OKXICE tokenized stock plan hit by 38 objections, Walmart among them
Walmart, Eli Lilly and three more firms objected to OKXICE's tokenized stock plan, lifting the tally to 38 as Nasdaq denies steering issuers.
RWA & TOKENIZATIONEXCHANGESNEWS
Sofia Marchetti
10/30/20262 min read
Walmart, Eli Lilly, Carnival, Arcos Dorados and Cigna have objected to having their shares traded in tokenized form on OKXICE, the venture between crypto exchange OKX and NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange. The five appear in an updated public notice dated Oct. 28, which lifts the number of objecting companies to 38, according to CoinDesk and crypto.news.
The count stood at 33 on Oct. 27 and at only nine in the Oct. 15 notice. OKXICE's original Oct. 4 proposal named 62 companies, so objections now exceed half that roster, although several objectors, including Cigna, Arcos Dorados, Wells Fargo and Arm Holdings, were not on the first list. Earlier objectors include Microsoft, Alphabet, Intel, AMD, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.
The venue plans round-the-clock trading of tokenized U.S. shares through permissioned Uniswap v4 pools on X Layer, with the underlying stock held through a broker-dealer. It relies on the SEC innovation exemption issued Sept. 17. When a third party tokenizes a company's stock, the issuer must be notified and has 30 days to object, and a timely objection blocks that venue from listing the shares. Silence lets trading begin with no way to withdraw consent later, which CoinDesk says pushes issuers toward caution.
Nasdaq denies a role
Journalist Jacquelyn Melinek shared a claim from an unnamed executive that an exchange representative had suggested the company file an objection. The claim has not been verified. Nasdaq declined to comment on the alleged outreach, according to Eleanor Terrett, and said it does not plan to run a tokenized securities venue. It is focusing instead on its issuer-centric Nasdaq Equity Token and a separate model with Kraken targeted for the second quarter of 2027.
JPMorgan told CoinDesk it is not taking part “at this stage” but remains encouraged by the potential of tokenization.
A rival route may reach the market first. Canton Strategic Holdings said its own tokenized shares could start trading on TSV LLC as early as Nov. 2, with Fairmint as transfer agent. Because the issuer takes part directly, the objection process does not apply. OKXICE has not given a launch date.
Source: CoinDesk, crypto.news