Cagney Questions Whether OKXICE Stock Tokens Can Support Financing

Figure co-founder Mike Cagney questioned whether OKXICE’s planned tokenized-stock venue would serve investors seeking leverage or stock lending, putting the platform’s financing limits in focus as it plans a 24/7 market for U.S. shares.

The question sits alongside a separate constraint on how the proposed venue would operate. Under the SEC’s temporary framework, an issuer has 30 calendar days from receiving written notice to object to an unaffiliated third party’s tokenized stock on a particular venue. A timely objection prevents that venue from offering the token under the exemption, but does not bar other tokenization arrangements involving the same shares.

The framework also limits financing activity on a qualifying venue. It bars the venue from extending credit for tokenized stock purchases, borrowing securities or non-security crypto assets on the venue, or arranging or permitting those assets to be pledged there. OKXICE’s proposed trades would be fully funded, with no margin or borrowing.

Those venue-specific restrictions do not establish a general ban on lending the underlying shares elsewhere. Cagney’s question concerns whether investors would find the tokens useful for leverage or stock lending; the framework’s restrictions apply to activity on the qualifying platform.

OKXICE LLC, owned equally by Intercontinental Exchange Holdings, Inc. and OKC USA Holding Inc., is proposing a market for tokens tied to U.S. stocks. The plan calls for trading 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each token would be backed by one underlying share and carry rights equivalent to those of conventional shareholders, including dividends and votes.

Trading would take place in liquidity pools, where token prices may differ from the prices of the underlying shares. The gap may be more pronounced outside regular stock-market hours, when conventional markets are closed.

The proposed round-the-clock access and share backing do not remove the venue’s financing limits. OKXICE has not announced a launch date or a final list of stocks.