Ondo Finance Launches Tokenized Notes Giving Exposure to Private Pre-IPO AI Company

TLDR

• Ondo Finance launched Ondo Private Markets, a platform offering tokenized notes tied to private companies
• The first note references an unnamed pre-IPO artificial intelligence company
• Notes are not equity and carry no voting rights, dividends, or ownership
• The product is issued by a BVI-based special purpose vehicle, not the private company itself
• Only eligible non-US persons can buy the notes under SEC Regulation S

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Ondo Finance has opened a new platform called Ondo Private Markets. It gives investors a way to gain exposure to private companies before those companies go public.

LATEST: ⚡️ Ondo unveiled Ondo Private Markets, offering eligible investors tokenized notes tied to private companies, starting with one pre-IPO AI company. pic.twitter.com/cHwWHsj6a7

— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) October 6, 2026

The first product is a tokenized note. It is tied to an artificial intelligence company that has not been named.

These notes are not shares of stock. Instead, their value is linked to what the referenced company’s shares would be worth if it goes public or is sold.

Holders do not get ownership of the company. They also do not get voting rights or dividends.

How the Notes Work

The payout depends on a “qualifying liquidity event.” This could be an initial public offering or an acquisition.

Investors can hold the tokens in their own digital wallets. They can also trade them on secondary markets at any time, day or night.

Ondo said the first notes are expected to begin trading this week. More notes tied to companies in robotics, cybersecurity, biotech, and infrastructure are planned for later.

The issuer of these notes is Ondo Global Markets (BVI) Limited. This is a separate legal entity set up in the British Virgin Islands.

This matters because buyers are relying on this entity to pay out, not holding a direct claim on the private company’s shares.

Ondo’s existing product, Ondo Stocks, works differently. That platform offers tokenized versions of public stocks and exchange-traded funds backed by real securities.

Ondo Stocks has more than one billion dollars in total value locked. It offers access to over 450 tokenized stocks and funds.

Who Can Buy These Notes

The new private market notes are offered under SEC Regulation S. This means they are only available to eligible people outside the United States.

US retail investors cannot buy, hold, or redeem these tokens under current rules.

Ian De Bode, the acting leader of Ondo Finance, said most investment options for retail investors are public companies. He added that 87 percent of US companies with more than 100 million dollars in revenue are private.

Ondo argues this leaves out many of the companies building newer technology before they ever list on a stock exchange.

Other firms have made similar moves into private company access this year. A venture fund tied to Robinhood put 75 million dollars into OpenAI common stock earlier in the year.

That investment gave retail investors indirect exposure through a publicly traded fund.

Citi was also reported earlier this year to be building a blockchain marketplace for private company shares.

Established platforms like Hiive and EquityZen already let accredited investors trade private shares. Hiive was valued at 650 million dollars in late 2025. EquityZen is now owned by Morgan Stanley.

Both of those platforms can face delays from rules that give companies first rights to buy back shares before they are sold to outsiders.

Ondo says its notes avoid this by being freely transferable on blockchain networks.

The broader market for tokenized real-world assets is now valued near 39 billion dollars, according to tracking site rwa.xyz.

Ondo plans to expand its private market notes into more sectors in the coming months, starting with the single AI-linked product rolling out this week.