Issuer Pushback Against OKX-ICE Tokenized Stocks Grows to 26 Companies

Av Coinvote

Publicerad October 28, 2026 - 07:24 UTC | 4 minuter lästid

Four more companies, including Intel, IBM, Oracle and IonQ, have objected to having their shares traded on the planned OKX-ICE tokenized stock venue. The tally now stands at 26 against 62 proposed names, an early test of whether issuers will accept the SEC's new exemption.

Four more issuers decline to join the venue

Intel, IBM, Oracle and IonQ have told OKXICE they do not want their shares offered in tokenized form, according to an updated public notice dated Monday, Oct. 26. CoinDesk reported that the four bring the total number of objecting issuers to 26. Cointelegraph and Decrypt reported the same count.

OKXICE is a 50-50 joint venture between Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, and OKX's U.S. holding company. Earlier objectors include Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, Cisco and Wells Fargo. Decrypt noted that technology firms dominate the roster, and that IBM and IonQ add two quantum computing companies to it.

How the objection list grew in under two weeks

Decrypt traced the notices back to the middle of October and found that the list has nearly tripled in less than two weeks. The notices give no reasons for the objections and do not say how an objection affects trading of a given stock on the venue.

Oct. 15: nine objections, in a first batch that included Verizon, Broadcom and UnitedHealth Group.
Oct. 19: 16 objections.
Oct. 23: 22 objections, with Wells Fargo, Cisco and Marvell added.
Oct. 26: 26 objections, with Intel, IBM, Oracle and IonQ added.

What the venue is meant to do

According to Decrypt, OKXICE TSV would let approved users trade tokenized U.S. stocks around the clock. Trades would be routed through Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on OKX's XLayer chain that are restricted to permitted users, with stablecoins such as USDC as the pairing asset. CoinDesk added that the design relies on automated market makers, which are programs that execute trades against pools of assets instead of matching buyers and sellers in an order book.

Decrypt reported that participants must clear identity and sanctions screening and hold a soulbound token, which cannot be transferred, in order to trade. The SEC unveiled its exemption in September, Decrypt said, after the Clarity Act stalled in the Senate. CoinDesk described the exemption as a five-year framework and said the venue's initial public notice was issued on Oct. 4.

Why objecting is the easy choice for issuers

CoinDesk reported that the framework requires venues to notify issuers and allow a 30-day objection period before tokenized versions of their shares are offered. Industry experts told CoinDesk's Tokenization Weekly that the structure leans toward opting out. An objection carries no cost, while silence lets trading begin and offers no later way to withdraw consent.

CoinDesk also cited TD Securities' Reid Noch, who said tokenization could bring extra demand, particularly from overseas investors. Concerns over low liquidity in trading that runs all day, away from the conventional market setup, may outweigh that benefit. Cointelegraph noted that Nasdaq's September guidance advised issuers considering the exemption to proceed with caution. Cointelegraph added that Nasdaq put $100 million into Payward, the company that owns Kraken, during September, tied to the exchange's own move into tokenized assets.

Where the outlets' accounts differ

The three outlets agree on the headline count of 26, but they measure the share of opposition differently. Cointelegraph divided 26 objections by the 62 companies in the original proposal and arrived at about 41%. CoinDesk's own tally counted only objectors that were on that original roster, which gave 23, or about 37%.

The gap comes from three names. CoinDesk said Cerebras Systems, Arm Holdings and Wells Fargo objected despite not being among the original 62. Neither percentage is wrong, but they answer different questions. Readers comparing the venture's progress should check which denominator a given figure uses.

Risks for would-be token holders

Decrypt highlighted a risk in the latest notice. Per the notice, every token is a claim on an actual share that a third-party tokenizer holds via a registered broker-dealer. The notice says it is unclear, should that broker-dealer collapse, whether tokens held in a self-custodied wallet would be treated as customer property or fall under coverage from the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

The notice also requires trades to be paid for in full, without margin or borrowed funds. Liquidity providers do not need to be registered market makers and can withdraw their liquidity at any time. Traders and project teams considering tokenized equity can check these terms before assessing how deep or reliable such pools would be.

Open questions for the next notices

Andrew Cuomo, the venture's co-chair and a former New York governor, told Cointelegraph that some objections were a "very natural response" and that he expected further names to join the list. CoinDesk quoted him as saying many companies would rather "wait and see how it goes" than participate first.

The main open question is how many of the 62 proposed issuers remain once the 30-day objection windows close. It is also unclear what an objection legally means for each stock, since the notices do not say. Further updates from OKXICE will show whether the list levels off or keeps rising.

FAQ

How many companies have objected to the OKX-ICE tokenized stock venue?

A total of 26 companies have objected, according to a notice dated Oct. 26. Intel, IBM, Oracle and IonQ were the latest four. Cointelegraph put this at about 41% of the 62 proposed companies, while CoinDesk counted 23 objectors from the original roster, or about 37%.

How would trading work on OKXICE TSV?

Decrypt reported that approved users would trade tokenized U.S. stocks in Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on OKX's XLayer chain that are limited to permitted users, with stablecoins such as USDC as the pairing asset. Participants need to clear identity and sanctions screening and hold a nontransferable soulbound token. Trades have to be paid for in full, with no margin or borrowed funds.

Why do companies object to tokenized listings?

The notices do not give reasons. CoinDesk reported that experts see objecting as free, while silence lets trading start without a way to withdraw consent. Cuomo described the objections as expected, with many firms preferring to wait and see.