Key Takeaways
- Apple, Boeing, Home Depot, GE Vernova, ServiceNow, and Nebius Group are the latest companies to object to OKXICE’s tokenized stocks plan, bringing the total number of objectors to 62.
- Of the 62 companies originally targeted by OKXICE, 54 have objected, representing approximately 87% of the planned lineup. Just eight original targets have not filed objections.
- Eight companies have objected despite not being on OKXICE’s original list, including Wells Fargo, Arm Holdings, IREN, Palo Alto Networks, and Nebius Group, highlighting opposition beyond the platform’s initial targets.
The six additional objections were disclosed across public notices dated Nov. 3 and Nov. 4, extending a wave of corporate resistance to plans by cryptocurrency exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, to offer blockchain-based versions of U.S. equities.
Apple, Home Depot, and energy technology company GE Vernova appeared in the Nov. 3 notice, while aerospace giant Boeing, enterprise software provider ServiceNow, and AI infrastructure company Nebius Group were added in the Nov. 4 update.
Apple represents one of the most significant additions, joining fellow technology giants Microsoft, Nvidia, Google parent Alphabet, and Amazon in rejecting the platform’s proposed tokenization of their shares.
Boeing and Home Depot add two more established American corporations to the opposition, while GE Vernova expands the list of energy-sector objectors. Nebius is particularly notable given its focus on AI computing infrastructure and its role in the rapidly expanding market for data center capacity.
The latest additions bring the number of companies objecting to 62, up from 56 when Bitcoin.com News covered the developments on Nov. 3. At that point, Tesla, SpaceX, Amazon, Netflix, SoFi Technologies, and Lam Research were the newest companies to register their opposition.
The expanding list has significantly reduced OKXICE’s prospective lineup. Its original proposal identified 63 stocks representing 62 companies, with Alphabet accounting for two securities through its GOOG and GOOGL share classes.
Of those 62 companies, 54 have now formally objected, representing approximately 87% of the initially targeted businesses. Just eight have yet to appear on the published objection list.
Those remaining companies are Bitcoin treasury giant Strategy, Coinbase, Robinhood, Circle, Palantir Technologies, Super Micro Computer, Securitize, and BitGo. Their absence from the objection list does not necessarily indicate support for OKXICE or guarantee their inclusion when trading begins.
Eight Objectors Weren’t Originally Targeted
Another eight companies have filed objections despite not appearing in OKXICE’s initial selection of stocks. They are Cerebras Systems, Arm Holdings, Wells Fargo, Arcos Dorados, Cigna Group, bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure company IREN, cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks, and the newly added Nebius Group.
The distinction is significant because the 62 total objectors cannot be directly compared against the 62 companies originally selected for the platform. These eight additional objections demonstrate that resistance extends beyond the businesses OKXICE initially identified for tokenization.
The proposed trading venue would allow investors to exchange tokenized representations of American stocks at any hour, using stablecoins and blockchain infrastructure rather than relying exclusively on conventional stock exchange hours. The platform plans to use permissioned Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on OKX’s X Layer blockchain, with tokens backed by actual shares held through registered broker-dealers.
OKXICE is operating under temporary regulatory exemptions introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission in September, which permit qualifying platforms to pursue tokenized securities trading while giving issuers the opportunity to object.
The notices do not specify why individual businesses filed objections, and the decisions should not be interpreted as blanket rejections of stock tokenization. Companies may have concerns about how third parties represent their securities without necessarily opposing the underlying technology.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who serves as an OKX board member and OKXICE co-chair, previously addressed the growing resistance at an October press conference covered by Bitcoin.com News.
Cuomo described tokenized stock trading as an early-stage market development, suggesting that companies would become more receptive as they gained experience with the technology. He also argued that the global nature of financial markets makes continuous trading increasingly attractive compared with traditional exchange schedules.
The objections arrive as the initial 30-day response period for companies notified on Oct. 4 has reached its conclusion, although deadlines depend on when individual issuers received their notices. Additional objections could still be disclosed because venues have up to five business days to publish them.
With nearly nine in 10 of its original corporate targets now opposing the proposal, OKXICE faces an increasingly limited selection of stocks for its planned launch. The venture has not announced a firm launch date or a final list of securities that will be available when trading begins.
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