Intercontinental Exchange and OKX to Launch Oil-Linked Perpetual Futures

Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, and the global cryptocurrency exchange OKX announced a partnership on Friday to launch perpetual futures contracts tied to major oil benchmarks. The new derivatives will be based on ICE’s prices for Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and will be available to OKX’s retail customers in jurisdictions where the platform holds the necessary licenses.

The launch represents the first concrete product stemming from a strategic partnership formed in March, when ICE made a direct investment in OKX, securing a seat on the crypto exchange’s board. The collaboration is structured as a two-way exchange: OKX gains access to ICE’s established oil benchmarks, while ICE’s traditional institutional clients gain exposure to crypto-based futures infrastructure. OKX users are also expected to eventually gain the ability to trade tokenized securities directly on the NYSE platform.

The perpetual futures contracts have no expiration date, unlike traditional futures which require traders to roll positions periodically. They use a recurring funding payment mechanism between traders to keep the contract price anchored...