DISCLAIMER: GoldInvestors.news is not a registered investment, legal or tax advisor or broker/dealer. All investment/financial opinions expressed by GoldInvestors.news are from the personal research and experience of the owner of the site and are intended as educational material. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, occasionally unintended errors and misprints may occur.

Trading in tokenized stocks is accelerating across international markets, but the boom is colliding with resistance from major U.S. companies. The divide is creating a central challenge for a crypto industry eager to move traditional equities onto blockchain networks.

Bitwise Asset Management documented the growing activity in its latest quarterly staking report, published Tuesday. The report tracked blockchain versions of traditional financial assets, including equities, across several networks and trading venues.

Volume for tokenized stocks on Robinhood Chain rose from $526 million in July to $2.21 billion in August. It then surged to $11.31 billion in September on the brokerage firm’s newly launched network for users and AI agents trading assets onchain.

Other platforms recorded similar momentum during the quarter. Noncrypto markets accounted for 36.5% of perpetuals volume on Hyperliquid, compared with 32.7% in the previous quarter, while tokenized equities became the fastest growing category on Solana.

That overseas growth stands in sharp contrast to the reaction from several prominent U.S. corporations. Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Caterpillar, McDonald’s, Western Digital and Alphabet objected to tokenized versions of their shares trading on OKXICE.

The tokenized securities venue was jointly launched by crypto exchange OKX and New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange. OKXICE disclosed the latest objections in a public notice Monday.

Those companies joined earlier objectors including CoreWeave, UnitedHealth, Broadcom, Applied Digital, AppLovin and Cerebras. As of Wednesday, 16 companies had objected to tokenized versions of their shares being traded through OKXICE.

The resistance does not necessarily mean those businesses would reject every tokenization model or venue. It does, however, show that companies remain cautious about this particular platform and its approach to putting representations of their shares onchain.

Tokenization involves issuing digital representations of publicly traded securities, real world assets or other forms of value on a blockchain network. The concept has drawn market interest because of its potential to improve accessibility and liquidity across financial assets.

The structure also raises questions about what rights token holders should receive. A central dispute is whether investors should obtain the same economic and shareholder rights associated with traditional shares, particularly voting rights.

That issue drew attention in September during a public fight between the chief executives of Robinhood and AMC over Robinhood’s stock token model. The disagreement highlighted concerns about how tokenized exposure compares with direct ownership of conventional shares.

Tokenized equity trading remains concentrated overseas, where such products are more widely available. Industry observers are now watching whether adoption will gain traction in the U.S. after the SEC last month created a temporary pathway through an innovation exemption.

That exemption requires companies to have an opportunity to object to their shares being represented as tokens. Mirza Uddin, chief operating officer of Injective, said offshore activity largely involves price exposure through onchain perpetuals and wrapped tokens that never required company permission.

The U.S. framework, by contrast, is attempting to place real shares onchain and therefore gives issuers a voice, according to Uddin. He said companies such as Goldman Sachs and Microsoft currently see risks involving around the clock trading and unclear voting rights without recognizing sufficient benefits.

ClearStreet analyst Owen Lau said some companies may eventually accept tokenization as they better understand its potential advantages. Those benefits could include a larger investor base, 24/7 access and an additional distribution channel.

Lau said beaten down stocks with low trading volume could become candidates. He also identified greater visibility, direct dividend payments and cost savings as possible benefits for companies, while investors could use tokenized assets as collateral on decentralized finance platforms.

Andrew Cuomo, cochairman of OKXICE, said the model was designed to let companies decide whether to participate. He said many companies were expected to wait because the change is dramatic, while the SEC model accommodates both participation and rejection and limits the number of companies and trading volume.

OKXICE disclosed on Oct. 4 that it planned to make more than 60 tokenized stocks available. Under the SEC exemption, the venue must notify each company of its intention and wait 30 days after the company receives that notice before trading begins.

Lau characterized the split as one between investors and issuers rather than between U.S. and international markets. He said global demand exists, but the industry still needs to explain more clearly what issuers can gain by tokenizing their equities.

DISCLAIMER: GoldInvestors.news is not a registered investment, legal or tax advisor or broker/dealer. All investment/financial opinions expressed by GoldInvestors.news are from the personal research and experience of the owner of the site and are intended as educational material. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, occasionally unintended errors and misprints may occur.