NYSE-backed crypto venture faces 90% stock rejection as $92 liquidity problem threatens tokenization dream
Its November 4 notice says the operator and affiliates will abstain from providing liquidity, leaving eligible outside participants to supply the planned pools. Read the full story on CryptoSlateUnderstand the crypto stories that matter and what to watch next. Get The Catalyst in your inbox
More than 90% of the stocks targeted by OKX and NYSE-backed tokenization venture now face objections from their issuers.
A comparison of OKXICE's latest regulatory notice with its original October proposal shows that companies have objected to 57 of the 63 stock tickers initially earmarked for trading.
The objections, which have grown to 67 companies overall, include Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla, and Meta, threatening to strip the proposed blockchain-based marketplace of many of Wall Street's most widely traded names before its launch.
The setback comes just weeks after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced a regulatory exemption designed to accelerate tokenized stock trading, allowing qualifying platforms to offer blockchain-based shares through automated trading pools.
OKXICE, a joint venture equally owned by crypto exchange OKX's US holding company and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, plans to let investors trade tokenized versions of US stocks around the clock using stablecoins.
However, the growing corporate resistance has left the venture facing questions about which securities it can offer and whether investors will have sufficient liquidity to trade them.
The scale of the resistance has grown rapidly since OKXICE outlined its plans in early October.
By Oct. 30, 50 companies had registered objections. That figure rose to 62 by Nov. 4 before another five companies, including Meta, Palantir, S&P Global, KLA and Super Micro Computer, joined the list on Nov. 5.
Of the original 62 companies identified by OKXICE, 56 have now objected. The original proposal covered 63 tickers because Alphabet's two share classes were listed separately.
That leaves just six companies from the initial lineup without disclosed objections: Strategy, Coinbase, Robinhood, Circle, Securitize and BitGo.
All six have substantial connections to the cryptocurrency or digital asset industry, highlighting how far the venture's potential stock selection has shifted from the broader US equity market.
However, the absence of an objection does not establish that those companies have endorsed the proposal or that their tokenized shares will be available when trading begins.
The resistance is particularly significant because of how the SEC structured its September exemption.
Under the framework, companies whose shares are tokenized by unaffiliated third parties must receive written notice and an opportunity to object. A formal objection prevents the venue from offering those third-party tokenized shares under the exemption.
The framework leaves room for issuer-backed tokenization, meaning the objections do not necessarily represent opposition to blockchain-based securities in general.
Nevertheless, OKXICE has yet to announce a launch date or confirm how many stocks will ultimately be available. Its public website continues to advertise the trading venue as forthcoming.