Key Takeaways
OKXICE will launch its tokenized securities venue on November 23, offering 24/7 onchain trading of more than 70 assets under the SEC’s Innovation Exemption.Launch participants include Coinbase, Circle, Robinhood, Strategy, and Direxion, which will offer 59 ETFs. Securitize will provide tokenization infrastructure, with tokens backed one-to-one by underlying U.S. shares.The launch follows objections from 62 major companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, and Tesla. Of those, 54 were among the 62 companies originally targeted by OKXICE.
The OKXICE TSV Gears Up for Launch
OKXICE, the joint venture between cryptocurrency exchange OKX and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) owner Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), announced Wednesday that its tokenized securities trading platform will launch on Nov. 23, moving forward despite objections from 62 major companies that opposed having their shares offered on the venue.
The Tokenized Securities Venue (TSV) is scheduled to begin trading at 9 a.m. ET, offering eligible U.S. investors around-the-clock access to blockchain-based representations of American securities. The venture said more than 70 assets are expected to be available, including stocks and exchange-traded funds backed one-to-one by underlying U.S. shares.
The initial lineup includes securities from crypto-linked companies Coinbase, Circle, Robinhood, Strategy, BitGo, Better.com, and Securitize. Strategy will also offer its preferred shares, including STRC, while investment firm Direxion is contributing 59 ETFs to the platform.
The announcement marks a significant shift from OKXICE’s original proposal, which targeted 63 stocks representing 62 companies, including some of the largest publicly traded businesses in the United States. As Bitcoin.com News previously reported, 62 companies had formally objected to the initiative as of November 5, including 54 of the 62 originally targeted firms. That represented approximately 87% of the proposed corporate lineup.
Major objectors include Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Google parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Tesla, Boeing, JPMorgan Chase, Walmart, Coca-Cola, and Eli Lilly. Eight additional companies filed objections despite not appearing on the venture’s original list, demonstrating that resistance extended beyond the initially targeted securities.
The objections were permitted under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s temporary Innovation Exemption, which allows qualifying platforms to facilitate tokenized stock trading while giving issuers an opportunity to oppose the tokenization of their securities.
OKXICE’s latest announcement indicates that the venture has assembled a substantially different initial offering, relying on companies that have agreed to participate alongside a large collection of Direxion ETFs.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who co-chairs OKXICE, previously downplayed corporate resistance during an October press conference, characterizing tokenized securities as an emerging experiment that companies would embrace at different speeds.
“The SEC has created a real opening for American markets to lead the next era of finance,” Cuomo said in Wednesday’s announcement, adding that the venue would enable compliant, continuous trading with shareholder rights.
Cuomo added:
“The future of finance is onchain, and we have an opportunity to build it here in America, with the standards, safeguards, and ambition that investors expect.”
The platform will operate using automated market maker liquidity pools built on Uniswap v4 and deployed on X Layer, OKX’s Ethereum Layer 2 network. Smart contracts will limit trading and liquidity provision to authorized wallets, while customers will retain control of their tokenized securities through self-custodial wallets.
Securitize will provide the tokenization infrastructure, with each token representing an entitlement backed by an actual U.S. share. The arrangement is designed to preserve applicable economic and shareholder benefits, including dividend payments, voting rights, and participation in corporate actions.
Access will initially be restricted to eligible U.S.-based OKX customers who have activated a CeDeFi Wallet and completed identity verification and onboarding requirements.
Although the venture is launching under temporary SEC regulatory relief, OKXICE’s website explicitly notes that the platform is not a registered securities exchange or broker-dealer and has not received SEC approval.
Strategy CEO Phong Le welcomed the launch as an opportunity to extend access to the company’s preferred securities beyond conventional market hours.
“Tokenization on the OKXICE TSV is a natural next step toward making digital credit accessible to investors around the world, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Le said, in a statement.
The Nov. 23 debut will test demand for continuous blockchain-based securities trading after a wave of opposition from established corporations forced OKXICE to move beyond much of its original proposed stock lineup.
