Anatoly Yakovenko pushed back as more than 30 companies, including Goldman Sachs and Microsoft, objected to on-chain versions of their shares
Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko has a blunt message for US public companies that don’t want their shares traded on-chain. If they object to tokenized stock trading, he says, they should go private.
The remark, made on October 28, 2026, lands in the middle of a growing standoff. On one side, tokenized equity trading volume is climbing fast. On the other, a lengthening list of well-known corporations wants nothing to do with it.
A five-year experiment with an opt-out clause
The fight traces back to September 17, 2026. That’s when the SEC granted an innovation exemption that opened the door to on-chain trading of US equities.
The exemption sets up a temporary, five-year trial framework for tokenized stock venues. Under the rules, venues must notify stock issuers before listing tokenized versions of their shares. Issuers then get a 30-day objection period to raise concerns.
Plenty of them have used it. More than 30 companies have formally objected to the trading of tokenized versions of their shares as of late October 2026.
The objectors aren’t obscure small caps. The list includes Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Alphabet and McDonald’s.
Many of those objections surfaced on OKXICE, a joint venture between the NYSE’s parent company and crypto exchange OKX. The platform has publicly disclosed complaints from multiple issuers over the tokenization of their stock.
Volume keeps rising anyway
Corporate resistance has not slowed traders down. Tokenized equities trading volume on Robinhood Chain hit $11.31 billion in September 2026. Back in July, that figure stood at $526 million.
Solana is seeing a similar trend. Tokenized equities have become the fastest-growing category on the network, which helps explain why its co-founder is paying close attention to who is trying to slam the brakes.
Yakovenko’s argument frames the corporate pushback as inconsistent with what being a public company means. Listing shares publicly is, in his view, a choice that comes with obligations, and objecting to how those shares trade sits awkwardly with that choice.
He has also leaned on two concepts familiar to anyone who has spent time around blockchains: composability and network effects. Composability means on-chain assets can plug into other applications like Lego bricks, so a tokenized share could be used in lending, trading or other financial tools without custom integrations. Network effects work the way they do for social platforms. Each additional asset and user makes the whole system more useful for everyone else.
Why issuers are digging in
The objecting companies are not short on lawyers or influence. Their resistance signals that big issuers want a say in where and how their equity circulates, even under a framework the SEC has blessed on a trial basis. The 30-day objection window gives them a formal channel to say so.
Yakovenko’s “go private” retort is an attempt to flip that framing. Rather than treating issuer objections as a red flag for tokenization, he casts them as companies wanting the benefits of public markets without accepting all the ways those markets might evolve.
What this means for the market
For traders and platforms, the split screen is the story. Demand for tokenized equities is clearly real, with Robinhood Chain’s September volume offering hard evidence.
Venues like OKXICE sit squarely in the crossfire. A joint venture tied to the NYSE’s parent company carries institutional weight, but it also has to manage public complaints from the very issuers whose shares anchor traditional exchanges.
For Solana and similar networks, the stakes are direct. Tokenized equities are the network’s fastest-growing category, so any slowdown driven by issuer resistance would hit one of its most promising growth lines.
The SEC’s five-year trial window also matters here. A temporary framework means the rules could still change, and the behavior of issuers, venues and traders during this period may influence what a permanent regime looks like.
Yakovenko has staked out the hardline position. Whether the companies on the other side feel any pressure to respond, or simply keep filing objections, will say a lot about who actually holds leverage in this experiment.
