Walmart and Lilly Lead Clash Over Tokenized Stock Plans
Walmart, Eli Lilly join growing pushback against OKX–ICE tokenized stock plans
Walmart and Eli Lilly are among the latest public companies to object to having tokenized versions of their shares listed on a proposed tokenized-stock trading venue being developed by crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.
According to an updated public notice cited in coverage of the OKX–ICE joint venture, five additional companies have objected, bringing the total number of issuer objections to 38.
The objections matter because the planned venue aims to let investors trade tokenized U.S. equities around the clock. While tokenization is often framed as a technical upgrade to market infrastructure, the latest pushback highlights that tokenized equities also have to clear practical hurdles around issuer authorization, regulatory process, and governance.
The notice did not provide reasons for the objections. Under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Sept. 17 “innovation exemption” framework, tokenized-stock venues must give issuers written notice before listing third-party tokenized representations of their shares. Issuers then have a defined window to respond; an objection blocks the listing of that company’s tokenized shares on the venue.
The growing opt-out list includes some of the most widely held names in U.S. markets. Earlier reporting cited companies such as Microsoft, Alphabet, McDonald’s, Wells Fargo and Cisco among those objecting, alongside other large-cap issuers.
The OKX–ICE effort is also unfolding as competition intensifies. A separate tokenized-stock venue being built on Canton is preparing to launch with an issuer-sponsored stock under the same SEC framework, underscoring two diverging approaches: third-party tokenization that depends on issuer non-objection, and tokenization initiated with issuer participation.
For the broader tokenized-asset market, the episode is an early test of whether tokenized equities can scale in the U.S. without more explicit issuer buy-in, and how effectively new SEC pathways translate into workable market structure.
