Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, is the latest major company to tell OKX and Intercontinental Exchange to leave its stock off their planned tokenized trading venue. The number of companies opting out now stands at thirty-eight.
OKXICE TSV published an updated notice on Wednesday that lists five new objectors: Walmart, Eli Lilly, Cigna Group, Carnival and Arcos Dorados. A day earlier the total was 33, after seven additions that included JPMorgan Chase, Coca-Cola and Dell.
A list that hasn’t stopped growing
When the venue released its first list on Oct. 15, it contained nine names. That grew to 16 by Oct. 19, with Microsoft among them, and reached 22 when Wells Fargo objected on Oct. 23.
The current count is more than four times that opening figure. The newest round also reaches past tech and finance, adding companies from retail, health care and travel.
Arcos Dorados, which is Latin America’s largest McDonald’s franchisee, now appears alongside McDonald’s, which filed its own objection earlier this month. In health care, Eli Lilly and Cigna join UnitedHealth Group and Moderna.
How a single letter blocks a listing
These objections carry real weight. In September, after the Clarity Act stalled in the Senate, the SEC introduced its innovation exemption. That framework requires a venue to notify a company before it offers a version of the company’s shares tokenized by an unaffiliated third party.
According to the SEC’s order, a written objection from the company within 30 days means the venue can’t make the stock available for trading. The restriction applies only to that one venue.
None of the notices explain the companies’ reasons for objecting.
The venue OKXICE TSV has planned
Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the NYSE, and OKX’s U.S. holding company each hold half of the joint venture. The plan is for approved users to trade tokenized U.S. stocks 24 hours a day.
The two companies began working together on tokenized securities earlier this year and announced the 24/7 venue this month. Trading would take place in permissioned Uniswap v4 pools on OKX’s XLayer blockchain, with stocks paired against stablecoins such as USDC.
The exemption puts tight limits on the venue. It can list at most 75 of the largest and most liquid stocks, with trading in each held to 0.25% of its average daily volume. Up to 250 other stocks are allowed at a 2.5% cap.
Nvidia, Tesla, Apple and Amazon are still absent from the list
More names could follow. The SEC’s order gives companies 30 days after receiving notice to object, and several of the market’s most actively traded stocks, Nvidia, Tesla, Apple and Amazon among them, haven’t filed objections.
Companies can also take a different route. The venue has said it is able to list shares that issuers tokenize themselves, which would let companies decide directly how their stock appears onchain. So far, no notice mentions any listing of that kind.