OKX-ICE venue plans permissioned trading for tokenized US stocks

OKXICE, a joint venture between OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, says it plans an on-chain venue for trading tokenized US stocks under a temporary SEC exemption. The Block reported on Oct. 5 that the venture had notified the SEC; OKXICE’s own public notice, dated Oct. 4, describes how the proposed venue would work. The plan matters because it would bring stock trading onto blockchain pools while keeping access restricted to approved participants.

How would the trading venue work?

The venue would match trades through automated market maker pools, not a conventional order book. OKXICE says the pools would use Uniswap v4 contracts deployed on XLayer, a public blockchain. Each pool would pair one tokenized stock with a payment stablecoin: USDC, USDG or USDT.

Prices would move with the pool’s balances. Under Uniswap’s constant-product formula, a purchase reduces the stock tokens in a pool and raises their price; a sale adds tokens and lowers it. A participant would choose a stock, payment token and quantity, review a quote, then approve the transaction in a self-custodial wallet. The quote would last about 15 seconds. If the trade moved beyond the participant’s chosen slippage limit, the transaction would fail, though network fees could still apply.

Who can use the pools, and what does the token represent?

Only wallets OKXICE approves could trade or provide liquidity. The OKXICE public notice says applicants would pass identity, anti-money-laundering, sanctions and wallet checks, then receive a non-transferable soulbound token, or SBT. The venue’s smart contract checks for a valid SBT before each trade. It acts like an entry pass tied to a wallet.

The notice lists more than 60 planned stocks, including Nvidia, Apple, Tesla, Coinbase and Robinhood. For tokens created by an outside tokenizer, the notice says a registered broker-dealer would hold the underlying shares one-for-one. To create tokens, the tokenizer would buy shares through a broker-dealer and issue tokens after confirming custody. To redeem, it would burn tokens and sell or deliver the corresponding shares.

OKXICE says listed tokens must provide the same shareholder rights as the underlying stock, including dividends and voting rights. The venue says it would not hold participants’ assets or operate an order book.

Does the notice mean the venue is open?

No. The Oct. 4 notice describes a proposed operation under the SEC’s temporary conditional exemption; it does not say trading has begun. OKXICE says the venue is not registered with the SEC for these activities, and the SEC has not reviewed the notice’s accuracy or merits. The exemption remains subject to SEC oversight, and the notice says operating outside its conditions could trigger enforcement.

Sources and documents

• Block reported — theblock.co
• OKXICE public notice — okx.com