OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced that their tokenized securities venue, OKXICE, will launch on November 23 at 9 a.m. ET. The platform will provide eligible U.S. investors with continuous, blockchain‑based trading of more than 70 assets, including individual stocks and exchange‑traded funds (ETFs), each backed one‑to‑one by underlying U.S. shares.
Initial Offering
The debut lineup features securities from crypto‑linked firms such as Coinbase, Circle, Robinhood, Strategy, BitGo, Better.com, and Securitize. Strategy will also list its preferred shares, while investment firm Direxion will contribute 59 ETFs.
Corporate Objections
Prior to the launch, 62 major companies—including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, Tesla, Boeing, JPMorgan Chase, Walmart, Coca‑Cola, and Eli Lilly—formally objected to having their shares tokenized on the venue. Fifty‑four of those objections came from companies originally targeted by OKXICE, representing roughly 87% of the initial proposed list.
Regulatory Framework
The platform operates under the SEC’s temporary Innovation Exemption, which permits qualified platforms to offer tokenized securities while allowing issuers to object. OKXICE is not a registered securities exchange or broker‑dealer and has not received SEC approval.
Technical Architecture
Trading will use automated market‑maker liquidity pools built on Uniswap v4 and deployed on X Layer, OKX’s Ethereum Layer 2 network. Smart contracts restrict trading and liquidity provision to authorized wallets, and participants will hold tokens in self‑custodial wallets.
Access Requirements
Initially, the service will be limited to eligible U.S.‑based OKX customers who have activated a CeDeFi Wallet, completed identity verification, and met onboarding criteria.
Comments
Strategy CEO Phong Le described the launch as a step toward broader digital credit access, while co‑chair of OKXICE, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, emphasized the potential for continuous, on‑chain finance in the United States.
