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

Ondo Finance is bridging the gap between tokenized equities and their traditional counterparts by introducing a proxy voting feature, enabling investors to participate in corporate decision-making. This innovation, developed in collaboration with Broadridge Financial Solutions, allows holders of over 250 tokenized securities on Ondo's platform to review company filings and cast votes through Broadridge's ProxyVote system. Investors can access these features using their crypto wallets, typically reserved for traditional brokerage accounts. The introduction of proxy voting is significant, as tokenized equities have rapidly grown, 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 on its Global Markets platform. By adding proxy voting, Ondo is addressing 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 preferences that Ondo can apply when voting on the underlying shares. According to Matthieu de Vergnes, Ondo's global head of institutional, this development aligns with Ondo's vision of making traditional financial assets more accessible, combining the benefits of on-chain assets with the governance of underlying assets. Broadridge, a leading processor of proxy votes in traditional markets, is extending its infrastructure to support blockchain systems, aiming to provide a unified workflow for both digital and conventional assets. This integration is expected to enhance auditability, transparency, and compliance, ultimately boosting investor trust and scalability in the tokenized ecosystem, as noted by Danielle Gurrieri, senior vice president and head of product management at Broadridge.