Microsoft, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs have formally objected to tokenized versions of their shares trading on OKXICE, the 50-50 joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, parent of the New York Stock Exchange. The objections were disclosed in an October 19 public notice and bring the total number of opposing issuers to 16, reducing the venue’s initially proposed stock selection by roughly 24%.
The latest wave adds seven companies to the nine previously disclosed objectors: Qualcomm, Caterpillar, McDonald’s and Western Digital joined Microsoft, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs. The earlier list included Broadcom, Verizon, UnitedHealth, CoreWeave, AppLovin, Applied Digital, Rocket Lab, Applied Optoelectronics and Cerebras Systems. OKXICE initially identified 63 stock symbols representing 62 companies for potential trading; 15 of the 16 objecting issuers were in that original selection. The remaining 47 companies are not confirmed participants, since no objection does not equal approval and notification periods may not have expired.
The objections rely on a mechanism in the SEC's five-year Innovation Exemption, issued on September 17. Under the framework, a venue must notify issuers at least 30 calendar days before offering tokenized shares. If a company submits a written objection within that window, the venue cannot list that tokenized stock. The objection is venue-specific and does not block conventional trading or prevent issuer-authorized tokenization. An Applied Optoelectronics spokesperson said the company saw no benefit to AOI or its shareholders worth the uncertainty around price, liquidity and volatility.
OKXICE has not set a launch date. When it opens, it plans to operate around-the-clock using permissioned Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on the X Layer layer-2 network, with tokenized shares paired against USDC, USDT and USDG. Traders would need identity and sanctions screening and a non-transferable soulbound token. OKXICE acknowledges that token prices could diverge from underlying share prices, especially outside normal trading hours or when liquidity is limited, and it operates outside Regulation NMS without registration as a national securities exchange or alternative trading system.
The broader tokenized stock market was worth over $3.4 billion as of October 20, up from over $688 million at the start of the year, according to RWA.xyz. Nasdaq has already said it will opt its own shares out, and Nasdaq-listed Perpetuals.com is preparing a competing venue under the same exemption. For now, the immediate impact is on OKXICE’s product offering and its ability to attract trading activity, not on the underlying share prices of objecting companies.
