Why McDonalds, Microsoft and Google saying no to tokenized stocks isn't a dealbreaker

The SEC's new framework for tokenized stock trading has encountered significant resistance from major corporations. A growing group of public companies has objected to having their shares traded on the tokenized-securities venue being built by OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.

This week's objections included some of the biggest names yet: Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Goldman Sachs (GS), McDonald's (MCD) and three others on Monday, followed by Wells Fargo (WFC), Cisco (CSCO) and four more firms on Friday. The disclosed total of objecting issuers now stands at 22.

Cautionary Approach

Before trading in a company's shares, the venue must notify the issuer and give it 30 days to object. If the company stays silent, trading can begin. This gives public companies a say in whether unaffiliated third parties tokenize and trade their shares, but it also creates pressure toward caution.

Global law firm Latham & Watkins has warned issuers that silence effectively becomes an irrevocable decision, as the SEC order provides no mechanism to object after the 30-day window or withdraw a prior non-objection once trading begins.

Not a Verdict

Despite the growing list of objectors, experts caution against interpreting this as a verdict on tokenization itself. Olivia Vande Woude, head of tokenization at Ava Labs, noted that OKXICE is the first venue to send notices under the SEC's Innovation Exemption.

Because objecting costs nothing while silence counts as consent, she expects the list of objectors to keep growing. "Given how easy the opt-out is, the list of objectors is likely to keep growing, and the next venue that sends notices should expect similar resistance," Vande Woude said.

She views this as part of a data-gathering exercise rather than a failure of the experiment. "This exemption is a data-gathering exercise," Vande Woude said. "What it's showing is that public companies want a say in how their shares come onchain."

Market Structure Concerns

Nasdaq offers a useful example of what the objections do and don't mean. The exchange operator has been a vocal supporter of tokenization and is pursuing its own model, but it intends to object to having tokenized versions of its own stock traded on TSVs under the current exemption.

Nasdaq warned that TSVs operating outside the National Market System (NMS) could fragment liquidity, weaken price discovery and lack safeguards such as real-time best-price display and consolidated-tape reporting. Its own model keeps tokenized securities inside the existing exchange framework.

Reid Noch, vice president of U.S. equity market structure at TD Securities, told CoinDesk the bigger issue is that the upside for issuers remains difficult to quantify. Tokenization could bring additional demand for U.S. shares, particularly from overseas investors, but the SEC framework may not generate enough new demand to offset the risks.

Path Forward

Not all companies are rejecting the concept. Securitize (SECZ), which specializes in tokenized securities, does not plan to object to inclusion on the OKX-ICE venue. A representative of digital asset custodian BitGo (BTGO) also said it won't object to the listing.

Carlos Domingo, CEO of Securitize, emphasized the importance of education. "There's an important education process underway," he said. The firm has been reaching out to issuers through webinars explaining different trading models, shareholder rights and potential trade-offs.

The SEC may have removed one regulatory barrier to tokenized stock trading, but getting public companies comfortable enough to use it could take considerably longer. Education and time will be crucial factors in determining the future of tokenized securities.