NewsCryptoApple and Meta Complete the Set: Every Magnificent Seven Stock Objects to OKX-ICE Tokenized Stock Venue

Apple and Meta Complete the Set: Every Magnificent Seven Stock Objects to OKX-ICE Tokenized Stock Venue

Author: Decrypt·

Key Takeaways

  • •Apple and Meta Platforms were among 11 companies added in OKXICE TSV's Nov. 5 notice, raising the total number of objecting issuers to 67.
  • •All seven "Magnificent Seven" companies—Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Tesla, and Meta—have now objected to tokenized versions of their stock being listed on the venue.
  • •Under the SEC's innovation exemption, a written objection filed within 30 days of notification bars a venue from offering third-party tokenized shares, though the objection applies only to that specific venue.
  • •Crypto-friendly companies such as Coinbase, Robinhood, and Strategy, along with Berkshire Hathaway, Visa, and Exxon Mobil, do not appear on the objector list, though their absence does not itself indicate a position on tokenized stocks elsewhere.
  • •OKXICE TSV, a 50-50 joint venture between Intercontinental Exchange and OKX's U.S. holding company, plans to offer tokenized U.S. stocks around the clock on OKX's XLayer blockchain, but the specific tokens available at launch remain undetermined.
Apple and Meta Complete the Set: Every Magnificent Seven Stock Objects to OKX-ICE Tokenized Stock Venue

Every member of Wall Street's "Magnificent Seven" now wants its stock kept off OKX and ICE's planned tokenized stock venue. Apple and Meta Platforms joined the list of objecting issuers in an updated notice from OKXICE TSV dated Thursday, Nov. 5, bringing the total number of companies saying "no" to the platform to 67.

The two tech giants were among 11 companies added in the latest notice. They join Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia and Tesla, completing a sweep by the group of tech giants that makes up a large share of the S&P 500's value. The other new objectors are Home Depot, Boeing, GE Vernova, Palantir, ServiceNow, S&P Global, KLA, Super Micro Computer and Nebius Group.

Under the SEC's innovation exemption, a timely objection bars the venue from listing a tokenized version of a company's stock created by an unaffiliated third party. The agency unveiled the exemption in September after the Clarity Act failed to advance in the Senate. Under the framework, a venue must notify a company before offering such shares, and if the company objects in writing within 30 days, the venue cannot make that stock available for trading, according to the SEC's order. The objection applies only to that venue, meaning an issuer that blocks its stock on OKXICE can still pursue tokenized-stock arrangements with other platforms.

Apple had been one of the last megacaps missing from the list. Amazon, Tesla and SpaceX objected in the venue's Nov. 2 notice, when the tally stood at 56 companies, up from nine on Oct. 15, when the first objectors appeared. The full sweep of the Magnificent Seven came roughly three weeks after those initial objections.

Meta's objection carries some irony. The Facebook parent once tried to launch its own stablecoin, Libra, later renamed Diem, before abandoning the project in 2022 amid regulatory pushback. The project was first unveiled in 2019 and faced scrutiny from regulators almost immediately.

Just as notable is who hasn't objected. Crypto-friendly public companies such as Coinbase, Robinhood and Strategy—the bitcoin-holding company formerly known as MicroStrategy—do not appear on the list. Coinbase launched tokenized stocks for non-U.S. users on its Base network in August. Berkshire Hathaway, Visa and Exxon Mobil are also absent. It is unclear whether OKXICE has notified those companies—and because objections here bind only this venue, their absence from the list does not itself indicate a position on tokenized stocks elsewhere.

OKXICE TSV, a 50-50 joint venture between NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange and OKX's U.S. holding company, plans to offer tokenized U.S. stocks 24/7 through permissioned pools on OKX's XLayer blockchain—a schedule that would extend well beyond the fixed trading hours of traditional U.S. exchanges. Under the venture's planned structure, an outside "tokenizer" would hold real shares one-for-one through a registered broker-dealer.

With the market's biggest names opted out, it is unclear which major stocks the venue will be able to offer at launch—an open question for a product built on around-the-clock access to U.S. stocks. OKXICE TSV's notices have so far not listed the specific tokens it plans to make available, leaving the responses of any further notified issuers and the venture's eventual launch lineup among the details to watch.