face marginalization or even expulsion like its competitors in the US market. OKX's Wall Street "big test" is destined to become a memorable moment in crypto history.
