Ondo lets investors trade pre-IPO exposure 24/7

Ondo Finance has launched Ondo Private Markets on Oct. 6, giving eligible non-U.S. investors tokenized exposure to private companies with 24/7 secondary trading, starting with an unnamed pre-IPO artificial intelligence company this week.

Ondo Finance announced the product after building its existing tokenized securities business around publicly traded stocks, ETFs and U.S. Treasuries. The new service uses tokenized notes whose payouts are tied to the value realized on a referenced private company’s common shares at a qualifying liquidity event.

The first reference company has not been named. Ondo has only described it as a leading pre-IPO AI company and said secondary-market trading is expected to begin this week. Robotics, cybersecurity, biotech, infrastructure, defense, energy and space companies are planned for later releases, though no launch dates or company names have been disclosed.

Ondo Private Markets starts with an unnamed AI company

The first Ondo Private Markets token will give eligible buyers economic exposure to a private AI company’s common-share value without placing the company’s actual shares in their wallets. Ondo said investors will be able to hold the tokenized notes in self-custody or trade them on secondary markets around the clock.

JUST IN: Ondo Finance launches private tech companies tokenized notes

The first offering, tied to a pre-IPO AI company, launches this week and will track the firm’s per-share value at qualifying liquidity events while trading 24/7 on secondary markets. pic.twitter.com/4CN9PE822a

— crypto.news (@cryptodotnews) October 6, 2026

A holder does not have to wait until the private company completes an IPO before selling the token. Secondary markets can bring buyers and sellers together before a qualifying liquidity event takes place, although actual liquidity will depend on market participation.

Ondo describes the tokens as freely transferable and composable, which could allow supported DeFi applications to integrate them. The company has not yet published a list of trading venues or DeFi protocols that will support the first private-market asset.

Acting CEO and President Ian De Bode said the product was designed to bring private-company exposure onto “24/7 trading on permissionless rails.” The statement describes Ondo’s intended market structure and does not mean every investor can purchase the instruments, because geographic and eligibility restrictions remain in place.

The tokens track private shares but do not give ownership

Ondo’s legal structure makes a clear distinction between the token and the company whose performance it follows.

The company stated that the instruments are obligations of their issuer, not shares of the referenced private business. Token holders receive no ownership interest, voting power or other shareholder rights in that company.

Instead, each note’s payout is connected to the per-share amount realized on the referenced company’s common stock when a qualifying liquidity event occurs. Such an event could include an IPO or another transaction covered by the individual token’s legal terms.

The public announcement does not name the issuer of the first note or provide the full formula governing its payout. Ondo says eligible customers will receive offering documents, including Token Terms, a Subscription Agreement and risk factors, before subscribing.

The distinction between exposure and actual share ownership has already become an important issue for private-company tokens. In crypto.news coverage of the debate over tokenized private-company exposure, industry participants raised questions about information available to token buyers when the underlying business does not publish the disclosures required of listed companies.

A similar distinction surfaced when Robinhood offered tokens linked to OpenAI in 2025. OpenAI said the instruments were not OpenAI equity and that it had not approved an equity transfer connected with the product, as crypto.news previously reported in its coverage of the OpenAI token dispute.

Ondo has not disclosed whether the unnamed AI company behind its first Private Markets note has endorsed or participated in the product.

24/7 trading does not mean the notes are open to everyone

Ondo Private Markets is restricted to eligible investors in permitted jurisdictions despite the company’s description of permissionless secondary trading.

The Oct. 6 release states that the tokens are for non-U.S. persons only. They have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons unless registration or a valid exemption applies.

People placing buy orders from within the United States are prohibited from subscribing for, acquiring or redeeming the tokens under the terms disclosed with the launch. People acting for the account or benefit of a U.S. person face the same restriction.

That arrangement is separate from Ondo’s regulated U.S. securities business. In July, Ondo announced that its SEC-registered broker-dealer subsidiary Oasis Pro Markets had secured FINRA authorizations covering tokenized corporate equities, ETFs, mutual funds, index funds, IPO securities and private placements for U.S. investors.

As previously reported in crypto.news coverage of Ondo’s U.S. tokenized securities expansion, those permissions allow Oasis Pro Markets to operate under SEC and FINRA oversight for specific regulated securities activities. Ondo Private Markets is being introduced under a different structure for eligible investors outside the United States.

Ondo is extending a tokenized-stock business above $1 billion

Ondo Private Markets builds on the company’s existing Ondo Stocks platform, which provides blockchain-based exposure to publicly traded securities.

Ondo’s current website lists more than 450 tokenized stocks and ETFs, with roughly $1.28 billion in TVL at the latest reading. The products are available across Ethereum, BNB Chain and Solana, subject to geographic restrictions.

Public-stock tokens use a different structure from the new private-company notes. Ondo says its existing stock products are backed by securities and cash held through U.S. broker-dealers, with an independent verification agent checking the backing. The private-market product instead gives holders a contractual note linked to a reference company’s economic performance at a qualifying event.

Ondo Stocks crossed $1 billion in TVL in May, less than eight months after launch. The company said at the time that the platform had processed $18 billion in cumulative trading volume and held more than 70% of tokenized-equity issuer market share based on RWA.xyz data.

The catalog has expanded since then from roughly 260 assets to more than 450. In September, Ondo said cumulative trading volume across Ondo Stocks had passed $26 billion as the products became available through NEAR Intents.

In related coverage of the growth of tokenized stock ownership, crypto.news reported in July that holders across five major tokenized-equity platforms had nearly doubled within a month, while Ondo led the group by asset value.

More private-company tokens are planned after the first launch

Ondo has not given a specific trading date for its first private-market note beyond saying it is expected to begin secondary trading during the week of Oct. 6.

The company plans to follow the AI product with individual exposure to companies in robotics, cybersecurity, biotech and infrastructure, while its blog names defense, energy and space among further sectors under consideration. None of those future assets has been formally identified.

Private-market tokenization is becoming a larger part of the industry’s securities push. In related crypto.news coverage of Wall Street’s tokenization buildout, Citi was reported to be developing tokenized access to private-company shares while banks, exchanges and clearing firms expanded blockchain-based securities infrastructure.

Ondo’s announcement arrives after earlier products raised questions over the difference between a token that tracks a private business and direct ownership of its shares. The company’s launch materials repeatedly state that Ondo Private Markets tokens provide economic exposure only and do not give holders equity in the referenced companies.

At the latest reading during reporting, CoinGecko showed ONDO trading near $0.49, down roughly 2.1% over 24 hours and 6% over seven days. 

The data does not establish a causal link between the Private Markets announcement and the token’s price move.