OKX and Intercontinental Exchange will launch their OKXICE tokenized securities venue on Nov. 23 under the SEC's five-year innovation exemption. The date holds even though 67 companies have opted out of having their tokenized shares trade there, and Nasdaq has criticized the exemption.
OKXICE, the joint venture between OKX and NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange, will launch its tokenized securities venue on Nov. 23. The venue operates under the SEC's innovation exemption, which lets operators bring US capital markets on-chain without registering as traditional exchanges.
The companies announced the date on Wednesday. The exemption lasts five years and covers tokenized US stocks traded through approved automated liquidity pools.
70 assets confirmed, including 59 ETFs
ICE and OKX said they have confirmed 70 assets so far, from issuers including Coinbase, Circle and Robinhood, as well as 59 exchange-traded funds (ETF). The venue is open to US customers who hold a CeDeFi Wallet and have completed onboarding.
According to OKXICE co-chair Andrew Cuomo, "The future of finance is onchain".
Dozens of issuers opt out
Not every company wants its shares on the venue. Under the exemption, issuers can decide that their stock should not trade on certain venues, and 67 companies had opted out as of the latest filing on Nov. 5. They include Meta Platforms, Inc., The Home Depot, Netflix, Tesla and Costco.
Applied Optoelectronics, one of those companies, told the Wall Street Journal that it was unsure how tokenization would affect its stock price, liquidity and volatility. The fiber-optic maker also worried that investors might be confused about its involvement in the offering.
Nasdaq pushes back
Nasdaq has taken a different view. Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer John Zecca wrote in a Barron's op-ed on Tuesday that the exchange plans to opt its own stock out of tokenized securities venues.
Zecca's main concern is that the exemption allows tokenized securities to trade outside the National Market System, which maintains a market data, reporting and transparency framework. He said that could lead to fragmentation.
Sources: The Block, crypto.news
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