How Will xStocks Holders Gain A Voice?
Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is expanding the rights available to eligible holders of its xStocks tokenized equities by allowing them to submit proxy voting preferences through a collaboration with Broadridge.
xStocks holders previously had no voting rights connected to the shares represented by the tokens. Under the new arrangement, eligible investors will be able to express preferences on corporate matters that are normally presented to shareholders, narrowing one of the main differences between tokenized equities and conventional stock ownership.
The structure does not necessarily mean token holders become the direct registered owners of the underlying shares. Instead, the Broadridge system will provide a route for their preferences to be collected and included in the proxy voting process. The practical value will depend on how those preferences are transmitted, which proposals are covered and whether participation is available across all supported xStocks.
“The endgame for tokenization was never just building faster programmable capital markets. It’s about giving people across the world everything that comes with owning a piece of a company, including a voice in how it’s run,” Payward Chief Commercial Officer Mark Greenberg said.
Greenberg said the collaboration would help close the gap between tokenized equities and traditional shares by giving xStocks holders a way to participate in corporate governance.
Why Does Proxy Voting Matter For Tokenized Stocks?
Tokenized equities are often promoted for continuous settlement, blockchain-based transfers and wider international access. However, many products provide economic exposure to a stock without offering the full set of rights associated with holding the share through a traditional brokerage account.
That difference can include voting on board appointments, executive compensation, mergers and shareholder proposals. Investors may receive exposure to price movements and distributions while remaining outside the legal ownership chain used for conventional proxy voting.
Adding voting preferences could make tokenized stocks more attractive to investors who want more than price exposure. It may also help providers answer criticism that blockchain-based equities create a limited version of share ownership in which users receive financial benefits but little influence over company decisions.
Broadridge provides infrastructure for proxy voting, post-trade processing, digital wallets and custody. Its involvement gives Payward access to systems already used in traditional financial markets rather than requiring Kraken to build an independent governance framework.
Investor Takeaway
Proxy voting preferences could make tokenized equities more closely resemble traditional stock products, but investors should still examine who legally owns the underlying shares and how voting instructions are counted.
Where Are xStocks Available?
xStocks are issued by Backed and offered to eligible investors outside the United States. They are not currently available to U.S. persons or investors in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Payward is seeking to extend the product into more international markets. Last month, the company announced a partnership with financial technology infrastructure provider GTN to add stocks traded in Hong Kong to the xStocks offering.
The company also plans to pursue access in the United Kingdom, Europe, South Korea and other markets. Each expansion will depend on local securities laws, distribution rules and the legal treatment of tokens linked to publicly traded shares.
The restrictions show that tokenized equities remain more complex than transferring a digital asset across borders. A token may move on blockchain infrastructure, but the underlying security remains subject to national rules governing brokerage activity, investor eligibility, disclosures and custody.
Can Governance Rights Support xStocks Growth?
As of 22 July 2026, xStocks had processed more than $35 billion across 500+ tokenized securities with nearly 200,000 holders. The figure suggests strong trading activity, although transaction volume does not show how much capital remains invested in the products or how widely ownership is distributed.
Adding proxy participation may help Payward compete as more financial companies explore placing securities on blockchain networks. In the United States, both crypto-focused businesses and traditional financial institutions, including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, have examined onchain securities and tokenized asset infrastructure.
The next phase of competition may therefore focus less on whether shares can be represented as tokens and more on whether those products can reproduce the rights, protections and operational features available through established markets.
For xStocks, that means investors will likely assess dividend treatment, redemption procedures, custody arrangements, liquidity and corporate actions alongside proxy voting. A token that tracks a share price but handles these rights poorly may remain less attractive than a conventional brokerage product.
The Broadridge collaboration gives Payward a way to address one of those gaps. Its success will depend on participation rates, the number of supported companies and whether investors view proxy preferences as comparable to the voting access available to direct shareholders.