IBM, Oracle, Intel and IonQ opt out of OKX–ICE tokenized stock trading plan, lifting objections to 26
Four more issuers have declined to have their shares offered onchain by OKXICE, the joint venture of OKX and Intercontinental Exchange. The total number of objecting companies is now 26 under the SEC's new tokenized stock framework.
CryptoSource: CoinDesk
IBM, Oracle, Intel and IonQ have objected to having tokenized versions of their shares offered by OKXICE, the joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange. An updated public notice dated Monday, Oct. 26 named the four companies, pushing the total number of issuer objections to 26. Earlier objectors include Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, Cisco and Wells Fargo.
The trend points to a challenge for both OKXICE and the SEC's new framework for tokenized equities: assembling a market that issuers are prepared to join. The agency's five-year Innovation Exemption lets qualifying venues test round-the-clock blockchain-based trading of stocks, while also allowing public companies to block their shares from being offered. Venues must notify issuers and give them 30 days to object before listing tokenized versions of their stock.
OKXICE published its first notice on Oct. 4. It plans to use Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on OKX's XLayer blockchain, with trades settled in stablecoins. The venue would rely on automated market makers, which execute trades through pools of assets instead of matching buyers and sellers in a conventional order book.
All four new objectors were among the 62 companies on OKXICE's original proposed roster. According to a CoinDesk tally, that brings objections from the original selection to 23, or about 37%. The overall count of 26 also includes Cerebras Systems, Arm Holdings and Wells Fargo, which were not on the original list.
Industry experts told CoinDesk's Tokenization Weekly that the rules tilt the decision toward opting out. Objecting costs nothing, whereas staying silent lets trading start with no way to withdraw consent later. For legal and investor-relations teams still learning the arrangements, saying no buys time to understand them.
The financial upside for issuers also remains unclear. TD Securities' Reid Noch previously said tokenization could draw extra demand, notably from overseas investors, but that may not offset worries about thin, round-the-clock trading outside the familiar market structure.
Andrew Cuomo, OKXICE's co-chairman and former New York governor, has called the objections expected. He said last week that many companies would rather "wait and see how it goes rather than be the first to participate."
Based on reporting by CoinDesk.