Ondo Finance Introduces Proxy Voting for $700 Million Worth of Tokenized Equities

In a bid to enhance investor participation in corporate governance, Ondo Finance has launched a proxy voting feature for holders of its tokenized equities. This innovation allows investors to review company filings and cast their votes through Broadridge’s ProxyVote system, bringing tokenized stocks and ETFs closer to their traditional counterparts. With over 250 tokenized securities on the platform, investors can now access documents and governance tools typically reserved for traditional brokerage accounts, using their crypto wallets. The introduction of proxy voting is a significant development in the rapidly growing tokenized equities sector, which has tripled in size over the past year to reach over $1.1 billion in value locked. As the largest issuer in this sector, Ondo Finance has more than $700 million in stock and ETF tokens on its Global Markets platform. The addition of proxy voting addresses a significant gap in governance rights for tokenized equity offerings, enabling 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 move aligns with the company's vision to make 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 seamless experience for both digital and conventional assets. By offering the same level of auditability, transparency, and compliance, this partnership is expected to increase investor trust and make the tokenized world more scalable, as noted by Danielle Gurrieri, senior vice president and head of product management at Broadridge.