Tesla and SpaceX Join 56 Firms Blocking OKXICE Tokenized Stocks

Image: Tesla

Tesla and SpaceX have objected to third-party tokenized versions of their shares trading on OKXICE, a planned crypto stock venue backed by the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.

The venue’s November 2 public notice brings its list of issuer objections to 56.

Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) join Amazon.com, Netflix, SoFi Technologies, and Lam Research as the six newest objectors. The venue’s October 30 notice listed 50 issuers and did not include Tesla or SpaceX.

OKXICE LLC is a Texas joint venture owned 50% by Intercontinental Exchange Holdings, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, and 50% by OKC USA Holding, the notice says.

The venue plans to offer tokenized U.S. stocks for secondary trading in pairs with payment stablecoins, using permissioned automated market maker pools. It does not operate an order book and says it will not hold customer assets.

Under the SEC’s September 17 innovation exemption for tokenized securities venues, a venue must give an issuer written notice before offering a version of its stock tokenized by an unaffiliated third party. If the issuer objects in writing within 30 calendar days of receiving that notice, the venue cannot make that third-party tokenized stock available for trading.

Issuers can still tokenize their own shares and list those on the venue. OKXICE’s notice says the joint venture itself does not issue or tokenize any of the tokenized stocks it would trade.

SpaceX appears in the notice as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. under the ticker SPCX.

Shareholders have had plenty of Tesla and SpaceX equity headlines this fall, from Musk’s claim that the two companies built wealth for hundreds of thousands of employees to Gwynne Shotwell’s gift of more than 2 million SpaceX shares.

Should more big issuers keep third-party tokenized versions of their stock off NYSE-backed crypto venues, or leave that door open?