Ondo Finance has launched Ondo Private Markets, a new platform designed to offer tokenized notes tied to private companies ahead of their public debuts. The inaugural product references a private artificial intelligence firm, with secondary trading anticipated to kick off this week.
Qualified investors residing outside the United States will have access to round-the-clock trading. These notes deliver financial exposure, though they do not confer ownership stakes or shareholder rights in the underlying enterprise.
Ondo Private Markets Starts with AI Exposure
Ondo stated that its premiere offering tracks a prominent pre-IPO artificial intelligence venture. Participants secure financial exposure through digital notes deployed on a blockchain network. The payout for each note ties directly to the per-share value achieved for the company’s common stock during a qualifying liquidity event.
Such liquidity milestones encompass an initial public offering. Because the notes function as liabilities of the issuer, holders possess a contractual claim rather than direct equity in the underlying firm. Acquiring these tokens conveys neither voting privileges nor any other prerogatives associated with actual company shares.
According to Ian De Bode, acting chief executive officer and president of Ondo Finance, everyday investors face restricted entry to private enterprises. He highlighted statistics indicating that 87% of businesses generating over USD 100 million in revenue continue to operate as private entities.
“Ondo Private Markets is built to change that,” De Bode stated.
The platform will issue notes tied to specific corporations. This configuration enables eligible participants to handpick the exact businesses they wish to target, avoiding the need to buy into a fund encompassing multiple private firms.
Eligible Investors Can Trade Before an IPO
Ondo noted that the notes will facilitate continuous 24/7 secondary-market trading. Qualified participants can acquire, divest, or modify their holdings before the target company finalizes an IPO or alternative qualifying liquidity event. Trading will persist outside traditional stock-market hours.
Investors can store the tokens within personal digital wallets and transfer them to fellow qualified participants. Ondo engineered the notes to integrate with compatible blockchain solutions, such as decentralized finance platforms. Consequently, users can shift their positions across supported storage options and exchange venues.
Participation remains restricted to eligible non-U.S. investors residing in approved jurisdictions. The rollout explicitly excludes U.S. persons and anyone located within the United States. Furthermore, participants must satisfy the specific qualification criteria mandated for each individual product.
Secondary trading permits holders to adjust their portfolios ahead of the event that dictates the note’s final contractual payout. That eventual disbursement remains anchored to the per-share value realized on the target company’s common stock in accordance with the product guidelines.
Ondo Plans Robotics, Biotech and Infrastructure Products
Following the debut AI offering, Ondo intends to introduce private companies operating within robotics, cybersecurity, biotech, and infrastructure. This pipeline will broaden the firm’s asset lineup beyond tokenized public equities and U.S. Treasury products.
The company reported that its existing tokenized stock and Treasury ventures collectively command USD 3.7 billion in total value locked, alongside more than one million cumulative holders. Ondo Private Markets will leverage the technological foundation built for those established offerings.
This rollout follows a strategic partnership formed in July between Ondo and Japan-based SBI Holdings aimed at tokenizing Japanese equities via Ondo Global Markets. Under that agreement, SBI planned to distribute Ondo’s offerings across its ecosystem and utilize the JPYSC stablecoin for collateral and settlement purposes.
The AI-focused release serves as the platform’s initial venture. Ondo anticipates that secondary trading for these tokenized notes will commence this week, paving the way for upcoming products centered on companies from the other designated sectors.
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