Microsoft, McDonald’s, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs have formally objected to their shares being traded through OKX-ICE’s proposed tokenised stock platform, presenting a challenge to the venture’s plans for round-the-clock equity trading.
An updated public notice dated 19 October 2026 lists Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG/GOOGL), Goldman Sachs (GS), Qualcomm (QCOM), Caterpillar (CAT), McDonald’s (MCD) and Western Digital (WDC) among the companies opposing the proposal.
The notice also names companies previously identified as objectors, including Broadcom, Verizon, UnitedHealth Group, CoreWeave, Rocket Lab, Cerebras Systems, AppLovin, Applied Digital and Applied Optoelectronics.
The dispute concerns a project designed to bring traditional shares on to blockchain infrastructure. OKX-ICE is not proposing instruments that merely track stock prices synthetically. Instead, its model would issue digital tokens supported by real shares held through a registered broker-dealer, with the tokens carrying corresponding dividend and voting rights.
However, the fact that the underlying shares are genuine does not remove the need for the companies concerned to approve their use.
The objections emerged as former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo promoted the project’s potential. Cuomo sits on OKX’s board and co-chairs the venture with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange.
Speaking at a news conference on 20 October attended by Bitcoin.com News, Cuomo described the Securities and Exchange Commission’s temporary regulatory framework as an experiment that allows companies to choose whether to take part.
“There’ll be other companies that say: I want to be the first in the pool,” Cuomo told reporters, indicating that some issuers could adopt the technology while others might prefer to wait.
He also questioned why shares should continue to be traded only during traditional market hours as businesses and investors operate across time zones.
“This is a 24-seven world,” he said.
How the proposed platform would work
OKX-ICE plans to offer continuous trading through permissioned Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on OKX’s X Layer blockchain. Approved participants would exchange tokenised shares for stablecoins including USDC, USDT and USDG.
The SEC’s temporary exemption includes a mechanism allowing issuers to object, providing companies with a formal route to challenge the tokenisation of their shares by third parties.
The latest filing does not state why the companies objected, nor does it demonstrate that they oppose blockchain-based securities as a whole. It confirms only that they have challenged the inclusion of their shares in the proposed system.
The objections highlight the gap between what blockchain technology can technically provide and what companies and regulators are prepared to permit. While the infrastructure could extend stock trading beyond established market hours, it does not override corporate preferences or regulatory requirements.
For OKX-ICE, creating a system capable of continuous trading may therefore be less difficult than persuading some of the largest listed companies in the United States to join it.
