Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman reject OKXICE stock tokens

Microsoft, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs are among seven more companies that have objected to tokenized copies of their shares trading on OKXICE, the planned venue from crypto exchange OKX and NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). The names appear in the joint venture's updated public notice dated Oct. 19, CoinDesk reports, taking the disclosed number of objecting issuers to 16.

Who has said no

The new additions are:

• Microsoft (MSFT)
• Alphabet (GOOG and GOOGL)
• Goldman Sachs (GS)
• Qualcomm (QCOM)
• Caterpillar (CAT)
• McDonald's (MCD)
• Western Digital (WDC)

They join the nine companies listed last week: Broadcom, Verizon, UnitedHealth, CoreWeave, AppLovin, Applied Digital, Rocket Lab, Applied Optoelectronics and Cerebras Systems, as we reported in our first story on the OKXICE objections. The notice gives no reasons and does not say when each objection was filed.

How much of the roster is left

OKXICE's original notice named 63 tickers covering 62 companies (Alphabet appears twice, once for each share class). Fifteen of those companies have now objected, which leaves 47 without a disclosed objection. Cerebras was never on the proposed list.

Why issuers get a veto

OKXICE announced its plans on Oct. 5. It wants to run under the SEC's five-year "Innovation Exemption", unveiled last month, which allows qualifying venues to trade tokenized U.S. stocks through automated market makers and liquidity pools. The venue plans round-the-clock trading settled in stablecoins, with each token backed one-for-one by a real share and carrying the same dividend and voting rights.

The framework also gives the companies behind those shares a chance to object, and that is the catch. Every blue-chip name that opts out makes the product less useful, at a time when rivals such as Binance's bStocks are already competing for the same traders.

What to watch

Further updated notices from OKXICE will show whether the list of holdouts keeps growing, and whether the SEC or the venue responds to the pushback before launch.