Ondo Finance has launched Ondo Private Markets, a platform offering eligible investors tokenized notes linked to private companies before they enter public markets. The first offering tracks an undisclosed artificial intelligence company preparing for a potential public listing.

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The initial product is a blockchain-based note whose value is linked to the potential valuation of the underlying company’s shares during a future liquidity event. The instrument does not provide direct equity ownership, voting rights or dividend payments.

Structure of the Tokenized Notes

Returns are generated through a “qualifying liquidity event,” such as an initial public offering or corporate acquisition. Holders keep the digital tokens in their personal wallets, while secondary-market trading is designed to operate continuously rather than being limited to traditional market hours.

Ondo said the initial notes are expected to begin trading within the current week. Future offerings are planned for companies in robotics, cybersecurity, biotechnology and infrastructure development.

Ondo Global Markets (BVI) Limited is the issuer. The entity is a separate legal structure established in the British Virgin Islands. As a result, purchasers depend on the intermediary entity for payment fulfillment and do not hold direct claims on the private company’s underlying shares.

The structure differs from Ondo’s existing Ondo Stocks service, which offers blockchain-based versions of publicly traded equities and exchange-traded funds backed by corresponding securities. Ondo Stocks currently has more than $1 billion in total value locked and provides access to over 450 tokenized equities and investment funds. With the new platform, Ondo is extending that tokenization model from listed assets, whose prices update on public exchanges, into the private realm, where valuations are typically set in funding rounds rather than on open markets.

Eligibility and Regulatory Restrictions

The private-market notes are distributed under SEC Regulation S, a framework that permits certain securities to be sold in offshore transactions without registration under U.S. securities law. Access is limited to qualified individuals residing outside the United States. Under the applicable restrictions, U.S. retail investors cannot purchase, hold custody of or redeem the digital tokens.

Ian De Bode, acting leader of Ondo Finance, said retail investors primarily gain exposure to publicly traded companies. He noted that 87% of U.S. companies generating more than $100 million in annual revenue are privately held. Ondo argues that this market structure leaves investors without access to many technology companies while they are developing products before a stock-market listing.

Other financial institutions have pursued related approaches this year. A venture investment vehicle associated with Robinhood allocated $75 million to OpenAI common stock earlier in the year, giving retail investors indirect exposure through a publicly traded investment vehicle. Citi also received media coverage regarding the development of a blockchain-based marketplace for private-company equity transactions.

Hiive and EquityZen already facilitate private-share transactions for accredited investors. Hiive reached a valuation of $650 million in late 2025, while EquityZen operates under Morgan Stanley ownership. Both platforms can face delays because companies may have rights of first refusal before shares are sold externally. Rights of first refusal are contractual provisions that let a company or its existing shareholders match an outside offer before shares are sold to another buyer. Ondo said its note structure addresses these constraints through unrestricted transferability on blockchain infrastructure.

The broader tokenized real-world asset market is valued at approximately $39 billion, according to data compiled by rwa.xyz. Ondo plans to expand its private-market note offerings into additional sectors in the coming months, beginning with the single AI-linked product scheduled to launch this week. For observers, the near-term markers are the start of trading in the initial AI-linked note and the pace at which the announced sector pipeline expands beyond it.