Intercontinental Exchange and crypto exchange OKX announced the formation of a 50-50 joint venture on Monday to build infrastructure for tokenized financial products, giving OKX's global users access to NYSE-listed equities and ICE futures markets.
The venture, to be called OKXICE, will be co-chaired by former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and ICE senior vice president of futures markets Trabue Bland, the companies said. Subject to regulatory approvals, the joint venture is expected to operate as a U.S.-registered broker-dealer and futures commission merchant.
"The next chapter of financial markets will be defined by how well innovation and government regulation can move forward together," Cuomo said in a statement. Bland called the venture "a step towards building the infrastructure that will define how global markets operate in the decades ahead."
Wrapping NYSE-listed assets in blockchain infrastructure will be central to the venture's work, the companies said, along with pursuing other avenues for bringing financial markets into regulatory-compliant digital formats. Oil futures products are already in development at the new venture, Cuomo said, with securing a futures commission merchant license and broker-dealer registration topping the to-do list.
"You can virtually walk through the front door of the New York Stock Exchange through your smartphone, and you can do that seven days a week in a way you never could before," Cuomo told Fortune.
Monday's news builds on a deal struck earlier this year in which ICE invested in OKX, with The Wall Street Journal reporting the stake came to around $200 million and pegged OKX's valuation at $25 billion.
Cuomo, who also served as New York State Attorney General and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, began working with OKX in 2023. He will spend the majority of his time overseeing the joint venture, according to the outlet.
A federal investigation into OKX was settled in 2025 for more than $500 million, with the underlying company admitting guilt to charges that it had operated illegally in the U.S. market. The exchange subsequently relaunched its U.S. operations.