News about tokenized securities

Seven more companies, including JPMorgan Chase, Advanced Micro Devices, Coca-Cola, Applied Materials, Adobe, Dell Technologies and Sandisk, have objected to tokenized versions of their shares trading on the venue run by Intercontinental Exchange and OKX, raising the objection list to 33 from 26 in the prior version. Under the SEC exemption, an issuer has 30 calendar days from receiving notice to file a written objection, and the venue must disclose objections within five business days. The notice gives no reasons for objections and no launch date. It now also names Amazon Web Services as the cloud provider for the venue's website, back-end systems and databases, while Alibaba Cloud no longer appears in the technology and hosting rows.

The Depository Trust Company (DTC), a DTCC subsidiary, has launched the DTCC Tokenization Service (DTS), which lets eligible clients mint tokens representing securities held at DTC that can move to digital wallets while keeping the same ownership rights and investor protections. Twenty clients, including Alpaca, Citadel Securities, Citi, Fidelity Investments and JPMorgan, have signed agreements to use the service, and DTC has more than $114 trillion in assets under custody. The service currently runs on Canton Network and DTCC's Besu private network, with more blockchain networks planned for 2027, and DTCC says it creates a 'practical path' for tokenized securities adoption.

DTCC has launched its tokenization service on Canton Network and its private Besu blockchain, initially covering select large-cap Russell 1000 stocks, ETFs and U.S. Treasury securities. A DTCC spokesperson said 34 securities are eligible at launch, representing about $30 trillion in market value, and 20 firms including JPMorgan, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and UBS have signed agreements to access the service. The tokens are backed one-for-one by securities held at DTC and can move between registered wallets 24/7, while official ownership records stay with DTC. DTCC plans to add Stellar and Circle Internet's Arc blockchain in 2027, along with tools for settling transactions with digital cash and using tokenized securities as collateral.

IBM, Oracle, Intel and IonQ have objected to plans by OKX and ICE to offer blockchain-based versions of their shares, raising total issuer objections to 26. The four were named in an updated public notice dated Monday, Oct. 26, and were among the 62 companies on OKXICE's original roster, bringing objections from that original selection to 23, or about 37%, according to a CoinDesk tally. Under the SEC's five-year Innovation Exemption, venues can test round-the-clock blockchain trading, but issuers have 30 days to object before their shares are offered. Industry experts say objecting costs nothing, while staying silent lets trading begin without a way to withdraw consent later, and OKXICE co-chairman Andrew Cuomo said many companies prefer to 'wait and see how it goes.' Earlier objectors include Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, Cisco and Wells Fargo.