Traders work the floor as they wait for the first shares of VISA stock sold after the opening bell … More
IPOs are no longer the endgame. With over $5.3 trillion in private capital sitting on the sidelines and artificial intelligence redrawing market fundamentals at unprecedented speed, many companies are opting to stay private. Public markets have become slower, more rigid, and increasingly misaligned with how modern businesses operate. Since its 2021 peak, IPO activity has dropped more than 80%, suggesting that founders and investors alike are looking elsewhere for liquidity and legitimacy.
Since 2015, private markets have grown by 162%, while the number of U.S. public companies has declined by nearly half from its peak in 1996. The message is clear: companies are staying private longer, raising capital on their own terms, and avoiding the quarterly pressures of Wall Street. But the next evolution may go even further; bypassing traditional equity structures entirely and moving toward something programmable, flexible, and continuous.
Early signals of this shift are already appearing. Coinbase, for example, has explored tokenizing shares of its COIN stock on Base, its Ethereum Layer-2 network. While still in the concept stage, the move points to a new kind of financial infrastructure. In a tokenized equity model, shareholders could gain access to liquidity 24/7, borrow against their holdings, and interact with their equity in ways previously reserved for institutional investors. This isn’t just a change in format. It’s a change in function. One that reimagines ownership itself.
Major financial players are moving in the same direction. BlackRock recently filed to offer a $150 billion Treasury Trust fund as a tokenized product. Franklin Templeton launched the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to record shares on a public blockchain. Platforms like Securitize, INX, and Republic are building the rails for tokenized equity that can be issued, transferred, and traded globally, without needing an exchange listing. These aren’t isolated experiments. They are early infrastructure for a parallel financial system.
For retail investors, the implications could be transformative. Access to high-growth startups has historically been limited to elite capital such as venture firms, family offices, and hedge funds. By the time companies reached public markets, most of the upside was already gone. But with tokenized equity, ownership can be distributed much earlier. Platforms like Republic and CartaX are already testing models that allow broader participation in equity fundraising. In this future, wallets may replace brokerage accounts as the primary gateway to wealth creation.
For younger generations, this shift could be even more significant. Millennials and Gen Z missed out on early access to many of the tech giants that defined the past two decades. Most didn’t have the capital or access to participate in early venture rounds or IPO allocations. Tokenized equity presents an opportunity to change that. By making ownership programmable and open, it gives the next generation a chance to participate in value creation earlier and without needing a seat at a VC fund or a private placement deal.
At the same time, AI is accelerating the need for more adaptable markets. The pace of disruption today makes quarterly reporting feel outdated. Business models are shifting in real time, and valuations are increasingly volatile. Even central banks are concerned. The Bank of England recently warned that widespread use of similar AI models by institutional traders could amplify systemic risks. In this climate, tokenized assets, which offer programmable logic and constant market access, may be better suited for the volatility ahead.
Of course, the road won’t be smooth. Regulatory clarity remains a major hurdle. The SEC has issued limited guidance, suggesting that tokenized shares may fall under existing securities laws, but many questions remain unanswered. How will custody work? Who provides investor protections? Can tokenized equity comply with disclosure requirements in real time? These issues are still being worked out. Yet as jurisdictions like Singapore and the UAE roll out frameworks for tokenized capital markets, global leadership is already shifting.
The IPO isn’t dying. It’s being redefined by tokenized equity. What’s emerging in its place is a model that favors flexibility, global access, and direct ownership. The most valuable companies of tomorrow may never ring the opening bell. They may mint tokens instead. The revolution isn’t coming. It’s already here.
