Private-company exposure is usually locked inside venture and institutional channels. On 6 October 2026, Ondo Finance announced Ondo Private Markets, which it says will bring tokenised notes delivering the economic performance of selected private companies onchain—starting with a pre-IPO AI company that the release does not name. [1]
Secondary trading of that first market was expected to begin the same week, with permissionless trading described as available 24/7 on secondary markets—company-planned timing as of the release date. [1]
How do the notes work (as Ondo describes them)?
Per Ondo’s PR Newswire release: [1]
- Exposure comes through tokenised notes.
- Each note’s payout is linked to the per-share value realised on the referenced company’s common shares at a qualifying liquidity event (for example, an IPO-style exit—Ondo’s category language).
- Ondo says the tokens are freely transferable and composable onchain for use across DeFi—again, company description.
- Critically, the notes are obligations of their issuer, not shares in the referenced companies, and provide no ownership or shareholder rights.
Acting CEO and President Ian De Bode is quoted on retail access gaps in U.S. private markets and on 24/7 trading on permissionless rails. [1]
Eligibility and regulatory limits
The release’s disclaimers are blunt: for non-U.S. persons only. Tokens have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933; they may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered or an exemption applies. Persons in the U.S. or who are U.S. persons (or acting for them) are prohibited from subscribing, acquiring or redeeming the tokens under the stated Reg S framing. [1]
Ondo also says tokens provide economic exposure to underlying asset value but are not themselves stocks and do not give rights to hold or receive the underlying assets. Offering documents control over the summary. [1]
Company-reported scale
Ondo says Private Markets builds on infrastructure behind its tokenised stocks and Treasuries platforms, which together represent US$3.7 billion in total value locked and more than 1 million cumulative holders—company-reported figures, not independently audited AUM in this release. [1]
Further markets across robotics, cybersecurity, biotech, infrastructure and other sectors are described as to follow—planned pipeline language. [1]
What this does not prove
- That holders own equity in the referenced AI company; the notes confer no shareholder rights. [1]
- That a liquidity event will occur on any timetable, or at any particular valuation.
- That U.S. persons can participate; the product is framed as non-U.S. only. [1]
- That the US$3.7bn TVL figure is a third-party census; it is Ondo’s stated platform figure. [1]
No investment advice is offered here. No price predictions.
The Bottom Line
Ondo has launched Ondo Private Markets: tokenised notes tied to a private company’s per-share value at a qualifying liquidity event, starting with an unnamed pre-IPO AI name, for non-U.S. persons, as issuer obligations—not equity. Read the launch as structured onchain exposure with hard eligibility and rights caveats, not as buying private-company shares.
Sources
- Ondo Finance via PR Newswire, 6 October 2026 — https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/ondo-private-markets-to-bring-private-company-exposure-onchain-starting-with-ai-302899388.html
