OKXICE Confirms Nov. 23 Tokenized Stock Launch With 70-Plus Assets as 67 Companies Object

Since the SEC opened its innovation exemption for tokenized stocks in September and OKXICE posted its first required public notice on Oct. 4, the number of companies objecting to the venue has climbed from one to 67. Today, Nov. 11, OKX said the platform will launch anyway.

The Tokenized Securities Venue (TSV) is scheduled to go live Nov. 23 with more than 70 digital securities, available to eligible US investors through the OKX app, according to OKX.

What will be on the platform

The planned listings include securities tied to Better.com, BitGo, Circle, Coinbase, Robinhood, Securitize and Strategy, plus 59 Direxion ETFs. Strategy will also list preferred stocks, including STRC, which the company describes as built for high yield and deep liquidity.

Trading will run around the clock on automated market maker liquidity pools built on Uniswap v4 on X Layer, OKX's Ethereum layer 2 network. Securitize will supply the tokenization infrastructure. OKX says each token represents a security entitlement backed one-to-one by an underlying US share, and that holders receive dividends, voting rights and participation in corporate actions.

Smart contracts will limit trading and liquidity provision to eligible wallets. Customers must be US-based, complete identity verification, activate a CeDeFi Wallet and meet geographic requirements.

Bloomberg reported that not all of the 70-plus assets will be available on day one.

The blue chips are gone

OKXICE originally targeted 62 companies, according to Bloomberg. Fifty-six objected. Only six drew no disclosed objection, and all six have ties to the crypto industry, including Coinbase, Strategy and Robinhood.

The objectors include McDonald's, Coca-Cola and JPMorgan Chase, names the platform had wanted for its launch. The venue's latest public notice, dated Nov. 5, counts 67 companies that have opted out in total, including some not on the original list. Investing News Network reports that the opt-outs cover every member of the Magnificent Seven, along with Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo. Apple and Meta were among the latest to file.

Nasdaq has said it will opt its own shares out of venues like this one, even as it invests $100 million in Kraken's parent company to build out related infrastructure, according to BigGo Finance.

How the veto works

The SEC's exemption lets tokenized stocks trade on platforms that are not fully registered exchanges, under conditions. A venue must notify the issuers whose shares it plans to offer, and those issuers then have 30 days to object. Issuers hold the veto.

When OKX and ICE published the first notice on Oct. 4, a single company, AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems, had objected. Broadcom, Verizon and UnitedHealth followed over the rest of October.

The SEC's relief is temporary and conditional. It came in September after the Clarity Act failed to advance in the Senate, according to Bloomberg.

The operators' case

Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor and co-chair of OKXICE, says the venture reflects where markets are going. He told Bloomberg that the launch is part of an evolution toward 24/7 trading that investors will need to follow.

Cuomo also said the SEC has opened the door for US markets to lead in onchain finance. He described the TSV as a compliant route for early adopters to bring securities onchain while preserving shareholder rights.

Strategy CEO Phong Le said tokenization on the venue is a "natural next step" toward making his company's preferred stocks accessible to investors worldwide, "24 hours a day, seven days a week."

The objecting companies have not been quoted in the available filings explaining their reasons. The opt-out notices are the exemption working as written: the rules let an issuer decline without justification.

Around-the-clock trading elsewhere

Tokenization is not the only push toward longer hours. Matthew Lynn, writing in a Washington Post opinion column, says Nasdaq and NYSE Arca will switch to near all-night trading starting next month. Intercontinental Exchange, a co-owner of the OKXICE venue, also owns the New York Stock Exchange.

What to watch

The launch is set for Nov. 23, 12 days from today. Which of the 70-plus assets are tradable at the opening bell is still unsettled, and the venue's notice count of 67 objectors could still change before then.

A venue built to bring Wall Street's marquee names onchain will open with a roster dominated by crypto-linked issuers and ETFs. Whether trading volume develops on that slate is the first test.