OKXICE, the crypto exchange OKX’s joint venture with NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), said on Nov. 11 that its Tokenized Securities Venue (TSV) will open for trading at 9 a.m. ET on Nov. 23.
The venture said it has confirmed more than 70 assets, but a representative said not all of the assets may trade on Nov. 23. Named issuers include Better.com, BitGo, Circle, Coinbase, Robinhood, Securitize and Strategy, which the venture said will also list its preferred stocks.
Strategy CEO Phong Le said in the announcement that tokenization on the venue is “a natural next step” for those stocks, such as STRC. Direxion is adding 59 exchange-traded funds.
Matt Hougan, Bitwise’s chief investment officer, said on Unchained on Nov. 9 that ICE sees tokenization, crypto and stablecoins “as the future of how finance works.”
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How Trading Will Work
Securitize provides the tokenization infrastructure. Each token is a “security entitlement” backed one-for-one by a U.S. share and recorded on the tokenizer’s books, according to the venture’s Nov. 5 public notice. Holders keep the applicable shareholder rights, such as dividends, voting and taking part in corporate actions, the venture said.
Buyers keep the tokens in their own wallets; the venture never holds them. Trading runs through automated market maker pools on Uniswap v4, deployed on X Layer, the Ethereum layer-2 chain OKX runs, and only approved wallets can trade or add liquidity.
At launch, the venue is open only to eligible U.S. customers of OKX Inc. who pass know-your-customer checks, set up the required OKX wallet and onboard with OKXICE.
“The future of finance is onchain, and we have an opportunity to build it here in America,” Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who co-chairs OKXICE with Trabue Bland, said in the announcement.
“OKXICE TSV reflects how we see markets evolving. Investors want access that is always on, and they want to know the rules behind it. We’re glad to see tokenized securities arrive through a compliant framework built on real shares and real shareholder rights,” said Kash Razzaghi, Circle’s chief commercial officer.
Issuer Objections
The venue runs under the Innovation Exemption, a five-year SEC order issued Sept. 17 that lets such venues trade tokenized stocks without registering as exchanges. Before listing a stock tokenized by an unaffiliated third party, a venue must give the issuer written notice and a chance to object.
The venture’s own public notice, dated Nov. 5 and published as the exemption requires, lists 67 issuers that had sent it a notice of objection by that date, among them Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Meta and Goldman Sachs.
ICE and OKX formed the joint venture in June, after ICE invested in OKX at a $25 billion valuation in March.
Related Listen: Why The Innovation Exemption Is a Glimpse at the Next Two Years in Crypto
