Wells Fargo, Intuit others object to their shares being tokenized- regulatory document

Six additional companies, such as Wells Fargo, Arm Holdings, and Intuit, have refused to permit their shares to be tokenized on a joint trading platform created by crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), according to a regulatory document obtained by Reuters. This fresh opposition adds to the difficulties faced by tokenization, a process that involves creating digital tokens representing stocks and trading them on a blockchain like cryptocurrencies.

In total, 22 companies have objected, as stated in the document outlining the rules of the OKXICE venture and the companies that have objected. Sixteen of these companies, including Microsoft and Alphabet, are listed on Nasdaq, while the remaining six are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, which ICE owns. The reason behind these objections remains undisclosed.

Arm and Intuit have not yet provided a comment, and a spokesperson for Wells Fargo also declined to comment. Tokenization advocates argue that digital tokens could revolutionize markets by enabling shares to be traded 24/7 and settled instantly. However, the joint venture between OKX and ICE has faced objections from the issuers.

The platform, named OKXICE, was initially planned to tokenize 63 stocks, but these companies are now opposing the listing of tokenized versions of their stocks.