An ambitious plan to bring U.S. stocks onto the blockchain is facing significant pushback. The venture, cochaired by former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and led by crypto firm OKX and the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, aimed to offer round-the-clock trading of tokenized shares for 62 public companies. However, as of Thursday, 54 of those companies have objected to having their shares traded on the platform.
Notable additions to the objection list include aerospace manufacturer Boeing and business software maker ServiceNow, which joined on Wednesday. The day before, Apple, Home Depot, and GE Vernova also filed objections. Earlier objectors include corporate giants like Microsoft, Alphabet, Nvidia, JPMorgan Chase, and Walmart. Companies outside the original lineup, such as Wells Fargo, Nebius Group, Arm Holdings, Cerebras Systems, and Cigna Group, have also raised concerns.
The venture, known as OKXICE, was announced last month with a temporary exemption from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This exemption allows qualifying platforms to offer trading in tokenized stocks without registering as national securities exchanges, provided they meet certain conditions. The eight companies in the original lineup without disclosed objections are predominantly tied to crypto or blockchain, including Circle Internet Group, Coinbase, Robinhood, BitGo, Strategy, and Securitize, along with Palantir and Super Micro Computer.
Applied Optoelectronics, one of the objecting companies, expressed uncertainty about the potential impact on its stock’s pricing, liquidity, and volatility. The company also worried that investors might mistakenly believe it endorsed the offering. 'At this stage, we don’t see a clear benefit to AOI or our shareholders that justifies these uncertainties,' a spokesperson said. OKXICE has not commented on whether the growing objections will affect its planned launch.