Ondo Finance Unveils Onchain Tokenized Private Markets Product, Starting With a Pre-IPO AI Name

Ondo Finance said on Oct. 6 that it has launched Ondo Private Markets, a new product designed to give investors onchain exposure to leading private companies via tokenized notes, according to Mars Finance. The first underlying asset will be tied to a pre-IPO artificial intelligence company, with secondary-market trading expected to begin this week. Ondo said it plans to broaden the offering to private companies across robotics, cybersecurity, biotechnology, infrastructure and other sectors. Ondo emphasized that the tokens are not equity or shares in the underlying companies. Instead, they provide holders with economic exposure linked to the performance of the company's common stock in qualified liquidity events such as an IPO or acquisition. The tokens can be freely transferred onchain and integrated with DeFi ecosystems. The product is built on Ondo's existing onchain asset infrastructure, which already supports tokenized equities and U.S. Treasuries. Ondo said the platform has roughly $3.7 billion in combined TVL and more than 1 million cumulative holders. Ondo also pointed to the size of the private-market opportunity, noting that most large U.S. enterprises remain privately held, with about 87% of companies generating more than $100 million in annual revenue being nonpublic. It said traditional investors often face obstacles to accessing early-stage growth, while Ondo Private Markets is intended to offer a more flexible blockchain-based secondary market that allows qualified investors to adjust private-market exposure around the clock.