Apple and Meta Block Third-Party Stock Tokens on OKXICE

All Magnificent Seven issuers object to OKXICE

In its November 5 notice, OKXICE said it had received objections from issuers including Meta Platforms, Palantir, S&P Global, KLA and Super Micro Computer. Apple first appeared in the November 3 notice. The notices gave no reasons for either company’s decision.

Apple and Meta joined Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla on the list. Since Nvidia and Nike appeared in the October 30 disclosure, the venue has published four updates naming 17 additional objectors. Amazon and Tesla appeared on November 2, leaving Apple as the last Magnificent Seven company from the original roster to object publicly. Meta was outside that roster.

A comparison with the October 4 public notice shows how much of the initial offering has narrowed. Of the 62 companies first named, 56, or about 90%, appeared on the November 5 objection list. The original notice contained 63 ticker symbols because it included two Alphabet share classes. Eleven objectors, including Meta, were outside the original roster.

The six companies on the original roster without a disclosed objection in the November 5 notice were Strategy, Robinhood, Coinbase, Circle, Securitize and BitGo. Each has a business tied to crypto or tokenization. Their absence from the objection list establishes only what the venue has disclosed. The November 5 notice provides no opening lineup.

SEC gives issuers 30 days to object to stock tokens

Under Section II.D of the SEC’s September 17 order, a venue must send written notice to a company before offering a token created by a third party unaffiliated with that issuer. The company has 30 calendar days from receipt to object in writing. A timely objection bars that token from trading on the notifying venue under the exemption.

The venue has five business days to disclose a timely objection. That gap explains why a name can appear in the public archive days after a company responds. The archive gives the publication date, while the deadline depends on the date each company received its own notice. The notices reviewed here do not disclose those individual receipt dates.

The rule concerns tokens that convey the rights of an equivalent share class, including voting rights and dividends. OKXICE says its proposed third-party model would use a broker-dealer to hold one underlying share for each outstanding token. That backing would address what the token represents. Listing eligibility would still depend on the issuer notice process and the order’s other conditions.

The American Securities Association, a trade group for regional financial firms, asked the SEC in a November 6 comment letter to require issuers to consent before a venue lists an unaffiliated third-party token. Its request would shift the default from silence permitting an otherwise eligible listing to requiring an affirmative response. The September order’s notice-and-objection framework remains in place.

OKXICE has yet to name its opening stock lineup

A different venue has already put issuer-backed shares into trading under the same exemption. TSV LLC’s November 4 revision disclosed that it had started trading tokenized common shares of Canton Strategic Holdings on Canton Network. The company had arranged to tokenize its own stock through a transfer agent, as described in earlier coverage of the planned CNTN listing.

That arrangement gives the listed company a direct role in bringing its shares on-chain. OKXICE’s original roster sought much broader exposure, including companies that had made no similar public arrangement. With about nine in 10 of those issuers on the objection list, the key measure of the venture’s reach will be the securities that actually become available for trading.

The OKXICE venue page still described the platform as forthcoming when checked November 9 and listed November 5 as its latest notice. The SEC’s directory of prospective venues records OKXICE’s October 4 submission. The agency says the directory records who notified it of plans to operate, while compliance depends on meeting the order’s conditions.

Alternative.me’s Crypto Fear & Greed Index registered 29, in its Fear range, on November 9, compared with 28 a day earlier.

OKXICE has yet to announce when customers can trade or which stocks will be available on opening day. Its next notice can establish whether the venue has begun trading, which securities it has made available and whether more companies have objected.