Tokenized Stocks: 26 Companies Oppose OKX-ICE Plan

Objections to the OKX-ICE tokenized stocks plan have risen from nine companies on Oct. 15 to 26, including Intel, Oracle, IBM and IonQ, as well as Alphabet, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs. The venture proposed tokenized shares from 62 US companies, meaning about 41% of those named had opted out by Monday. Co-chair Andrew Cuomo said objections were natural and expected more companies to join. The plan would let approved users trade tokenized US shares around the clock through permissioned Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on OKX’s XLayer blockchain, using stablecoins such as USDC. The proposed listings rely on an SEC exemption for limited tokenized-stock trading, amid temporary innovation exemptions for the sector. Nasdaq has urged issuers to be cautious, even as it invests in Kraken parent Payward and pursues tokenized assets. For crypto traders, the growing opposition adds uncertainty to the tokenized stocks market and the prospect of issuer participation. The proposal also raises investor-protection questions: it is unclear whether self-custodied shares would qualify for SIPC protection if a tokenizer’s broker-dealer failed. Trades must be fully funded, and liquidity providers can withdraw liquidity at any time.