A group of 22 public companies, including Microsoft, Alphabet, and Goldman Sachs, has formally objected to having their shares traded on a tokenized securities venue operated by OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.
The objections emerged over the past month as the OKX-ICE platform initiated real-world testing. On one day this week, Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, McDonald's, and three other firms rejected tokenized share trading. Days later, Wells Fargo, Cisco, and four additional companies also opted out.
Under the SEC's innovation exemption framework, trading venues must notify issuers and provide a 30-day window for objection. Silence equals consent—if a company does not object, trading in its shares can commence. Latham Watkins has advised issuers that failing to object within 30 days creates an irrevocable decision, with no mechanism to object later or withdraw a non-objection once trading begins.
Dave Hendricks, CEO and founder of tokenization firm Vertalo, said most objecting companies had no warning a third party had tokenized their stock. "Companies then face immediate questions regarding share custody, dividend distribution, voting rights, and transfer agent visibility," Hendricks said. "If these questions lack answers within 30 days, objecting becomes a rational choice."
Olivia Vande Woude, head of tokenization at Ava Labs, cautioned against reading the objections as a rejection of tokenization. She noted that OKX-ICE is the first venue to issue notices under the SEC's framework, making it the first to elicit these corporate responses. "Given how easy the opt-out is, the list of objectors is likely to keep growing, and the next venue that sends notices should expect similar resistance," Vande Woude said.
Andrew Cuomo, co-chair of OKX-ICE, characterized the objections as a "natural response" to introducing a novel market structure. The initial SEC framework aimed to accelerate integration of U.S. equities with blockchain technology, but early implementation reveals corporate caution over unfamiliar settlement and custody mechanics.
