Wells Fargo, Arm and Intuit say no to tokenized shares on OKXICE as objections reach 22 of 63 planned stocks

Big listed companies keep declining the invitation. Six more companies, including Wells Fargo, Arm Holdings and Intuit, have objected to having their shares tokenized on OKXICE, Reuters reported on Friday, October 23, citing a regulatory document that sets out the venue's rules and lists the objectors. That brings the count to 22 of the 63 stocks the joint venture of crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange planned to tokenize; Cointelegraph, reporting the same tally, put the planned list at 62. Reuters did not name the other three new objectors, and did not say why the companies objected.

The number has climbed in steps. OKXICE's October 15 notice listed nine objectors, including Broadcom, Verizon and UnitedHealth; by October 19 the list had grown to 16 with Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Caterpillar, McDonald's, Western Digital and Alphabet, per Unchained, which noted that Nvidia, Tesla, Apple and Amazon had not objected as of that notice. Sixteen of the 22 are Nasdaq-listed and the remaining six trade on the NYSE, which ICE owns, per Reuters and Cointelegraph.

The mechanics come from the SEC's innovation exemption, issued on September 17 for five years. Before listing a token of shares the issuer did not create, a venue must send written notice and wait at least 30 calendar days; an objection within that window keeps the token off the venue, and the venue has five business days to disclose it, per Unchained. Nasdaq, which is building its own tokenized-stock platform with Kraken's parent Payward for next year, pointed Reuters to its September guidance, which said that "issuers must be cautious about their participation." Andrew Cuomo, OKXICE's co-chairman, has said a wait-and-see approach from companies is natural, Reuters noted, citing CoinDesk. Wells Fargo and Intuit declined to comment to Reuters; Arm did not immediately respond.

What happens next: OKXICE has not announced a launch date, and Unchained could not find an updated public notice on its website beyond October 19.