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

In a bid to enhance the tokenized equities experience, Ondo Finance is rolling out proxy voting capabilities, allowing investors to participate in corporate decision-making. This feature, developed in collaboration with Broadridge Financial Solutions, enables holders of over 250 tokenized securities to review company documents and cast votes via Broadridge's ProxyVote system. By logging in with their crypto wallets, investors can access tools typically reserved for traditional brokerage accounts. The introduction of proxy voting is significant, as tokenized equities have grown rapidly, with over $1.1 billion in value locked, and Ondo is the largest issuer in this sector with over $700 million in tokenized stocks and ETFs. The addition of proxy voting addresses a key limitation of tokenized equities, which often lack basic governance rights. Although Ondo's tokens do not grant direct shareholder rights, the new system enables investors to express their preferences, which Ondo can then apply when voting on the underlying shares. According to Matthieu de Vergnes, Ondo's global head of institutional, this development aligns with the company's vision of making traditional assets more accessible, offering the benefits of on-chain assets, such as free transferability and DeFi compatibility, alongside governance rights. Broadridge, a leading processor of proxy votes in traditional markets, is extending its infrastructure to support blockchain-based assets, with the goal of providing a unified workflow for both digital and conventional assets. As Danielle Gurrieri, senior vice president and head of product management at Broadridge, noted, this move will enhance auditability, transparency, and compliance, ultimately increasing trust among end investors and driving scalability in the tokenized asset space.