Apple and Home Depot object to NYSE owner's tokenized stock plan
Apple, Home Depot and GE Vernova have joined a growing list of public companies objecting to a proposed venture backed by the parent of the New York Stock Exchange that would allow round-the-clock trading of tokenized shares.
Apple, Home Depot and GE Vernova have filed objections to a proposed venture that would let investors trade tokenized versions of their shares around the clock, raising the number of companies opposing the plan to 54. The venture is backed by OKX, a crypto exchange whose joint venture partners include the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, and it is co-chaired by Andrew Cuomo.
The three companies lodged their objections on Wednesday. Boeing and ServiceNow followed the next day. Earlier objectors include Microsoft, Alphabet, Nvidia, JPMorgan and Walmart, and the list also includes Wells Fargo, Nebius, Arm, Cerebras and Cigna. The proposed lineup covers 62 public companies, meaning more than eight in ten of the named firms have now said they do not want to be part of it.
Not every name on the original list has objected. Eight of the companies have not filed objections, most of them tied to the crypto industry. Those eight include Circle, Coinbase, Robinhood and Palantir. The venture did not say whether the objections would affect its launch plans.
The plan rests on a temporary exemption from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is set to take effect in September. The exemption would allow trading platforms to offer tokenized shares without registering as exchanges. Under the framework, platforms must notify the affected companies, and each firm then has 30 days to object.
The SEC approved the exemption two days after the Clarity Act, a crypto market-structure bill in Congress, stalled. That timing has drawn attention to the regulatory path the venture is relying on, at a moment when lawmakers have not settled the rules for digital assets.
Some companies have raised concerns beyond the regulatory question. Applied Optoelectronics said it is unsure how the offering would affect pricing and liquidity for its shares. The company also said it worries that investors could read its inclusion on the list as an endorsement of the offering, which it has not given.
Source: fortune.com
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