Amazon, Tesla and SpaceX have joined a growing group of companies objecting to the tokenized stock marketplace being developed by crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. Netflix, SoFi Technologies and Lam Research also appeared in the venture’s updated public notice dated November 2, bringing the total number of disclosed objections to 56, up from 50 in the previous update.
The proposed marketplace aims to allow investors to trade tokenized versions of U.S. stocks around the clock using stablecoins. The platform would operate under the SEC’s five-year innovation exemption, which allows qualifying marketplaces to use automated market makers. Instead of relying on a traditional order book to match buyers and sellers, these systems execute trades through pools of assets.
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The expanding list of objections highlights the challenges facing the project as it attempts to introduce a new trading structure for publicly listed shares. Tokenized stocks could offer longer trading hours and faster settlement, potentially making equity markets more accessible to investors. However, companies may remain concerned about how their shares would trade outside established stock exchanges and whether the new structure would generate meaningful additional demand.
Of the 62 companies initially selected by OKX–ICE for the marketplace, 49 have now objected, representing approximately 79% of the original group. Seven additional companies outside that initial selection have also filed objections. The figures indicate substantial resistance among the companies whose shares the venture originally intended to bring onto its platform.
The timing is becoming increasingly important. Under SEC rules, companies generally have 30 days after receiving written notice from a trading venue to object. For issuers that received their notices on October 4, the deadline would fall on November 3. However, the deadline is calculated from the receipt of each individual notice, meaning there is no single objection deadline that applies to every company.
OKX–ICE also has up to five business days to publish objections after receiving them. As a result, additional responses could become public even after the November 3 deadline passes.
Thirteen companies from the original selection had no disclosed objection in the November 2 notice: Apple, Strategy, Robinhood, Coinbase, Super Micro Computer, Palantir, Circle, ServiceNow, GE Vernova, Boeing, Home Depot, Securitize and BitGo. Securitize and BitGo had previously indicated that they did not intend to object.
Andrew Cuomo, OKX–ICE’s co-chairman and former New York governor, said that many companies wanted to observe how the marketplace performed before deciding whether to participate. That approach suggests the project may still have an opportunity to attract issuers over time, but its initial reception reveals a significant gap between the ambition to modernize equity trading and the willingness of companies to participate.
The next stage will depend on whether more issuers formally object, whether the remaining companies choose to stay out of the process, and how OKX–ICE responds to the growing resistance. The marketplace’s ability to demonstrate clear benefits for investors and participating companies could become a decisive factor in determining whether tokenized equities gain broader acceptance.
