The battle over Wall Street stock tokenization intensified as OKX and ICE Markets faced mounting objections to their proposed tokenized securities venue, while Nasdaq was accused of pressuring listed companies to reject the initiative. Eleanor Terrett reported the pushback in the run-up to Election Day, highlighting regulatory and competitive tensions around the SEC’s Innovation Exemption.
According to Crypto in America, an executive at a Nasdaq-listed company claimed a Nasdaq representative contacted the firm, suggested an objection to OKXICE’s proposed listing, and offered a call to explain opposition. “Nasdaq is definitely partly behind this,” the executive said. Nasdaq declined to comment on those allegations.
Separately, a Wall Street Journal advertisement urged company executives to oppose tokenization of their shares. Its QR code pointed to Nasdaq’s FAQ, which details objections to the SEC’s tokenized securities venue framework. A conservative-leaning nonprofit paid for the ad, but final funding remains unclear. Nasdaq denied involvement, said it never contributed to the organization, and denied authorizing use of its FAQ or the link.
The dispute now includes objections from 43 of OKXICE’s original 62 proposed companies, nearly 70% of the list, with seven additional companies bringing the total to 50 objections. JPMorgan, Walmart, Nvidia, Coca-Cola and Goldman Sachs are among the objectors. Under the SEC’s framework, a valid issuer objection prevents a venue from trading that company’s tokenized shares.
Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor leading OKXICE, called the advertisement “game on” and framed the dispute as competition between trading venues. Figure CEO Mike Cagney challenged OKXICE’s execution quality, margin availability and access to stock lending. Companies also raised concerns about share prices, liquidity, volatility, shareholder rights, custody, transparency and OKX’s offshore domicile.
Nasdaq, meanwhile, has partnered with Kraken to develop the Nasdaq Equity Token under existing securities rules. Rival TSV LLC expects tokenized trading in Canton Strategic Holdings shares to begin as early as November 2. With crypto regulation remaining an election priority and the Clarity Act stalled in the Senate, industry groups have spent more than $170 million on the midterms, including roughly $154 million from Fairshake and affiliates.
