Thirty-eight companies now formally oppose tokenization of their shares on OKXICE, a joint venture between cryptocurrency exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange. An updated public notice dated Oct. 28 added five new objectors: Walmart, Eli Lilly, Cigna, Carnival Corporation, and Arcos Dorados.
Of 63 companies initially targeted for tokenization, 38 have submitted objections—roughly 60 percent rejection rate. The objecting firms carry combined market capitalization exceeding $19.4 billion.
Previous objectors include Coca-Cola, JPMorgan Chase, Dell Technologies, AMD, Applied Materials, Adobe, SanDisk, Microsoft, Alphabet, Intel, Oracle, IBM, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, McDonald's, and Verizon.
OKXICE's platform enables 24/7 blockchain-based trading of U.S. stocks using stablecoins, with token backing through registered broker-dealers. Trading operates via permissioned Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on OKX's X Layer network, relying on regulatory relief granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission in September.
The SEC framework permits tokenized stock trading without traditional exchange compliance requirements and grants publicly traded companies the right to object to third-party tokenization of their shares. OKXICE's public notices identify objecting companies but do not disclose specific reasons for their opposition.
Andrew Cuomo, former New York Governor and OKX board member who co-chairs OKXICE, characterized the initiative as an experiment during an Oct. 20 press conference. He suggested early adopters would tokenize while others observe before participating, and questioned whether conventional U.S. trading hours adequately serve global financial markets.
