Karla Barker 
During a panel at Consensus Miami, executives from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), OKX, and Securitize issued a warning about the risks posed by synthetic tokenized stocks, especially for retail investors. Michael Blaugrund, who works on strategic initiatives at ICE, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), said the first version of NYSE’s tokenized equities platform will start with pre-funded trading against stablecoins. He called this approach “not the sexiest way” to build a market, but noted it gives issuers, investors, and regulators a clear structure to evaluate before adding features like leverage or self-custody.
Offshore tokens raise concerns
Carlos Domingo, founder and CEO of Securitize, pointed out that many offshore tokenized stock products take a very different path. Some use public-company names without getting issuer approval and do not represent the underlying equity. Domingo gave Coinbase as an example, saying there are at least five different tokenized versions of its stock out there. “None of them actually represent equity on Coinbase,” he said. The risk becomes clear during corporate actions like stock splits. Domingo saw one tokenized stock wrapper trade at prices that differed by five times across markets after a split.
Haider Rafique, OKX’s global managing partner officer, said his exchange has not launched synthetic tokenized securities. He explained they do not plan to move before regulated supply is in place. “We’re not selling a promissory note,” Rafique said. “We’re actually selling the underlying asset.” The broader concern extends beyond just stocks. Last year, OpenAI said Robinhood’s OpenAI stock tokens did not represent OpenAI equity and were not approved by the company. Robinhood later said those tokens were backed by a special purpose vehicle.
Regulatory arbitrage in focus
Domingo described the issue as regulatory arbitrage. Offshore issuers can create wrappers in permissive jurisdictions and claim they are not targeting the U.S. or Europe. But permissionless tokens can still flow back into those markets easily. The SEC has sharpened its focus on the difference between true tokenized ownership and synthetic exposure. The agency says issuer approval is required for genuine tokenized stock ownership.
Blaugrund compared the shift to tokenized securities with the move from floor trading to electronic markets. “It’s now ‘when,’ not ‘if,'” he said. NYSE said in January it was developing a platform for 24/7 trading and onchain settlement of tokenized U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, pending regulatory approval. The platform is expected to support fractional trading, immediate settlement, and dollar-denominated orders. ICE later struck a strategic partnership with OKX, giving the crypto exchange’s customers access to ICE futures and NYSE tokenized equities, also subject to approvals. NYSE also tapped Securitize to help build the platform, with the firm acting as a digital transfer agent for issuer-backed tokenized securities.