OKXICE Plans November Launch with ETF-Heavy Lineup After 90% of Initial Issuers Object

After roughly 90% of its target companies exercised regulatory vetoes to block third-party token trading, OKXICE has overhauled its launch roster, leaning heavily on leveraged ETFs and crypto-friendly names ahead of a planned November 23 debut.

The joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced over 70 assets for round-the-clock trading, including 59 Direxion ETFs and tokenised shares of Coinbase, Robinhood, and Circle, Reuters reported.

The offering marks a departure from the 63 blue-chip names originally proposed, underscoring how a SEC veto mechanism has given corporate boards power over blockchain secondary markets.

Initial access will be limited to eligible US OKX customers who complete onboarding and use self-custodial wallets.

A Different Mix of Securities

The announcement follows objections from 56 of the 62 companies OKXICE originally selected, or about 90%, according to a CoinDesk tally. The venue’s November 5 public notice lists 67 objectors overall, including 11 companies outside that original selection.

Apple, Microsoft and JPMorgan Chase are among those that objected. All six companies from the original list without disclosed objections have ties to crypto.

However, those six do not define the entire planned offering. The proposed listings also include mortgage lender Better.com and preferred securities from Strategy, according to Crypto Briefing’s account of the announcement.

Strategy CEO Phong Le described tokenisation as a way to broaden access to the company’s preferred stocks. His comments outline a use for the venue beyond trading ordinary shares: distributing a company’s other listed securities through the same continuously available market.

The new total is not directly comparable with the 63 stock tickers in OKXICE’s original proposal: it includes dozens of funds and multiple types of securities.

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Issuer Choice Shapes Market Access

The SEC’s September innovation exemption gives issuers a direct say over which tokens a venue can offer. Before offering shares tokenized by an unaffiliated third party, a venue must notify the underlying issuer and wait at least 30 calendar days after receipt.

A timely written objection prevents the venue from offering that token. The restriction applies to trading on the notified venue; it does not establish a company’s opposition to tokenisation generally.

One early objector, Applied Optoelectronics, told The Wall Street Journal it was uncertain about effects on its share price, liquidity and volatility, according to The Block.

Issuer objections determine which securities can enter the venue. For those that do, OKXICE plans to execute trades through permissioned Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on XLayer, pairing securities with payment stablecoins.

Approved participants would trade against those pools rather than a conventional exchange order book. OKXICE warns that pool prices may differ from those of the underlying shares, particularly outside regular market hours.

The framework requires equivalent shareholder rights, including dividends and voting, but OKXICE says the venue is outside Regulation NMS. Participating broker-dealers retain their own obligations, potentially including trade reporting and best execution.

The venue’s notice acknowledges uncertainty over how some requirements apply and says it will not provide brokers with compliance services. The planned launch will also be a phased rollout.

Bloomberg reported that not all of the more than 70 announced assets would be tradable at the start. Traders will therefore need the opening product list to establish which securities they can actually buy on November 23.