Elon Musk’s Companies Join Wave of 67 Firms Rejecting OKX-ICE Tokenized Shares

Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX have joined the companies pushing back against the OKX-ICE tokenized stock trading proposal, taking the total number of objections to 67. The latest additions also include Palantir, S&P Global, KLA, Super Micro Computer, and Meta. Consequently, 56 of the 62 companies initially included in the project have now opposed the proposed trading of their shares through the platform.

The opposition comes as Musk recently reacted to a separate ICE-backed initiative involving Hyperliquid. On October 29, he responded “Interesting” to billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller’s announcement of an investment in Trade[XYZ], which is working with ICE to introduce Hyperliquid-based perpetual futures trading in the United States.

Tesla and SpaceX Add to Corporate Resistance Against OKX-ICE

The growing number of objections is creating significant uncertainty for the OKX-ICE tokenized stock project. The proposed venture brings together cryptocurrency exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange.

The initiative aims to offer blockchain-based versions of US-listed stocks, allowing investors to trade outside conventional market hours using stablecoins such as USDC. However, an increasing number of publicly traded companies are exercising their rights to block third-party platforms from offering tokenized representations of their shares.

Tesla and SpaceX were included in OKX-ICE’s November 2 notification, alongside Amazon, Netflix, Lam Research, and SoFi Technologies. Further updates have since increased the number of objections to 67.

The original proposal covered 62 companies across 63 planned stock tickers. With 56 of those companies now filing objections, the project is facing substantial resistance from the businesses whose securities it intends to tokenize.

Under the SEC’s temporary Innovation Exemption, trading platforms must notify companies before listing third-party tokenized versions of their shares. Issuers have 30 days to challenge the proposed listings, and successful objections can prevent the affected tokenized securities from being offered.

However, companies rejecting these particular listings are not necessarily against tokenization. They can still develop independent blockchain-based securities products or work with other providers to introduce tokenized shares.

The OKX-ICE proposal involves permissioned liquidity pools on OKX’s X Layer blockchain, supported by Uniswap v4 trading infrastructure. Investors would also need to complete identity verification and sanctions screening before accessing the platform.

The project intends to combine blockchain settlement with continuous trading availability. However, the rising number of corporate objections could limit the range of stocks available when the service launches.

Musk’s Hyperliquid Reaction Highlights a Separate ICE Partnership

Tesla and SpaceX’s opposition also creates an interesting contrast with Musk’s recent response to another blockchain initiative involving ICE.

On October 29, billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller announced an investment in Trade[XYZ] and revealed plans to use its products following the company’s partnership with Intercontinental Exchange.

Musk reacted to the announcement on X with the brief comment “Interesting.”

The separate agreement focuses on bringing perpetual futures trading to US markets through Hyperliquid’s blockchain infrastructure. ICE will provide the regulated exchange and clearing framework, while Trade[XYZ] will develop the markets using Hyperliquid technology.

The planned platform aims to offer perpetual contracts that operate around the clock and track multiple asset classes, including cryptocurrencies, equities, commodities, and foreign exchange.

ICE is also making a strategic investment in Trade[XYZ], strengthening its involvement in the development of blockchain-based financial markets.

The two developments demonstrate the different challenges facing tokenized financial products. While Tesla and SpaceX are among the companies opposing third-party stock tokenization through OKX-ICE, Musk’s response to the separate Hyperliquid partnership has drawn attention to ICE’s expanding interest in blockchain-powered trading infrastructure.