Trader-funded exchange Ouinex closes $3.5M equity round, preps OUIX token launchpad sale

Crypto asset exchange Ouinex has completed a $3.5 million equity round, taking its total funding to $9 million since launch. All capital has come from retail and professional traders using or connected to the platform, with no venture funds on the cap table.

The raise continues a community-led funding strategy that began in June 2023 with a $2 million pre-seed round backed by more than 2,000 traders, many from FX, CFDs, and equities. In February 2024, Ouinex closed seed and first private rounds totaling over $4 million, with a four-week private allocation selling out in under 48 hours and prompting an additional tranche.

Ouinex positions the trader-led ownership structure as a response to low trust in centralized venues with business models perceived as aligned with client losses. CEO Ilies Larbi said community funding shapes its regulatory approach, adding that having users as shareholders gives the company more runway to invest in licensing and legal work across five continents with an emphasis on platform durability and long-term safety.

Part of the new capital is being used to build Ouinex Launchpad, a token sale platform that prioritizes verified user access, trader engagement, and loyalty over closed private rounds. The launchpad is designed to give platform users priority allocation to early-stage token sales using engagement-based rules rather than traditional private investor allocations.

The first launchpad sale will feature OUIX, Ouinex's native exchange token, with a hard cap of $160,000 and a token price of $0.1334. Access is structured via a six-level OUIX Power Level system where higher-status users receive larger allocation caps and earlier access windows, subject to KYC-verified Ouinex accounts; oversubscribed portions are automatically refunded and retail users are not charged participation fees.

Ouinex plans to launch OUIX in Q2 2026 and says 65 million tokens have already been sold to its community. The token is expected to support governance, trading fee discounts, and staking yields across the exchange as the platform scales its trader-owned model.