Is Crypto Taking Over Stock Trading? Not Yet—67 Companies Push Back
The tokenization of U.S. stock trading is gaining momentum, with a new tokenized securities platform set to launch on Nov. 23 despite objections from 67 publicly traded companies.OKXICE, a joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange , plans to offer more than 70 tokenized stocks and 59 ETFs from Direxion.Bloomberg on Wednesday highlighted that of the 62 companies initially targeted by OKXICE, 56 objected to having their shares traded on the platform. 67 companies have overall pushed back against the plans.The six without disclosed objections include crypto-linked companies Coinbase Global , Strategy and Robinhood Markets .Major companies, including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and JPMorgan Chase, opposed the plans.Under the SEC’s Innovation Exemption, companies have 30 days to object to third-party platforms tokenizing their shares.Former New York Governor and OKXICE co-chair Andrew Cuomo said growing demand for around-the-clock trading is pushing traditional markets toward blockchain-based infrastructure.The Next Battleground: Crypto Perpetual Futures The CFTC recently approved equity-linked perpetual futures, allowing round-the-clock trading without expiration dates.Prediction market Kalshi has launched contracts tied to over 50 companies, including Meta, McDonald’s and SpaceX.On the other side, Capital Markets Alliance has challenged the approval in court, while Intercontinental Exchange is developing a Hyperliquid-based platform with Trade.xyz, pending regulatory clearance.How Is Nasdaq Responding?Nasdaq is taking a different approach, rejecting plans to tokenize its own shares on third-party venues over concerns about pricing transparency and investor protections.The exchanged is instead investing $100 million in Payward, Kraken’s parent company, to develop tokenized stock trading infrastructure.Its proposed system would give public companies greater control over their tokenized shares while connecting regulated markets with blockchain networks.Preview Image: Shutterstock