OKX is not rushing an IPO due to risks for the crypto industry

OKX is not planning to rush its entry into U.S. public markets despite active global expansion and the development of tokenized financial instruments.

“We will go public when we are confident that we can deliver solid returns to shareholders,” said Haider Rafique, the company’s global managing partner and chief marketing officer, during a speech at the Digital Asset Summit in New York on Thursday. “If we are not confident in that, we are unlikely to have the desire to enter public markets.”

This position is linked to the recent strategic investment from Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, which valued the company at $25 billion. Rafique noted that the round was deliberately priced conservatively.

“I think we somewhat undervalued ourselves when considering revenue growth, licenses, and assets,” he said. “This was a deliberate decision tied to long-term shareholder returns.”

His comments reflect broader concerns about the performance of crypto companies in public markets. Rafique referenced at least one major listing that struggled after going public.

“I bought one share… and now it’s down 50%,” he said. “That’s bad. It hurts the entire sector.”

Although he did not name the company directly, he was referring to Coinbase (COIN), the largest publicly traded crypto exchange in the U.S. Since its debut in 2021, its shares have lost about 50% of their value relative to the IPO price. Other crypto-related companies have also struggled to deliver consistent returns to investors, raising questions about how public markets value the sector.

Rafique warned that repeating past mistakes could cause further damage to the industry.

“If we treat going public the same way we treated ICOs and the issuance of 5 million tokens last year… then in my view, the industry will have no future,” he emphasized.

Instead, OKX positions itself as a company focused on long-term growth. The exchange, founded in Asia, has become one of the largest global platforms for cryptocurrency trading—especially in derivatives, where, according to Rafique, it ranks among the leading venues. Unlike U.S.-focused competitors such as Coinbase and Kraken, OKX operates across multiple regions, including Europe, Latin America, and Asia, providing a broader liquidity base.

Global presence underpins the company’s strategy as it plans further expansion into the U.S. Rafique emphasized that international exchanges have structural advantages, including deeper liquidity across different time zones.

“A unified order book becomes a major competitive advantage,” he noted, “especially during periods of low activity in U.S. markets.”

The company is also betting on tokenized financial assets and blockchain infrastructure as the next stage of growth. Its partnership with ICE is expected to support efforts to bring equities and other traditional assets onto the blockchain, with OKX acting as a distribution layer for such products.

For now, according to Rafique, the priority remains business development over going public.

“We will build this company over the next 20–30 years,” he said, emphasizing that the IPO decision will depend on business sustainability rather than timing.

See also: "Ripple enhances XRP security with AI-driven network improvements"

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