Crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), plan to launch their U.S. tokenized securities platform, OKXICE, on November 23. In announcing the date on Wednesday, November 11, the companies confirmed that tokenized shares of Coinbase, Circle and Robinhood will trade on the platform.
The OKXICE lineup includes 59 ETFs
OKX and ICE said they have confirmed 70 assets for trading so far. In addition to shares of companies such as Coinbase, Circle and Robinhood, the lineup includes 59 exchange-traded funds (ETFs). U.S. investors will be able to trade tokenized shares of both individual companies and funds on the same platform.
To access the platform, U.S. customers must have a CeDeFi Wallet and complete the onboarding process. Andrew Cuomo, co-chair of OKXICE and former governor of New York, said the U.S. has an opportunity to bring its capital markets onchain while providing the standards and safeguards investors expect.
OKXICE will operate under the five-year “innovation exemption” that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in September. The exemption allows qualifying platforms to facilitate trading in tokenized assets without registering as traditional securities exchanges. Issuers can object to tokenized versions of their shares trading on a particular venue.
Issuers had objected to 57 of the 63 tickers on the original list
The initial list OKXICE published in October included 63 stock tickers representing 62 companies. According to a November 5 filing, 56 of those companies had objected to their shares trading on the platform. Google parent Alphabet’s objection covered two share classes, bringing the number of affected tickers to 57.
Another 11 companies outside the original list had also opted out, bringing the total number of companies that had filed objections to 67 as of November 5. Tesla, Netflix, Meta, Home Depot and Costco were among the companies that opposed trading in tokenized versions of their shares on OKXICE.
Fiber-optic equipment maker Applied Optoelectronics was among the companies that explained its decision. A spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that the company was unsure how tokenized trading might affect its share price, liquidity and volatility. It also worried that investors might assume Applied Optoelectronics itself was offering the token.
Nasdaq raises shareholder rights concerns over SEC exemption
Nasdaq, which is working with crypto exchange Kraken on tokenization, also plans to opt its own shares out of trading on venues operating under the exemption. In a November 10 opinion piece for Barron’s, Nasdaq Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer John Zecca wrote that bringing shares onchain could benefit issuers. He argued that any framework should protect shareholder rights and give companies a say in how their shares are tokenized.
Zecca also pointed to the common rules for market data, reporting and transparency that govern U.S. stock trading under the National Market System. He warned that the SEC exemption allows tokenized shares to trade outside that system, potentially fragmenting trading in the same stock across different markets.
