Tessera Tokenizes Private Equity on Solana to Target $20B RWA Market

Tessera launches a private equity tokenization platform on Solana to give on-chain exposure to private shares via SPVs, enabling DeFi-like 24/7 settlement and transparency.

Rich by Coin

2026-03-09

Tessera brings private equity onchain to Solana, targeting the $20B RWA market. Tessera has announced the launch of its private equity tokenization platform on Solana, a system designed to give investors onchain exposure to private company shares that have historically been accessible only through venture capital firms and institutional investment networks. A new platform founded by Wall Street veteran Chan Ahn is aiming to bring one of finance’s most exclusive asset classes — private equity — onto the blockchain. The goal is ambitious: convert private equity from a closed financial market into a liquid, globally accessible asset class.

Tessera’s platform converts private company shares into tokenized assets on Solana through a legal and technical structure designed to mirror traditional financial ownership. The process works in three steps: 1. Tessera acquires private company shares. 2. The assets are held inside bankruptcy-remote Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs). 3. Tokens are issued on Solana representing proportional economic exposure to those underlying shares. These tokens are designed to function like DeFi-native assets, meaning they can theoretically trade 24×7 on decentralized exchanges with instant settlement, a stark contrast to traditional private equity structures that typically lock capital for years. To maintain transparency, Tessera is integrating onchain proof mechanisms that verify each token is backed by the underlying equity reserve.

Ahn says this level of transparency was often absent in traditional financial markets. The launch comes at a time when tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) are becoming one of the fastest-growing sectors in crypto. PUBLIC DATA SHOWS THE RWA MARKET HAS NOW SURPASSED $20 BILLION IN TOKENIZED VALUE, THOUGH MOST OF THAT CAPITAL CURRENTLY SITS IN LOWER-RISK INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS TOKENIZED U.S. TREASURIES AND MONEY MARKET FUNDS. Tessera is betting that the next major phase of RWA adoption will move further up the risk curve into equity exposure, particularly in late-stage private companies.