16 Companies Object to Planned OKX-ICE Tokenized Stock Venue

An updated public notice dated October 19 lists 16 companies that have objected to having tokenized versions of their shares traded on a planned OKX-ICE venue, adding seven newly disclosed names including Microsoft, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs. The notice does not explain the companies’ reasons for objecting. The seven additions are Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, Qualcomm, Caterpillar, McDonald’s and Western Digital. They join earlier objectors including Broadcom, Verizon and UnitedHealth. The notice identifies 16 objecting companies in total, according to reports describing the filing. The proposed venue is a joint venture between cryptocurrency exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. It would allow around-the-clock trading of tokenized U.S. stocks. Andrew Cuomo, the venture’s cochair, said the plan would limit the number of participating companies and trading volumes, describing it as a constrained experiment. The venue is being proposed under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s five-year Innovation Exemption, which allows qualifying venues to test tokenized securities trading and gives issuers an opportunity to...