Objections from nine companies to OKXICE, a joint venture between OKX and ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, prevented eight stocks on the planned list from being offered as tokens on the platform.
According to a public notice dated Thursday and reported by The Block, nine U.S.-listed companies objected to their shares being traded in tokenized form on OKXICE. As a result, the previously announced plan to offer 63 U.S. stocks was scaled back following objections from some of the companies on the list.
The platform plans to proceed with launching trading for dozens of companies, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla, JPMorgan Chase, and Walmart. However, a launch date has not yet been announced.
Which companies objected to stock tokens?
The eight companies on the list announced by OKXICE on October 4 that objected are:
- AppLovin (APP)
- Applied Digital (APLD)
- Rocket Lab (RKLB)
- CoreWeave (CRWV)
- Verizon (VZ)
- Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI)
- Broadcom (AVGO)
- UnitedHealth Group (UNH)
The ninth objection came from Cerebras Systems (CBRS). Cerebras was not on the initially announced list of 63 stocks. Therefore, although there were nine objections in total, eight stocks on that list were affected.
Why are the companies objecting?
The platform’s notice did not list the reasons for the objections. However, Applied Optoelectronics told The Wall Street Journal that it was unsure about the effects of tokenization on its share price, liquidity, and volatility. The company is also concerned that investors might think it is affiliated with a product it does not endorse.
Nasdaq also said in a separate statement that it would not participate in the tokenization of its own shares under the SEC framework. The exchange said it did not want its shares traded on a platform that does not display real-time best prices and does not report trades to the market’s consolidated transaction reporting system. It nevertheless emphasized its continued commitment to tokenization efforts.
The objection does not apply to all platforms
OKXICE plans to operate under the SEC’s five-year innovation exemption, published on September 17. Under this framework, if a third party tokenizes a company’s stock, the trading platform must notify the company at least 30 calendar days in advance.
If a company objects within the allotted time, that platform cannot offer the relevant stock token. No separate affirmative approval is required; if no objection is filed, the listing process can proceed. Because each new platform has its own notification and objection process, objecting to one platform does not amount to rejecting tokenization altogether.
Under OKXICE’s plan, stock tokens will trade for USDC, USDG, or USDT in permissioned liquidity pools on the X Layer network. Users will need to pass identity and sanctions checks and hold a non-transferable access token to access the pools.
According to data from The Block, the total value of tokenized stocks was about $3.5 billion as of October 15, up from about $680 million at the start of the year.
Not investment advice.