Tokenized Economic Exposure for Startups

This structure makes the token much closer to a cash settled market instrument than to actual startup stock. The investor gets the upside or downside of the company’s value through an SPV or note wrapper, but does not become a shareholder, does not show up on the company’s cap table, and does not handle voting, disclosures, or deal paperwork. Unlocking is the point when that wrapper can pay out cash tied to the underlying exit value.1 2 3 4

• In practice, the legal owner is the holding vehicle, not the token holder. PreStocks describes its tokens as wrappers over one or more SPVs that hold direct or indirect exposure, and says the SPVs handle cap table updates and corporate actions behind the scenes.1 2
• This is becoming the standard retail friendly design for tokenized private markets. Jarsy keeps the SPV as shareholder of record while token holders own only economic rights. Republic uses a note structure where holders get a payout at an IPO or acquisition but no equity, voting, or information rights.3 4 5
• The payoff is simpler trading and broader distribution. Because the token is only tracking value, it can move across wallets and trading venues more easily than actual private shares, which usually require company approval, transfer checks, and weeks of settlement work.1 2 6

The next step is turning these economic exposure tokens into a fuller market stack, with lending, leverage, and continuous price discovery layered on top. If that happens, tokenized private company exposure starts to look less like a niche wrapper and more like an always open parallel market for late stage startup equity.1 2