Why OKX And NYSE Are Going All-In on 24/7 Stock Trading
OKX teaming up with NYSE's parent company to tokenize stocks was inevitable, says GM Lennix Lai
By Zack Guzman
October 15, 2026
Wall Street's next big transformation may not be about which stocks investors buy, but when they're allowed to buy them.
That vision took a significant step forward this month when OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a platform offering round-the-clock trading in tokenized U.S. stocks.
The joint venture, called OKXICE, plans to bring shares in more than 60 companies onto the blockchain, allowing investors to trade shares of companies like Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and even crypto-linked companies like Coinbase and Robinhood outside traditional market hours.
For OKX Global General Manager Lennix Lai, the partnership represents something much bigger than simply keeping the stock market open on weekends.
"It's a pivotal moment to OKX and also to the world of crypto," Lai tells Coinage. "These two worlds are starting to merge organically."
The proposed platform comes as traditional financial institutions increasingly embrace tokenization, a process that represents ownership of real-world assets like stocks and bonds using blockchain-based tokens. While crypto markets have operated around the clock for years, U.S. stock investors have largely remained dependent on trading hours tied to the traditional exchanges, leaving them unable to react immediately to major developments over weekends and holidays.
That distinction could soon begin to disappear.
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OKXICE is seeking to operate under a new SEC exemption designed to accommodate tokenized securities trading. Its proposed platform would enable eligible investors to trade tokenized shares around the clock, with transactions taking place on blockchain infrastructure rather than relying exclusively on the traditional stock market's operating schedule.
But Lai argues the real opportunity goes beyond convenience. By opening U.S. equities to a broader global audience, he believes tokenization could fundamentally improve the liquidity and ultimately the valuations of publicly traded companies.
"Global access, more audience. Better liquidity, better volume," Lai explained. "And better liquidity means actually better valuations."
That's a selling point that could help warm companies and their leaders to the new trend. Earlier this summer, AMC CEO Adam Aron launched a public spat on X against Robinhood tokenizing shares in his company. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev argued tokenization gave access to a new investor base outside the US. Aron argued it unduly injected Robinhood into a worse product that didn't offer the same governance rights to shareholders.
Lai says that distinction is central to what OKX and ICE are trying to build.
"With the joint venture, for the first time, holding that particular tokenized share is essentially holding the underlying share," he said, pointing to the goal of delivering "full shareholding rights and pass-through dividends."
Those rights would be a meaningful distinction if the platform delivers them as envisioned. They would also bring tokenized trading closer to the experience investors already expect from conventional brokerage accounts, rather than simply offering a new way to speculate on stock prices. Still, winning over publicly traded companies may prove just as important as winning over investors.
"I think gradually the companies will see the benefits and they will realize it's an inevitable trend," he said.
That gradual approach is reflected in the proposed OKXICE framework, which reportedly gives issuers an opportunity to object to having their shares offered through the venue. The arrangement underscores how tokenization, despite its promise of more open markets, still needs to navigate the legal and regulatory structures governing securities ownership.
But the longer-term ambitions at OKX suggest that tokenized stocks are just the beginning.
Today, the overwhelming majority of activity on cryptocurrency exchanges still involves assets native to crypto, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital tokens. Lai envisions that changing dramatically as traditional financial instruments migrate onto blockchain-based platforms.
"Right now a majority of volume still lies on crypto products," he said. "But we envision that probably at least half of the volume will be coming from traditional instruments."
It's a striking prediction from an executive who joined OKX in 2017, when the industry was still dominated by relatively small exchanges built primarily to serve cryptocurrency traders.
If that vision materializes, platforms like OKX could find themselves competing not only against other cryptocurrency exchanges but also against established brokers, stock exchanges, and other financial intermediaries for a growing share of traditional market activity.
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