New Alliance Brings Perpetual Crude Contracts to Market Through Strategic OKX and Intercontinental Exchange Collaboration

Table of Contents Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) and OKX announced a partnership to launch perpetual oil futures contracts. The products will use ICE’s Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate benchmarks. OKX said the offering will expand access to energy markets for its 120 million users. The new contracts will not expire, allowing continuous trading without physical delivery. Both firms said the move connects traditional commodity markets with crypto-based trading systems. The rollout will target regions where OKX already offers regulated perpetual futures. ICE will provide pricing data for Brent crude and WTI to support the new contracts. These benchmarks are widely used in global oil markets. Trabue Bland, senior vice president at ICE, said the products will broaden access to energy benchmarks. He stated the contracts will reach OKX’s large retail trading base. OKX confirmed the contracts will be available only in licensed jurisdictions. The exchange said compliance remains a key requirement for the rollout. Haider Rafique, global managing partner at OKX, said oil markets are critical to the global economy. He added that integrating ICE benchmarks meets demand from market participants. Perpetual futures allow traders to speculate on price movements without expiry dates. Traders do not need to handle physical oil or renew contracts. ICE and OKX signed a prior agreement in March to develop blockchain-based trading systems. The partnership includes tokenized securities and crypto-linked futures products. ICE also made a strategic investment in OKX, valuing the company at $25 billion. The firms aim to expand access between traditional finance and crypto platforms. The move follows growing interest in perpetual futures tied to commodities. Hyperliquid recently reported $1.6 billion in daily trading volume for similar oil contracts. Open interest in Hyperliquid’s oil products exceeded $1.3 billion, showing strong demand. These contracts also operate without expiration dates. Regulators in the United States have started reviewing perpetual futures markets. Michael Selig, chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said oversight will increase. Most perpetual futures currently trade on offshore crypto exchanges. These platforms often operate under different rules than traditional exchanges like ICE and CME Group. ICE and OKX said the new oil contracts will follow regulatory frameworks in approved markets. The companies confirmed availability will depend on local licensing conditions. The announcement marks the latest collaboration between crypto and traditional finance firms. Both companies continue developing infrastructure linking blockchain and established markets. The firms did not disclose a specific launch date for the contracts. They confirmed deployment will begin in regions where OKX already offers perpetual futures. Discover top-performing stocks in AI, Crypto, and Technology with expert analysis.