Ondo Finance has launched tokenized U.S. securities backed by BlackRock’s iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and Micron shares, in what it says is the first live third-party custodial tokenized securities solution operating inside the existing U.S. regulatory framework. The launch, announced by Ondo Finance, is supported by Broadridge Financial Solutions, which will provide proxy voting, issuer communications and regulatory disclosures to token holders.
The announcement is significant because it addresses one of the biggest weaknesses in tokenized equity products: governance. Many tokenized stock products give investors price exposure, but not the full shareholder experience. Ondo and Broadridge are trying to close that gap by allowing holders of tokenized securities to receive communications and participate in proxy voting through Broadridge’s ProxyVote.com platform.
The move follows the SEC’s January 2026 statement on tokenized securities, which described a custodial model where a third party holds the underlying securities and issues crypto assets representing the holder’s entitlement to those securities. The SEC said tokenized securities remain securities, regardless of the technology used to represent them.
What Ondo Has Launched
| Feature |
Detail |
Why It Matters |
| Tokenized securities |
BlackRock iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and Micron shares |
First assets in the U.S. custodial tokenized securities rollout |
| Blockchain |
Ethereum |
Tokens issued on a public blockchain |
| Custody model |
Underlying shares remain in the traditional U.S. regulated custody chain |
Keeps the structure connected to existing securities infrastructure |
| Backing |
1:1 by underlying securities |
Designed to avoid synthetic-only exposure |
| Governance |
Broadridge ProxyVote.com |
Allows proxy voting, disclosures and issuer communications |
Under the structure, the underlying securities remain inside the traditional U.S. regulated custody system. Ondo’s registered transfer agent mints corresponding tokens backed one-to-one by those shares, with the tokens issued on Ethereum and held by regulated custodians. Transfer restrictions are enforced through the participating broker-dealer, transfer agent and custodian.
This is materially different from offshore synthetic stock tokens, which often provide economic exposure without the same custody, governance or shareholder rights framework.
Why The Broadridge Partnership Matters
Broadridge is one of the most important infrastructure providers in U.S. shareholder communications and proxy voting. Its involvement gives the Ondo structure a governance layer that most tokenized securities products have lacked.
Doug DeSchutter, President of Broadridge’s Investor Communication Solutions business, said: “Tokenization will only scale when it delivers both innovation and investor confidence. By enabling proxy voting, issuer communications, and regulatory disclosures for Ondo’s token holders, we’re living up to our promise to empower investors and issuers by providing them with the full range of trusted governance capabilities for tokenized securities regardless of how assets are structured.”
That matters because tokenized securities cannot scale only as trading instruments. If they are to become credible alternatives to brokerage-held securities, investors need access to disclosures, corporate actions, voting processes and audit trails.
Education: What Is A Custodial Tokenized Security?
A custodial tokenized security is a crypto asset that represents an entitlement to an underlying security held by a third party in custody.
In simple terms, the stock or ETF still exists in the traditional securities system. A token is then issued to represent the holder’s interest in that underlying asset.
The SEC’s January 2026 statement distinguished this model from synthetic tokenized securities, where the token issuer creates an instrument that gives economic exposure to a security but may not involve custody of the actual underlying shares.
| Model |
How It Works |
Main Question |
| Issuer-sponsored tokenized security |
The issuer tokenizes its own securities |
Can public companies support tokenized issuance directly? |
| Third-party custodial tokenized security |
A third party holds the security and issues a token representing entitlement |
Can token holders get equivalent rights through custody and governance rails? |
| Synthetic tokenized security |
A token provides exposure to the price of a security |
Does the product create additional counterparty or swap-like risk? |
Why This Is Different From Earlier Tokenized Stock Products
Tokenized equities have existed for years, but many earlier products were launched outside the United States and often resembled synthetic exposure more than full securities ownership.
The difference here is that Ondo is explicitly trying to operate inside the U.S. regulatory perimeter. The company says the underlying securities stay in the same custody infrastructure used for traditional U.S. securities, while Broadridge supplies the shareholder communications and proxy voting layer.
That combination is important because regulators have repeatedly warned that tokenization does not remove securities law obligations. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said in 2025 that tokenized securities remain securities and that blockchain technology does not change the nature of the underlying asset.
Ondo’s structure appears designed around that regulatory reality rather than around avoiding it.
