Kraken parent company Payward grants xStocks holders proxy voting rights

Comparing news, Kraken's parent company Payward announced major adjustments in how it participates in tokenized stock corporate governance. Previously, xStocks holders did not have any voting rights for the underlying stocks. Through cooperation with investor communication service giant Broadridge, qualified investors can now submit proxy voting preferences.

Payward Chief Commercial Officer Mark Greenberg said, “The ultimate goal of tokenization has never been to just build a faster programmable capital market, but to give people around the world all the rights attached to holding shares in a company, including voice over how the company operates. xStocks are issued by Backed and are currently open to qualified investors outside of the US. Broadridge provides digital asset infrastructure such as proxy voting, post-transaction services, wallets, and escrow.

Payward cooperated with fintech infrastructure provider GTN last month to expand xStocks products to Hong Kong-listed stocks, and plans to later cover international markets such as the UK, Europe and South Korea. Payward said that the cumulative trading volume of xStocks since it went live last year has surpassed $25 billion.