According to Woofun AI, technology and financial giants such as Microsoft (MSFT.US), Alphabet (GOOGL.US), Goldman Sachs (GS.US), and McDonald's (MCD.US) collectively submitted objections to the OKXICE platform. This move is not a complete denial of stock tokenization technology, but rather a fierce game surrounding the selection of trading sites, market rulemaking, and distribution of commercial benefits. OKXICE is a platform jointly launched by the cryptocurrency exchange OKX and the New York Stock Exchange's parent company Intercontinental Exchange (ICE.US) to enable 24-hour on-chain trading of US stocks, but its third-party issuance model triggers the defense mechanism of traditional financial giants, marking a key point in the tokenization process from technological exploration to rule-making.
The evolutionary trajectory of the objection list clearly reveals the dynamic changes in institutional attitudes. As of October 19, the number of dissenting companies disclosed by OKXICE had surged from 9 the previous week to 16, with 7 new companies. Looking back at the timeline, the initial notice on October 4 covered 63 stock codes, corresponding to 62 companies, of which Alphabet occupied two codes. Of the original 16 dissenting companies, 15 came from this list, accounting for about 24%, while the remaining 47 companies did not disclose their objections.
Notably, although AI chip company Cerebras was not on the initial list, it also submitted separate objection documents. The list grew from 1 to 16 in just 15 days: on October 8, 3 companies including mobile ad tech company AppLovin (APP.US) joined; on October 15, the total number of objections rose to 9, including Broadcom (AVGO.US), Verizon (VZ.US), and UnitedHealth (UNH.US); by October 19, Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs (QCOM.US), Caterpillar (CAT.US), McDonald's, and Western Digital (Western Digital) WDC.US) entered the market one after another. Most companies did not specify the reason in the announcement, but the optical communications company Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI.US) clearly stated that the opposition stemmed from concerns about uncertainty about price, liquidity, and volatility.
The legal cornerstone of this game stems from the five-year “Innovation Exemption” document issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 17. The document provides two key exemptions for eligible tokenized securities platforms (TSV): they are no longer considered “exchanges” as defined by the Securities and Exchange Act, and specific institutions providing liquidity to them are not considered “traders”. Applicable targets are limited to tokenized versions of stocks listed on US exchanges (including some ETFs). Trading methods are limited to licensed automated market makers and liquidity pools, and synthetic third-party tokens are excluded. Tokens must enjoy the same economic rights and voting rights as the original shares, and are subject to conditions such as the number of targets, transaction volume limits, public notices, record keeping, and simultaneous suspension of trading. The SEC has set up a special issuer protection mechanism: if the token is issued by a third party unrelated to the company, the platform must notify the company in writing and wait 30 days; if the company objects in writing during this period, the stock cannot be listed, and silence is regarded as acquiescence.
This rule only applies to third party distributions. The company's own distribution does not apply, and objections are only valid for specific platforms. Changing platforms requires going through the process again, and objections will be publicly disclosed. At the same time, the SEC pointed out that the issuer's core pain points are the maintenance of the shareholder register after on-chain transfer and the risk of price deviation between the token and the original stock, which institutionally confirms the issuer's right to speak during the stock listing process.
However, the institutions on the opposition list are not rejecting tokenization per se, but are leaning towards a more controlled path of compliance. According to data compiled by Woofun AI, as early as July 15, about 40 institutions had completed real transaction tests through DTC, a securities depository under the American Depository Trust and Settlement Company (DTCC). Goldman Sachs was one of the main participants. The assets tokenized on the day include shares of Microsoft, the USDC issuer Circle (CRCL.US), ETF QQQ (QQQ.US) tracking the NASDAQ 100 index, ETF SPY (SPY.US), and US bonds, which track the S&P 500 index, and complete settlement on the enterprise-grade blockchain Besu and Canton, a blockchain for regulated finance. DTCC emphasizes that these tokens retain the same equity and ownership as the original assets, and its full tokenization service is expected to be officially launched in October for DTC participating institutions.
At the same time, although NASDAQ (NDAQ.US) is not included in the 16 objections list, it has clearly stated that it will not allow its shares to be tokenized according to this framework. It told the “Wall Street Journal” that it does not want stocks to appear on platforms that do not display the best quotes in real time or report transactions to the comprehensive market system. Since eligible platforms are not subject to the National Market System Rules (Regulation NMS), and OKXICE has disclosed that it has no order book, NASDAQ's exit logic focuses on the price formation mechanism. Earlier, Nasdaq Ventures, a subsidiary of Nasdaq, had announced an investment of $100 million in Kraken's parent company Payward to advance the issuer-centered Nasdaq Equity Token (Nasdaq Equity Token) framework, showing its independent layout in the tokenization field.
Faced with resistance, OKXICE Co-Chairman and former Governor of New York State Andrew Cuomo argued that these notices were “not against” and that some companies intended to observe the effects of the tokenized stock model. He emphasized that this is a limited experiment with strict restrictions: for stocks classified as the first tier according to the LULD mechanism, the platform provides up to 75 targets, and the daily trading volume of each stock must not exceed 0.25% of the average daily trading volume of the stock last month. Carlos Domingo, CEO of tokenization company Securitize (SECZ.US), pointed out that issuers have a variety of ways to participate, including leading the offering. For OKX, this meant a shift in strategic focus: from competing for distribution rights to building a distribution layer that issuers are willing to license. As DTCC's tokenization service is expected to be launched within this month, if Microsoft and other companies' shares simultaneously present official channel tokens and third-party tokens, the determination of price benchmarks and ownership of holders' rights will become the core challenges the industry must face.