How Hedera Can Be Used to Tokenize Private Company Shares

Unlock the Secrets of Ethical Hacking!
Ready to dive into the world of offensive security? This course gives you the Black Hat hacker’s perspective, teaching you attack techniques to defend against malicious activity. Learn to hack Android and Windows systems, create undetectable malware and ransomware, and even master spoofing techniques. Start your first hack in just one hour!
Enroll now and gain industry-standard knowledge: Enroll Now!

Could Hedera Hashgraph be used to tokenize shares in private companies?

Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev wants to be the first to tokenize private firms such as SpaceX and OpenAI and bring shares on-chain.

Tokenization on Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) allows institutions to bring their value on-chain while maintaining compliance with new liquidity channels for investors. Could it realistically be done?

The Case for Tokenized Private Shares

Private equity markets are a different breed from the usual public-facing stock market. Shares in companies like SpaceX or OpenAI are locked up for years, with secondary transactions limited to specialist platforms or accredited investors like banks.

On October 2, 2025, the valuation of OpenAI surged to around $500 billion after a new deal was made that allowed employees to sell a small number of shares to finanical institutions in a private sale.

Buyers included Softbank, a leading Japanese bank, which is set to invest $40 billion into OpenAI before the end of 2025.

Tokenization can change this private dynamic by converting equity into digital tokens that can represent fractional ownership or shares in the company, giving investors more flexibility while aligning with regulatory requirements.

On-chain shares of SpaceX or OpenAI would open the door for investments from around the world, bringing in an insane amount of liquidity.

Tokenization can reduce operational overhead and expand access to capital. Tokenization of assets also allows companies to unlock demand from a large investor pool without pursuing traditional IPOs.

DOVU and Aberdeen have use Hedera for tokenization

By leveraging Hedera, tokenized equity can be secure, transparent, and fast, features that are missing from traditional private share markets. Already, Swarm, a multi-asset RWA platform, has brought tokenized stocks from Strategy and Apple onto Hedera Hashgraph.

Why Hedera Can Be Used to Tokenize Private Equity

Hedera’s architecture would make it a perfect fit for private equity tokenization, making transaction costs extremely low and allowing settlements to occur within seconds.

The Hedera Token Service (HTS) can provide issuers with the tools to create both fungible and non-fungible tokens with built-in compliance tools, similar to the XRP Ledger’s new Multi-Purpose Tokens.

Features like allowlists, transfer restrictions, and freezing mechanisms mean that only verified participants can hold or trade the tokens, all without the risks associated with custom-coded smart contracts, which can be prone to compromises and hacks.

How Tokenized Shares Could Work on HBAR

Tokenized shares of companies like SpaceX or OpenAI could be issued directly on Hedera, with tokens representing either whole shares or fractional ownership.

Each token can go on to embed crucial metadata that links to detailed legal documents, ownership details, and corporate disclosures, ensuring transparency for investors on-chain.

Compliance can be enforced at the protocol level, allowing only accredited or KYC-verified investors to hold tokens since crypto is global.

Once issued, these token shares could be traded on regulated decentralized exchanges built on Hedera, like SaucerSwap, offering liquidity pools for investors to earn from trading.

Corporate actions such as dividend payments, token splits could also be automated and executed seamlessly on the Hedera network, reducing administrative burdens while enhancing trust on a decentralized ledger.

Unlocking Value for Investors and Issuers on Hedera

For investors, the tokenization of private equity opens the door for the average investor to hold a stake in high-growth companies that are usually inaccessible, only open to investments from banks or accredited institutions.

Fractionalization allows smaller participants to gain exposure to firms like SpaceX or OpenAI, democratizing access to opportunities that were once reserved for elite investors.

For issuers, tokenization provides an efficient way to raise capital and improve liquidity for shareholders without going through the dozens of regulatory hurdles of a traditional IPO.

The Future of Private Equity

Tokenization also enables greater investor engagement and can make shares more streamlined and globally accessible.

It’s ultimately up to the firms if they wish to go through the route of tokenization. After Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev made tokenized shares of OpenAI public in Europe, OpenAI said: “These “OpenAI tokens” are not OpenAI equity.”

From Vladimir Tenev:

“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle.”

Tokenizing private company shares on Hedera would represent an evolution in capital markets led by an institutional-grade network. If private companies other than OpenAI and SpaceX decided to take advantage of on-chain tokenization, the floodgates would slowly be opened.