Ondo Finance Introduces Proxy Voting for $700 Million in Tokenized Stocks

In a bid to bridge the gap between traditional and tokenized equities, Ondo Finance has introduced proxy voting, enabling holders of over 250 tokenized securities to participate in corporate governance. This development allows investors to review company filings and cast their votes through Broadridge's ProxyVote system, all while using their crypto wallets to access the necessary documents and tools. The move is significant, given the rapid growth of tokenized equities, which now boast over $1.1 billion in value and have more than tripled in size over the past year. As the largest player in this space with over $700 million in tokenized stocks and ETFs, Ondo's platform offers non-US investors a unique opportunity to engage with traditional assets on the blockchain. By adding proxy voting, Ondo addresses a long-standing issue with tokenized equities, which often lacked basic governance rights. Although the tokens remain separate from the underlying shares, this new system enables investors to express their preferences, which Ondo can then apply when voting on the shares it holds. According to Matthieu de Vergnes, Ondo's global head of institutional, this development is a key part of the company's vision to make traditional financial assets more accessible, offering the benefits of on-chain transferability and DeFi compatibility, combined with the governance rights of the underlying assets. Broadridge, a leading processor of proxy votes in traditional markets, is extending its infrastructure to support blockchain systems, with the goal of creating seamless workflows for both digital and conventional assets. By providing the same level of auditability, transparency, and compliance, this move is expected to increase trust among end investors and make the tokenized world more scalable, as noted by Danielle Gurrieri, senior vice president and head of product management at Broadridge.