JPMorgan, Coca-Cola, Dell object to OKX-ICE tokenized stock venue

Key points

• Seven more firms, incl. JPMorgan, Coca-Cola and Dell, object to OKXICE venue
• Disclosed objections reach 33, up from 26 in the prior notice
• CoinDesk counts 30 of 62 original companies (about 48%) opted out
• Issuers have 30 days after notification to object

Seven more U.S. companies, including JPMorgan Chase, Coca-Cola and Dell Technologies, have objected to having their shares traded on the tokenized securities venue planned by OKXICE, the joint venture of crypto exchange OKX and NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange. That raises the disclosed total of objections to 33, up from 26 in the previous notice, CoinDesk reported on Oct. 28.

Which companies have opted out

According to CoinDesk, the latest objections appear in an updated OKXICE public notice dated Oct. 27. Besides JPMorgan, Coca-Cola and Dell, the companies named include Applied Materials, Adobe and Sandisk. CoinDesk also reported that Wells Fargo, Arm and Cerebras have objected but were not listed in that filing.

CoinDesk’s own tally shows 30 of the 62 companies originally proposed for the venue, about 48%, have opted out. The outlet’s count differs from the 33 objections disclosed in the notice, so the two figures should not be read as the same measure.

A JPMorgan spokesperson told CoinDesk the bank remains interested in tokenization but chose not to join this venue “at this stage.”

How the OKXICE venue is designed

OKXICE issued its initial notice on Oct. 4. As The Block reported, the venue would offer permissioned, on-chain trading of tokenized versions of U.S.-listed stocks on OKX’s X Layer network. It relies on a five-year innovation exemption the Securities and Exchange Commission issued in September, which lets certain venues trade such products without registering as exchanges.

CoinDesk reported that trading would run around the clock through Uniswap v4 liquidity pools and settle in stablecoins. Issuers have 30 days after notification to object, so more companies could still opt out while that window remains open.

What the venture says

OKXICE co-chairman Andrew Cuomo told CoinDesk that many companies will probably wait to see how the market develops. He described the SEC program as “a sandbox—a model demonstration,” according to the outlet. At launch, Cuomo called the venture “a landmark step toward a truly global, 24/7 Wall Street,” The Block reported.

The objections do not necessarily end the plan. The venture can proceed with companies that did not object, and the final list of covered stocks and the timing of any launch will depend on the SEC process and on issuer participation. The updated notice itself was a PDF that could not be fully read, so the company-by-company details rest on CoinDesk’s account of it.

Why the objections matter

The objections show how much of the proposed roster is unwilling to have shares represented on a blockchain venue it did not choose, even when the structure operates under a regulatory exemption. Earlier rounds of objections included Intel, Oracle and IBM, per CoinDesk. With nearly half of the original names now out, the venue’s breadth, and its appeal to traders seeking exposure to large U.S. companies, is in question.

The dispute is an early test of the SEC’s innovation exemption and of how much say issuers have over tokenized trading in their stock.