[Crypto Radar] Even the NYSE Is Issuing Tokenized Stocks... But South Korea...

Global Exchange OKX and NYSE 'Join Forces'
24/7 Trading of Nvidia and Other Stocks
South Korea Only Now Drawing Up Detailed Rules
Launch of Fractional Investment Market for Testing Also Delayed

A global cryptocurrency exchange is partnering with the New York Stock Exchange to issue tokenized stocks. It plans to create a platform where users can trade stocks such as Nvidia and Tesla 24 hours a day. Exchanges were established in Europe several years ago, and trading there is already active. South Korea, by contrast, appears to be lagging even in product trading, with detailed regulations only now being drawn up and the launch of a simulated market for fractional investment, still at an early stage, being delayed.

On October 4 (local time), global cryptocurrency exchange OKX notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of its plans to pursue a tokenized stock trading platform in the United States. To this end, OKX established a joint venture, OKXICE, in June 2026 with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was named co-chair. OKX is one of the three co-largest shareholders of South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinone, with a 20% stake.

OKXICE was established with the goal of providing tokenized trading in shares of more than 60 U.S.-listed companies. Companies mentioned as potential candidates for tokenized stock support include the Magnificent Seven (M7), a group of major tech companies comprising Nvidia, Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet. Other companies expected to be included range from traditional financial institutions such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, to cryptocurrency companies such as Coinbase, Circle and Robinhood, as well as Walmart, Netflix and others. Users will trade using stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and Circle's USDC. However, participation by these companies has not been confirmed. Listed companies will be notified at least 30 days in advance of a request to authorize trading through the platform and may reject tokenized trading.

Users of the platform will be able to trade stocks in real time, 24 hours a day, including weekends and public holidays, without being bound by set market hours. Since trading will be based on dollar stablecoins, transactions are also expected to be immediate. In traditional order-book trading, users must wait until a buyer's and seller's desired prices match. On this platform, however, trades will be made against a blockchain-based liquidity pool, allowing them to be executed immediately without a wait. Users will also benefit from real-time settlement, with payment completed at the time of the trade, unlike in existing markets, where it takes two to three business days to complete payment and delivery of securities. High-priced stocks can be divided into fractions, allowing users to invest small amounts, and tokenized stocks on the platform will be backed one-to-one by actual shares, potentially retaining existing shareholder rights such as dividends and voting rights.

This is not the first issuance of tokenized stocks. What sets this case apart is that a leading U.S. stock exchange and a cryptocurrency exchange will begin trading through formal procedures under the U.S. SEC's regulatory framework. Previously, tokenized stocks were traded as over-the-counter derivatives that circumvented regulations. The decentralized exchange Hyperliquid lists major U.S. stocks and indices as perpetual futures contracts and supports leveraged trading. Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, introduced tokenized stocks linked to the actual prices of companies such as Coinbase and Apple in April 2021, but discontinued the service just three months later after financial regulators in Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries ordered it to cease local operations. OKXICE will make use of the "innovation exemption" announced by the SEC on September 17. The exemption allows tokenized stock trading platforms to trade tokenized stocks for five years without registering as exchanges.

In Europe and elsewhere, tokenized bonds—not just stocks—are also being actively issued. One prominent example is SDX (SIX Digital Exchange), part of the SIX Group, Switzerland's national stock exchange. SDX is a regulated securities exchange that directly issues and trades securities using distributed ledger technology. It was the first in the world to receive both formal approval from a financial regulator, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, and a central securities depository license. In 2021, SDX issued digital bonds worth 150 million Swiss francs (approximately 241 billion won). In August 2026, it issued a 350 million Swiss franc digital benchmark bond for the Africa Finance Corporation, bringing its cumulative issuance to more than 1.83 billion Swiss francs (approximately 3 trillion won).

South Korea, by contrast, is only now drawing up detailed regulations. On October 1, the Financial Services Commission gave advance notice of proposed subordinate regulations for amendments to the Electronic Securities Act and the Capital Markets Act, which are scheduled to take effect in February 2027. The proposed regulations include stocks, bonds and funds among the securities eligible for tokenization. However, some say that while the basic framework has been put in place, it will take time to flesh out the details. "The actual scope of business will be specified in the enforcement decree and supervisory regulations," said Kim Jiwon, a researcher at KB Securities. "Matters delegated to subordinate regulations will be finalized after advance notice and public consultation, while some issues, including the distribution of investment contract securities and on-chain settlement, require further review." In particular, linking the system to existing settlement infrastructure at banks and securities firms is necessary for functions such as holding subscription funds and simultaneous settlement of securities and payment. Some have expressed disappointment that on-chain settlement using stablecoins will not be introduced in the initial system and is instead being pursued as a Phase 3 task—the final stage of the financial authorities' plan to build token securities infrastructure.

The opening of a market for live trading tests has also been delayed. In September 2026, the Korea Exchange decided to postpone the launch of a new-securities market it had been preparing for trading fractional investment products. Fractional investment can be viewed as an early stage of token securities. The Korea Exchange delayed for a considerable period the launch of the simulated new-securities market, which had been scheduled to operate for six weeks starting October 6 for system testing. As a result, the official market launch, which had been scheduled for November 16, was also postponed. New securities are securities created by securitizing non-standardized rights that differ from conventional standardized stocks and bonds. The simulated market was set to trade artworks, livestock, copyrights and other assets in the form of new securities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.