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Ondo Finance made its name putting public stocks on blockchain rails. Now it is going after something harder to reach: companies that haven’t listed yet. The firm has launched Ondo Private Markets, and its first product is tokenized exposure to an unnamed pre-IPO artificial intelligence company.
How the Ondo Private Markets notes work
These are not shares. Each token is a note whose payout tracks the value realized per common share of the referenced company when a qualifying liquidity event happens, such as an IPO or a buyout. Holders get the economics of the stock without owning any of it.
Eligible investors can keep the notes in self-custody wallets or trade them on secondary markets around the clock. Ondo says the first notes should begin trading this week. The company behind the first product has not been identified.
More sectors are on the way
The AI note is only the opening move. Ondo says it plans to roll out products tied to private companies in robotics, cybersecurity, biotech, infrastructure and other sectors. That points to a broader catalog of pre-IPO exposure, not a one-off experiment.
Building on a $1 billion base
Ondo has a foundation to build on. Its Ondo Stocks platform, which tokenizes US equities and exchange-traded funds, reports more than $1 billion in total value locked and over 450 tokenized stocks and ETFs. Private markets extend that business from assets anyone can look up on an exchange to assets that rarely trade in public at all.
Ondo isn’t alone in chasing this demand. In April, Robinhood’s venture fund put $75 million into OpenAI common stock, giving retail investors a route in through its publicly traded closed-end fund. In June, Citi was reported to be preparing a blockchain marketplace for private-company shares. Traditional finance, retail brokers and crypto-native platforms are all competing for the same pool of investors who want in before a listing.
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What to keep in mind
The structure carries trade-offs. Because the notes depend on a liquidity event, the payout is only realized if and when one occurs, and nobody can say when that will be. Holders have no direct stake in the company. Trading at all hours is convenient, but it does not guarantee deep liquidity, especially for a new product. And with the first company unnamed, investors will have limited visibility into exactly what they are exposed to.
Pre-IPO AI is one of the most sought-after corners of the market, and access has long been limited. Ondo is betting that tokenized notes, self-custody and 24/7 trading can open that door wider. How the first trades go this week, and which companies follow, will show whether demand matches the ambition.
Disclaimer: The information in this article is for general purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The author’s views are personal and may not reflect the views of Chain Affairs. Before making any investment decisions, you should always conduct your own research. Chain Affairs is not responsible for any financial losses.
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