Elon Musk's SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX) and Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA), along with Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), Netflix (Nasdaq: NTFX), Lam Research (Nasdaq: LRCX), and SoFi Technologies (Nasdaq: SOFI), have f
Elon Musk's SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX) and Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA), along with Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), Netflix (Nasdaq: NTFX), Lam Research (Nasdaq: LRCX), and SoFi Technologies (Nasdaq: SOFI), have finally objected to the tokenization of their stocks on the OKXICE TSV.
OKXICE TSV is a proposed tokenized stock trading platform created by OKXICE, a 50-50 joint venture between the New York Stock Exchange parent company Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) and the OKX crypto exchange.
What are tokenized stocks? Why do they matter? (12:22)Tokenization is the process of using blockchain technology to turn real‑world assets (RWAs) such as stocks, real estate, government bonds, etc. into digital tokens, which can be traded fractionally, 24/7.
While the stock tokens offer traders from outside the U.S. indirect exposure to the American stock market, they don't offer shareholder rights such as ownership, voting, etc., like original stocks do.
It's the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) innovation exemption issued in September that allows exchanges like OKXICE to offer tokenized U.S. stocks without registering as exchanges.
But the exemption also allows companies to object to their stocks being tokenized by third parties like OKXICE.
The platform's initial notice got published on Oct. 4, and the SEC's rule lets notified companies object to the plan within 30 days. So, companies have until Nov. 3 to object to it.
This is exactly what companies like Tesla and SpaceX did today: exercise their power to protest the tokenized stock plan.
TheStreet Roundtable spoke to Markus Levin, co-founder of XYO, a cryptographic proof network for data and AI, to get insights on the subject.
“I read this as companies objecting to someone else tokenizing their stock rather than to tokenization itself, since a third-party token leaves the issuer with little visibility into who holds its shares or how votes and dividends reach them. "said Levin. I’d expect most of them to tokenize their own stock through their transfer agents once there’s a clear standard for keeping the token and the shareholder register in sync," he added.
Of the 62 companies OKXICE chose, 56 have registered their objection, as per the Nov. 2 public notice:
Related: What are tokenized stocks? Explained
So far, 13 companies have still not objected to OKXICE's tokenized stock plan:
Several of these companies, Strategy, Robinhood, Coinbase, Circle, Securitize, and BitGo, belong to the crypto industry.
Notably, Robinhood, Coinbase, Securitize, and BitGo are directly involved in the tokenized stock businesses.
As per Levin, crypto companies are highly dependent on more and more assets moving onchain for their growth, so objecting would undercut the case they make to their own investors.
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