Broadcom, Verizon Among Nine Issuers Objecting to OKX-ICE Tokenised Stock Venue
Key points
- Nine companies, including Broadcom, Verizon, UnitedHealth, AppLovin, Rocket Lab, CoreWeave, and Cerebras Systems, have formally objected to being listed on OKXICE's planned tokenised-stock platform, per an October 15 public notice.
- Nasdaq separately said it would opt out of the framework, telling the Wall Street Journal it does not want its shares trading on a venue that lacks real-time best-price display or consolidated tape reporting.
- OKXICE, the OKX and ICE joint venture, notified the SEC on October 5 of plans to launch a venue targeting 63 US-listed companies, operating under the SEC's five-year Innovation Exemption issued September 17.
- TD Securities analysts found that most issuers they spoke with had little interest in tokenisation and that several were unaware of the framework when it was announced, raising concerns only after discovering it.
- TD Securities identified the temporary nature of the SEC exemption as the framework's largest hurdle, since a future commission could reverse it, deterring institutions from committing to infrastructure even after venues become operational.
Nine companies have formally objected to having their shares listed on OKXICE, the planned tokenised-stock trading venue being developed by crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), parent of the New York Stock Exchange. An October 15 public notice from OKXICE named Broadcom, Verizon, UnitedHealth, AppLovin, Applied Digital, Rocket Lab, CoreWeave, Applied Optoelectronics, and AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems as objecting issuers. The notice gave no reasons for the objections and did not disclose when each was submitted. Nasdaq separately stated it would opt out of having its shares tokenised under the framework, citing the venue’s failure to display best prices in real time or report to the consolidated tape.
OKXICE announced on October 5 that it had notified the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of plans to launch, initially targeting shares of 63 US-listed companies. The venue is designed to operate under the SEC’s five-year Innovation Exemption, issued September 17, which permits qualifying platforms to trade tokenised US stocks using automated market makers and liquidity pools. OKXICE plans to run around the clock using Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on OKX’s XLayer blockchain, with trades settled in stablecoins and underlying shares held one-for-one through a registered broker-dealer. Token holders would retain equivalent shareholder rights, including dividends and voting rights.
Analysts at TD Securities, led by Reid Noch, vice president of US equity market structure, found in a report shared with CoinDesk that conversations with dozens of issuers revealed little appetite for tokenisation outside a small group of crypto-adjacent companies. Several issuers approached TD Securities after discovering the framework, having been unaware of it at the time of its announcement. The analysts identified the framework’s reliance on temporary exemptive relief, rather than permanent rules, as its biggest structural hurdle: a future commission could reverse the approach, which complicates the investment case for infrastructure buildout and discourages institutional integration even after venues go live. That uncertainty is compounded by overseas platforms continuing to offer synthetic stock products without the same operational requirements.
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