Ondo Finance has launched Ondo Private Markets, a platform designed to deliver onchain economic exposure to private companies that have not yet gone public. The initiative begins with tokenized notes linked to an unnamed pre-IPO artificial intelligence company, with secondary market trading expected to open this week.

The notes provide payouts connected to the per-share value realized on the referenced company's common shares during a qualifying liquidity event, such as an initial public offering or acquisition. Holders receive economic exposure without acquiring direct ownership of the underlying shares or any associated shareholder rights.

How the Tokenized Notes Function

Eligible investors can hold the notes in self-custody wallets and trade them freely on secondary markets around the clock. The tokens are transferable among approved participants and designed to be composable within decentralized finance applications, allowing positions to be adjusted or deployed as needed without waiting for a traditional exit event.

Ondo Private Markets operates on the same institutional-grade infrastructure that supports the company's other onchain products. That infrastructure currently manages approximately $3.7 billion in total value locked and has served more than one million cumulative holders across tokenized equities and related offerings.

Expansion Plans Beyond the Initial AI Offering

Following the debut AI-linked notes, Ondo plans to introduce additional products tied to private companies in robotics, cybersecurity, biotech, infrastructure and other sectors. The goal is to assemble a broad selection of private-company exposures available onchain.

Access is restricted to eligible investors outside the United States and limited to approved jurisdictions. The notes do not represent equity interests and carry no voting or ownership rights in the referenced firms.

Context Within Broader Private-Market Tokenization Efforts

The launch extends Ondo's existing work in tokenizing public equities and exchange-traded funds, where its Stocks platform has previously reported more than $1 billion in total value locked and coverage of hundreds of securities. Similar moves by other firms have sought to open private-company exposure through alternative vehicles, including venture fund structures and blockchain-based marketplaces for private shares.

Ondo Private Markets positions the tokenized notes as a way for approved participants to gain targeted economic exposure to high-growth private firms and exit positions at any time through secondary trading rather than remaining locked until a liquidity event occurs.