OKX & ICE Launch Joint Tokenized Stock Venue

Abstract to Shut Down December 15 | Conduit Sues Tether Over Freeze

Marco Manoppo & Karon Pangestu
October 07, 2026

📢Sponsor | 💡Telegram | 📰Past Editions

Good Morning.

The most structurally credible tokenized equity venue yet just filed with the SEC, OKXICE pairs OKX's onchain reach with ICE's exchange pedigree to take direct aim at 24/7 US stock trading, arriving precisely as the innovation exemption clears the legal runway that blocked every prior attempt.

Check out our latest podcast episode!

In Today's Email:

What Matters: OKX & ICE Launch Joint Tokenized Stock Venue 👀
Case Study: Conduit Sues Tether Over Freeze 🔎
Governance & Features: Abstract to Shut Down December 15 🛑

You read and share. We listen and improve. Send us feedback at marco@launchy.app.

Narratives: RWA Infrastructure

For daily market updates and airdrop alphas, check out our telegram!

TOGETHER WITH

Arbital: Institutional Market Making, For Everyone

Automate your perp DEX market making.

Arbital helps you run passive market making strategies across Hyperliquid, Pacifica, Extended, Decibel, Hotstuff, GRVT, and HIP-3 markets - generating volume, and farming points.

Start running your automated strategies today

WHAT MATTERS

OKX & ICE Launch Joint Tokenized Stock Venue

State of play: OKXICE, the joint venture between OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, has notified the SEC of its intent to launch a permissioned, on-chain tokenized securities trading venue on X Layer under the SEC's newly issued five-year innovation exemption.

The platform plans to cover 60+ US-listed companies including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla, Coinbase, Robinhood, Circle, and SpaceX, with issuers given 30 days to opt out.
The venue operates under the SEC's innovation exemption issued last month, which allows certain platforms to trade tokenized US stocks without registering as exchanges.
OKXICE cochair Andrew Cuomo framed the launch as a step toward "a truly global, 24/7 Wall Street," while OKX CEO Star Xu emphasized full shareholder rights as the key differentiator for onchain ownership.

Why it matters: A NYSE-backed venue entering tokenized equities legitimizes the space in a way no crypto-native issuer could.

Our take: 60 tickers under an innovation exemption is a proof of concept, not a market.

For builders and investors: Watch which custody and settlement rails OKXICE uses, those become the default infrastructure for tokenized equities at scale.

CASE STUDY

Conduit Sues Tether Over Freeze

State of play: Conduit has taken Tether to court in the Southern District of New York over a $2.76M USDT freeze, testing how far a stablecoin issuer can unilaterally lock funds when no law enforcement request appears to back the action.

The freeze allegedly traces to a Brazilian Federal Police probe into Onix Intermediações, a former Conduit customer inactive on the platform since April 2025.
Conduit says police never flagged its treasury wallet, and a Brazilian court confirmed the firm itself was not under investigation.
The wallet was created about a month after Onix's last activity and, according to Conduit, never held any Onix funds.
Conduit, which moves money across 100+ countries, says the wallet served as its operating account and has been inaccessible for over a year.
Beyond the release of its funds, Conduit seeks at least $2.76M more in damages, including interest Tether earned on reserves backing the frozen USDT.

Take a peek at our referral reward at the bottom of this issue. Share this newsletter and receive our list of 500 crypto VC individuals 👇

INSIGHTS

CFTC Opens Leveraged Crypto Pathway

State of play: With the Clarity Act dead in the Senate, the CFTC is building a federal route for leveraged retail crypto trading on its own authority, though the framework stays optional and cannot force crypto off state-licensed venues without Congress.

Proposed Regulation CTX and Regulation CAM would create a new "crypto asset market" category of CFTC-registered exchanges offering margined spot products.
Chairman Michael Selig framed the rules as a way to prevent FTX-style fraud upfront rather than prosecute it after the fact.
The proposal follows the SEC's innovation exemption and an earlier CFTC crypto rulemaking filed with the White House last month.

FEATURES & GOVERNANCE UPDATE

Abstract to Shut Down December 15

State of play: Abstract, Igloo's consumer-focused Ethereum L2, is winding down after 18 months and tens of millions in losses, citing stagnant growth, thin liquidity, and limited institutional adoption despite onboarding 400k+ users and 144 deployed apps.

Igloo, the Pudgy Penguins parent, will redirect resources back to PENGU and the core NFT business rather than continue funding the chain.
CEO Luca Netz declined to launch a token to extend the network's life, citing lack of conviction in token demand as the reason.
Users must bridge assets off Abstract before December 15 or risk losing access to funds.
The shutdown follows Blast's wind-down announced last week, marking two high-profile L2 closures within days of each other.

Other notable feature updates:

Circle adds Solana to Its USDC Bridge.
Ether.fi launches its own stablecoin with Ethena.
Paxos launches USDG natively on Arbitrum One.
YO Protocol launches V2 with improved fund management.
Hyundai exploring Avalanche for compliance and transactions.

QUICK BITES

Conduit sues Tether over $2.76M freeze.
US government moves over $100M in BTC and BNB.
Robinhood adds $25M worth of bitcoin to balance sheet.
Ethereum L2 Abstract to shut down after losing 'tens of millions.'
Spiko raises $90M to expand tokenized cash funds across markets.
Polymarket rolls out V2 upgrade with single ERC-1155 positions contract.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

Chain INK’s read on Chains Shutting Down.
Lorenzo Valente’s read on Tokenized Equities.
Miles Jennings’s read on exchange rules for blockchain apps.

If you enjoy reading this issue, please consider subscribing. It takes 1 minute of your time, but it would mean the world to us 🙇

Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.