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ZEC $1,205 Microsoft and Alphabet join 16 company objections to OKX-ICE tokenized shares
Sixteen public companies have told the OKX-ICE tokenized stock venue they object to their shares trading there, while its co-chair calls the notices something
Key takeaways
- Sixteen object so far. The updated notice lists 16 objecting companies, up from nine in the venue's previous update.
- About a quarter said no. Roughly 25% of the 62 proposed companies have issued objections, per Cointelegraph.
- 47 have not objected. That leaves 47 companies from the original list with no objection disclosed, including Nvidia and Apple.
What happened
OKXICE TSV, the tokenized stock venue owned by Intercontinental Exchange and OKX, said in a public notice dated Oct. 19 that 16 public companies object to tokens of their shares trading there. The seven newest names are Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, Qualcomm, Caterpillar, McDonald's and Western Digital. They join nine companies named in the venue's previous update, including Cerebras, Verizon, Broadcom and UnitedHealth. The notice gives no reasons for the objections and no dates on which they arrived.
The objections rest on an SEC exemption order for tokenized securities venues issued Sept. 17. Under that order, a venue may list a token minted by a firm unaffiliated with the issuer only after sending the issuer written notice and waiting at least 30 calendar days. If the issuer objects in writing within that window, the venue cannot make the tokenized stock available for trading, and it has five business days to disclose the objection publicly.
The venue's first notice named 63 tickers from 62 companies, with Alphabet listed under both GOOG and GOOGL. Fifteen of those companies have since objected, leaving 47 from the original list with no objection disclosed so far, among them Nvidia, Tesla, Apple, Amazon, Coinbase and JPMorgan Chase. Cointelegraph reported that about 25% of the 62 proposed companies have issued objections.
Why it matters
The objection rule goes to the center of how OKXICE is built. An outside firm it calls the Tokenizer buys real shares through an SEC-registered broker-dealer and issues one token per share held. Trading runs 24 hours a day in Uniswap v4 pools on XLayer, with each token paired against USDC, USDG or USDT, and only wallets holding a non-transferable soulbound token issued after identity checks can trade. The notice says the venue is not registered with the SEC for these activities and is not subject to Regulation NMS.
OKXICE co-chair and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told Cointelegraph the notices were "not objections," citing the SEC opening up to a global 24/7 marketplace. He described the objectors as companies standing on the side of a pool while letting others test the waters. Cuomo said earlier this month, when OKX and ICE filed with the SEC, that the platform would offer shares for more than 60 companies listed on US exchanges.
What is still unclear
- The notice does not give reasons for the objections or the dates on which they arrived.
- The venue's notice does not give a launch date for the platform.
Questions readers ask
Which companies objected to OKX-ICE tokenized shares?
The updated notice lists 16 objecting companies. The newest seven are Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, Qualcomm, Caterpillar, McDonald's and Western Digital, joining nine named earlier, including Cerebras, Verizon, Broadcom and UnitedHealth.
Why can issuers block tokenized shares from trading?
The SEC exemption order issued Sept. 17 requires a venue to give the issuer written notice and wait at least 30 calendar days. A written objection within that window stops the venue from making the tokenized stock available for trading.
How does the OKX-ICE venue work?
An outside firm buys real shares through an SEC-registered broker-dealer and issues one token per share held. Trading runs 24 hours a day in Uniswap v4 pools on XLayer, with tokens paired against USDC, USDG or USDT.
What did Andrew Cuomo say about the objections?
OKXICE co-chair Andrew Cuomo told Cointelegraph the notices were "not objections," citing the SEC opening up to a global 24/7 marketplace. He described objectors as companies standing on the side of a pool while others test the waters.
