Wells Fargo, Cisco, Marvell among latest firms objecting to OKXICE's tokenized stock plan
Cisco, Wells Fargo, Marvell, Arm, Intuit and Moderna have joined the growing list of companies opting out of OKXICE's blockchain-based stock trading plans, bringing total objections to 22.
The companies were named in an updated public notice filed Friday by OKXICE, the joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and New York Stock Exchange parent ICE. The additions extend a list that already included some of the world's largest publicly traded companies such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs and McDonald's.
Growing Resistance
The growing number of objections signals a significant hurdle for the new market structure that would allow U.S. investors to trade stocks around the clock on blockchains. The SEC's five-year "Innovation Exemption" allows qualifying tokenized securities venues to test trading through automated market makers while giving issuers the power to block their shares from participating.
OKXICE originally proposed trading for 62 companies. While Wells Fargo and ARM were not in this initial selection, Cisco, Moderna, Intuit and Marvell were included, meaning not all 22 objections represent departures from the original roster.
Wait-and-See Approach
Andrew Cuomo, OKXICE's co-chairman and former New York governor, said such responses were expected during a Monday press call. "We always anticipated that, because this is such a dramatic and revolutionary change, many companies would want to wait and see how it goes rather than be the first to participate," he stated.
We always anticipated that, because this is such a dramatic and revolutionary change, many companies would want to wait and see how it goes rather than be the first to participate.
Cuomo characterized the framework as "a sandbox — a model demonstration" due to limitations on participating companies and trading volumes. An objection blocks trading on the notifying venue but does not establish opposition to every form of stock tokenization.
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