Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and crypto exchange OKX are developing oil perpetual futures contracts underpinned by ICE’s Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark prices, Bloomberg reported on Friday. ICE operates the world’s largest oil futures market, with Brent crude serving as the pricing benchmark for roughly three quarters of internationally traded oil. The product would be the first commodity contract to emerge from the broad strategic partnership announced in March, when ICE took a minority stake in OKX at a $25 billion valuation and secured a board seat.
Perpetual futures, which have no expiry date and use a funding rate mechanism to track spot prices, are the dominant derivatives instrument in crypto markets. OKX is the third largest crypto derivatives exchange by volume, behind Binance and Bybit.
The deal comes as traditional financial benchmark owners increasingly license their data into crypto native venues. In March, S&P Dow Jones Indices licensed the S&P 500 to Trade[XYZ] for the first officially licensed perpetual derivative on Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange. ICE is now following a similar path for oil, routing its benchmarks through a regulated centralized exchange in which it has an equity stake.
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