OKX and ICE Plan 24/7 Tokenized US Stock Trading

OKXICE, the joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission on October 4 of plans for round-the-clock tokenized stock trading.

Its initial list covers more than 60 US stock symbols, including Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia. The proposed venue combines automated trading with on-chain access controls, a related area of development for Cardano’s CIP-113 programmable token framework.

OKXICE Uses the SEC’s Innovation Exemption

ICE, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, announced its investment in OKX in March. The companies outlined cooperation on regulated markets, digital asset infrastructure, clearing and risk management, including planned access to tokenized equities.

OKXICE’s notice follows the SEC’s September 17 Innovation Exemption. The temporary framework allows qualifying venues to trade tokenized US stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools under a conditional exemption from the statutory definition of an exchange.

The framework requires equivalent shareholder rights, public and auditable smart contracts, and limits on trading volume and stock symbols. Venues must also honor trading halts on the underlying stock’s primary exchange. The exemption runs for five years and remains subject to its operating conditions.

Uniswap v4 Pools Require Verified Wallets

Trading would take place through Uniswap v4 liquidity pools deployed on X Layer.

OKXICE’s custom smart contract extension, the TSV Hook, would enforce access requirements. The venue would use pools rather than an order book and would not take custody of participants’ assets.

Participants would complete identity, anti-money laundering, sanctions and wallet checks. They would also need an approved account with the tokenization provider. Once approved, their wallet would receive a non-transferable soulbound token confirming eligibility.

The interface and pool contracts would check that credential before trading and liquidity actions. Access could be revoked if a participant lost eligibility or became subject to restrictions.

Each stock would trade against USDC, USDG or USDT. For third-party tokenization, the notice describes underlying shares held one-for-one through a registered broker-dealer, with token holders entitled to the corresponding shareholder rights.

Cardano CIP-113 and Token Transfer Controls

Cardano’s CIP-113 gives issuers a framework for defining how programmable tokens can be minted, burned and transferred. Rules can require verified recipients, check sanctions restrictions or limit transfers according to an asset’s specific requirements.

The distinction concerns what the transaction checks. OKXICE’s pool contracts verify whether a wallet may trade or provide liquidity on its venue. With CIP-113, token-specific scripts check whether a transfer satisfies the issuer’s rules. Wallets and applications handling those tokens must construct transactions that meet the required checks.

The Cardano Foundation has released an open-source platform and reference implementations for testing issuance, transfers and application integrations.

Those tools address the token’s behavior, while a securities venue also needs arrangements for underlying shares, shareholder rights and market access.

Issuer objections already affect OKXICE’s proposed offering. Its notice records a formal objection from Cerebras Systems, which is absent from the initial stock list.

Under the SEC framework, a venue cannot offer a third-party tokenized version of an issuer’s stock over its objection. Cerebras therefore remains outside the proposed lineup despite the platform’s planned technical support for tokenized equities.