Why IVV And Micron Were Chosen
The first two assets also matter.
BlackRock’s iShares Core S&P 500 ETF is one of the largest and most liquid ETF products in the world, giving token holders exposure to a broad U.S. equity benchmark. Micron provides single-stock exposure to a major U.S. semiconductor company tied to AI infrastructure, memory chips and the broader technology cycle.
Choosing one broad ETF and one single stock allows Ondo to test two different use cases. IVV shows how tokenization could work for diversified index exposure. Micron tests how tokenized securities might handle company-specific governance, disclosures and voting.
Why Tokenized Securities Need Governance
The governance issue is not cosmetic.
Owning a stock is not only about price exposure. Shareholders also receive disclosures, vote on directors, approve certain corporate actions and participate in the legal and communications framework surrounding public companies.
If tokenized securities only replicate price movement, they are incomplete substitutes for traditional shares.
Broadridge’s role is to make the tokenized investor experience look more like the traditional shareholder experience. Token holders can receive regulatory disclosures, access issuer communications and participate in proxy voting through the same infrastructure used by conventional brokerage investors.
Comparison: Synthetic Tokenized Stock Vs Custodial Tokenized Stock
| Synthetic Tokenized Stock |
Custodial Tokenized Stock |
| Provides price exposure |
Represents entitlement to underlying securities held in custody |
| May not be backed one-to-one by actual shares |
Designed to be backed one-to-one by underlying shares |
| Governance rights may be limited or absent |
Proxy voting and issuer communications can be supported |
| Often structured outside U.S. securities infrastructure |
Designed to remain inside U.S. regulated custody and transfer systems |
| Greater counterparty and structural questions |
Greater reliance on custody, transfer-agent and broker-dealer controls |
Why This Matters For U.S. Market Structure
The United States has the deepest equity market in the world, but most of its post-trade infrastructure still operates through traditional intermediaries, transfer agents, broker-dealers, custodians and central securities depositories.
Tokenization promises faster settlement, programmable transfer restrictions, wider distribution and potentially 24/7 transferability. But those benefits are only useful if they coexist with investor protections, recordkeeping, legal ownership and corporate governance.
Ondo’s launch suggests that the first scalable U.S. tokenized securities model may not replace existing infrastructure. It may sit on top of it.
That is a more realistic near-term path than attempting to rebuild the entire securities market on a public blockchain.
Broader Competitive Implications
The launch comes as exchanges, brokers and crypto firms are racing to define the future of tokenized equities. Coinbase has explored blockchain-based stocks, 24X has sought SEC approval for tokenized equity trading, and traditional market infrastructure providers are testing tokenization across Treasuries, funds and private markets.
FinanceFeeds has recently covered 24X’s SEC filing for tokenized stock trading, Tradeweb’s real-time on-chain U.S. Treasuries transaction, and Robinhood’s use of Morpho for onchain yield. Together, these developments show that tokenization is moving from crypto-native speculation into regulated market infrastructure.
The Risks
The model still raises important questions.
Investors need clarity on beneficial ownership, custody protections, transfer restrictions, bankruptcy remoteness, blockchain operational risk, token holder records, tax treatment and how disputes would be resolved if on-chain records and off-chain custody records diverge.
There is also a liquidity question. A tokenized security is only useful if investors can trade it efficiently, move it safely and understand exactly what rights they hold.
Broadridge’s governance layer addresses one major weakness, but it does not eliminate every structural risk associated with tokenized securities.
Outlook: Tokenization Enters Its Compliance Phase
Ondo’s launch marks a shift in the U.S. tokenization debate. The market is moving away from the question of whether stocks can be represented on-chain and toward the harder question of whether tokenized stocks can preserve the protections that make U.S. securities markets trusted.
That means custody, transfer agents, broker-dealers, disclosure delivery, shareholder voting and regulatory compliance will matter as much as blockchain settlement.
The partnership with Broadridge is therefore central to the story. Tokenized securities will not scale simply because they are programmable. They will scale if investors, issuers, regulators and intermediaries believe that token holders receive the same rights and protections as traditional shareholders.
Ondo’s first U.S. custodial tokenized securities test that proposition with one broad ETF and one major technology stock. If the model works, it could become a template for bringing more U.S. equities on-chain without forcing the market to choose between innovation and investor protection.
