Ondo Finance private markets open with 24/7 pre-IPO AI notes

Ondo Finance launched tokenized notes tied to a pre-IPO AI company on Oct. 5, tradable 24/7 by eligible non-U.S. investors.

The quick take

Price: $ONDO trades at $0.498, down 0.7% in 24 hours, as of 8:42 a.m. ET, Oct. 6.
Trigger: Ondo Private Markets launches with notes linked to one unnamed pre-IPO AI company.
Watch: secondary trading in the first notes, which Ondo expects to start this week.

Ondo Finance private markets have arrived onchain. On Oct. 5, Ondo Finance ($ONDO) launched Ondo Private Markets, a product that gives tokenized exposure to private companies.

What happened

The first notes track a pre-IPO artificial intelligence company that Ondo has not named. Each note pays out based on the value per common share at a qualifying liquidity event.

Holders can keep the notes in their own wallets and trade them around the clock. The Block reports that the notes are open only to eligible non-U.S. investors in permitted jurisdictions.

The notes are not shares. According to The Block, they carry no ownership or shareholder rights and are obligations of the issuer.

Why it moved

Ondo’s pitch is access to companies that never reach public markets. Acting CEO and President Ian De Bode told The Block that “87% of companies with over $100m in revenue are private.”

The token has barely reacted so far. $ONDO slipped 0.7% over 24 hours and 4.0% over seven days, per CoinGecko.

The launch builds on a large base. Ondo says it holds $3.9 billion in total value locked and has over 1 million cumulative holders, while The Block puts the figure at $3.7 billion. Ondo Stocks alone holds over $1 billion across more than 450 tokenized stocks and ETFs, per Ondo and Cointelegraph.

The Block also cites tokenized equities above $42 billion, about 35% of a $121 billion tokenized-asset market.

What to watch next

Ondo expects secondary trading in the first notes to begin this week. It plans later notes on robotics, cybersecurity, biotech and infrastructure companies, and its blog also lists defense, energy and space.

Key details are still unknown, including the AI company’s name and the size of the first issue.

Bottom line: Ondo Finance is stretching from tokenized public stocks into private companies, but its first notes are limited to eligible non-U.S. investors and carry no shareholder rights.