Crypto exchange OKX relaunches in U.S. two months after settling with DOJ for $500 million

Seychelles-based OKX announced on Tuesday that it is relaunching the U.S. version of its crypto exchange and unveiled a new wallet for American users to store as well as trade cryptocurrencies. The company also named Roshan Robert, a longtime employee of Barclays, as its U.S. CEO and revealed it would locate its U.S. regional headquarters in San Jose, California.

“It is not just the rebrand. The entire technology interface, everything has changed," said Robert, who was recently an executive at the crypto prime broker Hidden Road, which was acquired by Ripple for $1.25 billion in April.

OKX’s renewed focus on the U.S. follows a settlement the exchange’s international entity reached with the Department of Justice in February. Prosecutors alleged that OKX failed to implement adequate anti-money laundering processes and solicited U.S. customers even though its international entity wasn’t registered in the States. As part of the agreement, OKX paid a $500 million fine, pled guilty to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and agreed to pay for an external compliance consultant through February 2027.

“For over seven years, OKX knowingly violated anti-money laundering laws and avoided implementing required policies to prevent criminals from abusing our financial system,” Matthew Podolsky, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, said in a statement announcing the settlement.

"There were no allegations of customer harm, no charges against any company employee and no government appointed monitor as part of the settlement," OKX said in a blog post.

The exchange’s U.S. relaunch also comes amid a more favorable regulatory environment for crypto under President Donald Trump. Robert, the U.S. CEO, said OKX’s plans to increase its U.S. presence predates Trump’s second term. He started talking with the crypto exchange in the summer of 2024 and was officially brought on in September. “We were preparing our compliance infrastructure, our risk management infrastructure for the last year and a half or so,” he added.

That said, Robert welcomes the Trump administration’s less aggressive approach to crypto. “The rulemaking will take some time, but there is a path that we can see,” he said.

As Robert steers the new, relaunched OKX U.S., he’s facing stiff competition from incumbents Coinbase and Kraken. However, he believes that the market in the U.S. isn’t zero sum and thinks that younger generations’ appetite for risky crypto bets will grow the pie. “The whole digital asset market is an expanding universe,” he said.

Hong Fang, OKX’s global president, previously oversaw OKX’s U.S. entity, which was formerly named OKcoin. 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com