Broadcom, Verizon and UnitedHealth Object to Tokenized Stock Trading on OKX-ICE Venue

The SEC’s new framework for tokenized stock trading is running into resistance from the very companies whose shares could be traded. An October 15 public notice from OKXICE, the joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange, disclosed eight new objections. Broadcom, Verizon, UnitedHealth, AppLovin, Applied Digital, Rocket Lab, CoreWeave and Applied Optoelectronics are all named. Together with AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems, which opted out earlier, nine issuers have now objected. The notice did not explain their reasons or say when they filed.

Nasdaq Opt Out and Market Data Concerns

Nasdaq has separately said it will opt out of having its own shares tokenized. A spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal the company does not want its stock trading on a venue that fails to show best prices in real time or report to the consolidated tape. Nasdaq is not one of the nine issuers in the OKXICE notice.

OKXICE Innovation Exemption Launch Plan

OKXICE told the SEC on October 5 that it plans to launch the venue, starting with 63 U.S.-listed companies. It would run under the SEC’s five-year Innovation Exemption, issued September 17, which lets qualifying platforms trade tokenized stocks through automated market makers and liquidity pools. Trading would run around the clock on Uniswap v4 pools on OKX’s XLayer blockchain, with stablecoin settlement. Shares would be held one-for-one against tokens through a registered broker-dealer, and token holders must receive equal rights, including dividends and voting.

TD Securities View on Tokenized Stock Demand

Analysts at TD Securities, led by Reid Noch, found little interest among dozens of issuers outside a small group of crypto-adjacent firms. Some had not even known about the framework until it was announced. The analysts called the reliance on temporary exemptive relief the biggest hurdle, since a future commission could reverse it, discouraging infrastructure investment and institutional adoption. They added that overseas platforms can keep offering synthetic stock products without meeting the same operational requirements.