Nvidia, Costco and Nike Object to OKXICE Stock Tokens

The updated public notice from OKXICE LLC, a Texas company equally owned by Intercontinental Exchange Holdings and OKC USA Holding, lists these objections alongside other major corporations including Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Walmart, Coca-Cola and Eli Lilly. A timely objection blocks the venue from making affected third-party-tokenized stock available for trading under the SEC's exemption.

The venue's design pairs stock tokens with payment stablecoins like $USDC and $USDG in permissioned Uniswap v4 pools on XLayer. Each token represents a security entitlement to one underlying share, with the blockchain recording ownership and transfers. The tokenizer incorporates these records into its books and reconciles them.

Objection Mechanism

The blocking mechanism comes from the SEC's conditional exemption for tokenized securities venues. Before offering a stock token created by an unaffiliated third party, a venue must notify the issuer of the underlying stock in writing. Trading cannot begin until at least 30 calendar days after the issuer receives that notice.

The SEC's staff FAQ explains that if an issuer objects, the venue must amend its public notice to disclose the objection and cannot make that tokenized stock available for trading. The order requires a revised public notice within five business days after receipt of a timely objection.

Tokenization Process

For third-party stock tokens, the tokenizer acts through an SEC-registered, FINRA-member broker-dealer that holds underlying shares one-for-one against outstanding tokens. Minting follows the purchase and custody of the underlying stock, with tokens issued only after confirming acquisition and custody.

The venue's listing checks require equivalent shareholder rights, including dividends, voting rights and a share of residual assets on liquidation. Proxy materials and other issuer communications must reach holders without cost. OKXICE reviews legal representations and the tokenizer's latest reserve attestation from an independent accounting firm.

Access and Risks

While XLayer is a public, permissionless blockchain, admission to these pools depends on OKXICE credentials. Users must pass identity, anti-money-laundering, sanctions and wallet screening, and obtain approval for a tokenizer account. OKXICE then issues a non-transferable soulbound token to the wallet.

OKXICE warns that token prices may diverge from underlying shares, particularly outside regular trading hours, when pool liquidity is low, or during halts and corporate actions. The venue also clarifies it is not SEC-registered for activities under the exemption and that the SEC has not passed on the merits or accuracy of its disclosures.

The public landing page still describes OKXICE TSV as coming and directs readers to the October 30 notice, with no launch date provided. The objection list does not disclose the individual issuers' reasons for their objections.