Key Takeaways
- Nine U.S.-listed companies, including Broadcom and Verizon, formally objected to OKXICE tokenized shares.
- OKXICE’s Oct. 15 notice identifies nine issuers opposing the venue’s third-party tokenization model.
- OKXICE’s planned 24/7 stock market faces issuer objections despite temporary SEC regulatory relief.
Nine Companies Object to Tokenized Shares
The objections appear in an Oct. 15 public notice from OKXICE, the joint venture between cryptocurrency exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the news.
The filing names nine companies that submitted formal notices of issuer objection.
- Cerebras Systems (CBRS)
- Applovin (APP)
- Applied Digital (APLD)
- Rocket Lab (RKLB)
- Coreweave (CRWV)
- Verizon (VZ)
- Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI)
- Broadcom (AVGO)
- Unitedhealth Group (UNH)
It’s an intriguing turn for a venture seeking to bring traditional Wall Street shares onto blockchain infrastructure. The companies aren’t necessarily opposing blockchain technology itself, but their formal objections put them at odds with this particular tokenized stock arrangement.
Why the Objections Matter
OKXICE plans to let investors trade digital versions of U.S. stocks 24 hours a day, seven days a week, rather than being restricted to conventional stock market hours. Under the proposed arrangement, an independent third party would hold actual company shares through a registered broker-dealer. Each digital token would represent an entitlement to one underlying share, including associated dividend and voting rights.
Still, there’s a wrinkle in the works. The Securities and Exchange Commission‘s temporary exemption includes an issuer objection mechanism. Companies can object to having their shares tokenized by an unaffiliated third party, potentially preventing those securities from entering the venue’s trading pools. That makes the nine objections more than symbolic. They create a practical obstacle for OKXICE’s planned offerings.
Wall Street’s Tokenization Experiment Hits Resistance
The venture, owned equally by ICE and OKC USA Holding Inc., outlined its trading model earlier this month. Instead of a conventional stock exchange order book, OKXICE intends to use permissioned Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on OKX’s X Layer blockchain. Investors would trade tokenized shares against stablecoins, including USDC, USDT, and USDG.
Participation requires identity verification and an approved digital wallet, while the platform operates under temporary SEC exemptive relief rather than conventional exchange registration. The Oct. 15 notice doesn’t explain why the nine issuers objected. Nor does it establish that they oppose tokenization generally.
Still, the dispute exposes a potentially awkward reality for Wall Street’s blockchain ambitions. Technology can make shares tradable around the clock, and regulators can create a pathway for doing so, but the companies behind those shares can still have objections of their own.
