Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has announced it will not rush into an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States, despite recently securing a strategic investment that valued the company at $25 billion. The decision was detailed by Haider Rafique, OKX's General Manager and Chief Marketing Officer, during a panel at the Digital Asset Summit in New York.
Rafique stated the firm will only pursue a public listing when it is confident it can deliver consistent, long-term shareholder value. "We will go public when we have confidence that we can give back shareholder value," he said. "If we are not confident that we can do that, I don’t think there’s going to be any desire for us to go into the public markets." This cautious stance comes as OKX pushes deeper into global expansion and tokenized finance.
The $25 billion valuation was established following a minority strategic investment from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. Rafique noted the round was priced conservatively, suggesting the company was intentionally undervalued based on its revenue growth, global licenses, and assets to prioritize long-term returns.
The comments reflect a broader industry concern over the performance of crypto companies in public markets. Rafique pointed to the poor post-IPO performance of major listings, indirectly referencing Coinbase (COIN), which trades nearly 50% below its 2021 IPO price. "I bought one share… and that one share is at a negative 50% return. That’s not a good thing. That’s actually bad for the category," he warned.
Rafique cautioned that repeating the patterns of the initial coin offering (ICO) boom with public listings could be damaging. "If we treat going public the same way we treated ICOs and the 5 million tokens that were put in market last year… then I think we’re doomed as an industry," he said.
Instead, OKX is positioning itself as a long-term builder, with Rafique framing the company's horizon as 20 to 30 years. The exchange, a major global player in derivatives trading with daily volumes often exceeding $20 billion, leverages its international presence across Europe, Latin America, and Asia for a unified order book and liquidity advantage.
The partnership with ICE is central to OKX's future strategy, focusing on bringing traditional assets like equities onchain, with OKX acting as a distribution layer. For now, the company's focus remains on building operational resilience, expanding its regulatory licensing footprint, and strengthening compliance before considering a public debut.
