Apple and Meta have declined to support plans by OKX and Intercontinental Exchange to bring tokenized versions of U.S. equities to their platforms, according to people familiar with the discussions. The decision leaves the project without access to the two largest consumer app stores and forces crypto firms to carry the initiative forward on their own infrastructure.
The proposed offering would have allowed users to trade blockchain representations of stocks such as Apple and Tesla with 24/7 settlement on a permissioned ledger operated jointly by OKX and ICE. Internal documents reviewed by CCN showed projected daily volumes of $180 million within the first year, based on existing tokenized asset flows at ICE's Bakkt subsidiary.
"The rejections make clear that the next phase of tokenized equity growth will be driven by platforms already native to blockchain rails rather than those still negotiating with legacy gatekeepers."
Rejection by the app stores appears driven by unresolved questions around securities classification and custody requirements under U.S. regulations. Both companies maintain strict policies against hosting apps that facilitate trading in instruments that could be deemed unregistered securities, a stance reinforced after the SEC's 2023 enforcement actions against several crypto exchanges.
On-chain data already signals where activity is shifting. Dune Analytics dashboards tracking RWA protocols show that decentralized platforms including Ondo Finance and Centrifuge processed $2.1 billion in tokenized Treasury and equity volume during September, up 67 percent from June levels. These venues operate without app-store dependencies and settle directly on Ethereum and Polygon.
Institutional desks are taking note. A September survey by Fidelity Digital Assets found that 41 percent of surveyed asset managers plan to allocate to tokenized equities within 18 months, citing reduced settlement times from T+2 to under four hours and 24-hour liquidity as primary drivers. The same respondents flagged regulatory clarity as the largest remaining hurdle.
Crypto-native exchanges now hold the clearest path to distribution. OKX has indicated it will launch the tokenized equity contracts on its own derivatives platform by Q1 2025, while competitors such as Bybit and Binance are exploring similar products through offshore entities. On-chain order-book depth for comparable RWAs already exceeds $420 million across these venues.
The episode highlights a structural advantage for decentralized finance. Unlike centralized apps subject to store policies, DeFi front-ends can be accessed via wallet browsers or direct smart-contract interaction, bypassing traditional gatekeepers. Total value locked in RWA protocols reached $9.7 billion last week, according to DefiLlama data, with equity-linked products accounting for 14 percent of that figure.
Broader market implications extend to capital markets efficiency. If tokenized equities capture even 3 percent of global equity turnover, daily on-chain settlement volumes could exceed $40 billion, based on 2024 average NYSE and Nasdaq figures. That scale would require deeper integration with traditional clearing houses, an area where ICE's involvement was expected to provide an advantage now deferred.