USDICE, OKX Form Tokenized Markets Venture
Regulatory Approval Remains Central to Wall Street-Crypto Push
TL;DR
- ICE and OKX are forming a joint venture focused on tokenization and digital asset infrastructure.
- The venture aims to connect OKX users with ICE futures and NYSE tokenized equities markets.
- Andrew Cuomo is leading the effort alongside ICE, with regulatory approval still required.
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Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, and OKX are forming a joint venture to connect traditional financial markets with digital asset infrastructure, with the plan disclosed on June 22, 2026, and aimed at giving OKX’s 120 million users access to ICE futures and NYSE tokenized equities markets.
The venture is designed to build infrastructure for tokenization, digital asset products and regulated blockchain-enabled market access. It remains subject to regulatory approval, making the project a proposed market-structure initiative rather than a live product launch.
If approved, the venture is expected to operate as a U.S.-registered broker-dealer and a futures commission merchant. That structure would place the effort inside formal regulated-market channels as ICE and OKX seek to connect traditional exchange products with digital asset distribution.
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Venture Targets Futures and Tokenized Equities
The companies plan to explore regulatory-compliant blockchain-enabled markets, including access to tokenized assets that could trade around the clock. Specific details about the products, blockchain systems, settlement model, custody setup, token standard, issuer framework and compliance workflow were not disclosed.
A spokesperson for OKX said the venture will focus on tokenizing NYSE-listed equities. The planned access covers users in the United States and overseas, though the available information does not clarify whether all users would receive the same access, which jurisdictions would be eligible or how compliance restrictions would apply.
Trabue Bland, senior vice president at ICE, said the joint venture was part of a long-term infrastructure effort. “The ICE-OKX joint venture is a step towards building the infrastructure that will define how global markets operate in the decades ahead.” Bland also said ICE hopes to broaden its offerings to the retail traders using OKX.
Andrew Cuomo is leading the venture alongside ICE. Cuomo is identified as a former New York Governor, New York’s 56th governor, former New York State Attorney General and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Cuomo said, “The next chapter of financial markets will be defined by how well innovation and government regulation can move forward together.” He added, “I am personally excited by the prospect of the societal impact that blockchain technology can lead to: the democratization of finance, bringing basic financial services to underserved populations.”
The new venture follows an earlier strategic investment by ICE in OKX. ICE previously took a minority stake in OKX, and the companies later announced plans to introduce tokenized stocks and crypto futures products.
Earlier this year, ICE and OKX brought crypto-native perpetual futures for oil to market for non-U.S. residents. That product history places the tokenized equities venture within an existing relationship around crypto-native market products rather than as a standalone initiative.
ICE’s broader digital asset activity also includes being a long-time backer of Bakkt. ICE has also invested in crypto-powered prediction market Polymarket, adding the new OKX venture to a wider set of digital asset market infrastructure efforts.
The legal and product structure of the tokenized equities remains unresolved. The available information does not state whether the tokens would represent direct equity ownership, receipts, synthetic exposure, brokerage claims or another legal structure.
The venture should not be treated as a confirmed launch of tokenized NYSE shares. The disclosed plan is to create regulated infrastructure that could enable access to ICE futures and NYSE tokenized equities markets after required approvals.
FAQ
What are ICE and OKX forming?
A joint venture focused on tokenization, digital asset infrastructure and regulated market access.
Is the venture already approved?
No. The venture remains subject to regulatory approval.
What role does Andrew Cuomo have?
Andrew Cuomo is leading the venture alongside ICE.
What product details remain unclear?
The blockchain, custody, settlement model, token structure and eligible jurisdictions were not disclosed.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
