Ondo Finance is aligning tokenized equities more closely with their traditional forms by enabling investor participation in corporate governance.
In collaboration with Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR), Ondo has developed a feature that allows holders of over 250 tokenized securities on its platform to peruse company documents and cast voting preferences via the ProxyVote system provided by Broadridge. Investors can utilize crypto wallets for logging in, granting access to governance tools usually exclusive to brokerage accounts.
This development is timely as tokenized equities have rapidly become a leading sector within crypto, facilitating blockchain-based stocks and ETFs. The sector now commands over $1.1 billion in locked value, tripling its size from the previous year according to RWA.xyz data. Ondo stands out as the largest issuer, with more than $700 million in stock and ETF tokens on its Global Markets platform available primarily to non-U.S. investors.
The introduction of proxy voting is pivotal because these offerings frequently lack essential governance rights. Although Ondo’s tokens are distinct from the underlying shares and do not provide direct shareholder privileges, this system empowers investors to convey their preferences, which Ondo then reflects when casting votes on behalf of its held shares.
“This initiative aligns perfectly with Ondo’s ambition to make traditional financial assets more accessible,” stated Matthieu de Vergnes, Ondo’s global head of institutional, during an interview with CoinDesk. “You enjoy the benefits of being onchain – such as free transferability and DeFi compatibility – while also obtaining governance rights akin to those from the underlying shares.”
Broadridge, known for handling a substantial volume of proxy votes in conventional markets, is now adapting its infrastructure for blockchain systems with this integration. The company aims to support both digital and traditional assets under unified workflows.
Ensuring that investors have comparable auditability, transparency, and compliance will “significantly enhance the scalability of the tokenized world, fostering trust among end investors,” remarked Danielle Gurrieri, senior vice president and head of product management at Broadridge.