Can the Blockchain Level the Playing Field for Investors?

In August 2004, PayPal founder Peter Theil wrote a check that made him an investing legend.

Facebook had just launched and was spreading like wildfire across college campuses. When Mark Zuckerberg came looking for fresh capital, Theil wrote him a $500,000 check for 10% of the company.

Eight years later when Facebook IPO’d, Theil sold the majority of his shares for $1 billion.

This wasn’t the first time a Silicon Valley investor hit it big with an early stage investment, nor would it be the last.

The co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Andy Bechtolsheim, was one of Google’s first investors. His initial $100,000 stake in the company turned into around $1.7 billion when Google went public in 2004.

And venture capitalist Bill Gurley turned a $12 million investment in Uber in 2011 into $7 billion when Uber IPO’ed in 2019.

WIsh you could have gotten in on that action too?

In the future, it could be possible. Because I believe the next couple years will lead to a major shakeup in how we invest.

I’ve shown you how blockchain technology is poised to disrupt entire industries the same way cryptocurrencies have upended our traditional view of money.

Blockchain should make it easier for people all over the world to share and build upon scientific discoveries…

It could be used to radically improve government operations…

And it is already being used to monetize AI agents.

But for years now I’ve been pounding the table about how blockchain technology should be used to level the playing field for everyday investors.

After all, Anthropic is valued at over $61 Billion.

OpenAI is worth at least $157 billion.

And SpaceX is already valued at a whopping $350 billion.

Yet all these companies are still private, and it’s highly likely that you can’t invest in them.

Companies like Canva, Revolut and Stripe also have massive valuations, but their stock isn’t available to the public yet either.

I believe everyone should have the right to invest in exciting companies like these before they go public.

And the blockchain could help make it happen.

Let me explain…

And stick around to the very end to find out the surprising way it could be possible for you to invest in companies like these right now!

The Little Guy Eats Last

The main problem for retail investors today is that they don’t get access to big growth companies like OpenAI and SpaceX until they go public at $100 billion+ valuations.

Instead, a small group of wealthy venture capitalists get early access, often making enormous profits — sometimes 1,000X their initial investment — while everyday investors miss out.

And this problem is getting worse because companies are staying private significantly longer today compared to 30 years ago.

In 1990, the median age of a company at its initial public offering (IPO) was about 6 years.

By 2021, the median age had increased to 11 years. Nearly double.

And in the technology sector it’s even worse.

The average age of a new public company rose from 4.5 years in 1999 to more than 12 years in 20204.

That’s a massive leap.

And it’s part of the reason the number of publicly listed companies has plummeted from around 8,000 in the 1990s to around 4,000 in recent years.

In other words, today there are only about half as many public companies in the U.S. as there were 30 years ago.

And when these companies finally IPO at massive valuations, they often underperform for retail investors.

Which means private equity investors often earn the lion’s share of profits from growing companies, while the public is left with the scraps.

We saw it happen with recent IPOs like Uber, DoorDash and Airbnb.

These companies made early private investors a lot of money but had lackluster returns after they went public.

Fortunately, there is a solution that could change this trend and open the doors to a new era of investing.

Tokenization

Blockchain technology has the ability to transform investing by making private-company stock and other assets accessible to everyone.

Here’s how.

Blockchain allows for the creation of digital tokens that represent ownership of real-world assets.

This process, called tokenization, lets companies divide and distribute ownership in a way that’s similar to how stocks are traded.

Private companies could tokenize their shares, making it easier for everyday investors to buy in.

The same could be done with art, sports teams, carbon credits or even a musician’s song rights.

These tokenized assets could be traded 24/7 from a mobile phone, making investing more accessible than ever.

If private-company stocks were tokenized, retail investors could invest in promising companies early…

Before they hit massive valuations.

This wouldn’t just benefit investors. It would help companies too because of the low costs and open access that blockchain technology offers.

So What’s Holding Us Back?

Regulations are the biggest roadblock for tokenization in the U.S.

Private-company stocks are controlled by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC.)

And under Biden the SEC never figured out how to regulate tokenized assets.

Yet other regions like the European Union, Hong Kong, Singapore and Abu Dhabi are already moving forward with rules that allow security tokens to be traded.

Fortunately, Trump’s new task force, the Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, should start developing a federal regulatory framework for governing digital assets.

Here’s what I would tell them to work on with the SEC so tokenized investing can become a reality in the U.S.

First, the rules about who can invest in private markets need to change.

Instead of limiting access based on wealth, investment opportunities should be open to anyone who understands the risks.

Second, there needs to be a way for companies to legally issue security tokens, giving investors a new alternative to traditional IPOs.

Lastly, clear guidelines must be set for U.S. based exchanges so they know how to list these tokens in a safe and legal way.

It seems simple, but the big question is: Does the Trump administration have the will to make tokenization happen?

Here’s My Take

I believe they do.

Mostly because there are big names in finance that see the value in tokenization too.

According to Blackrock’s CEO Larry Fink, everything will eventually be on the blockchain.

In an interview last year he said: “We believe the next step is the tokenization of assets. And that means every stock, every bond…”

And this could lead to a future where everyday investors have the same rights to invest in private companies as the ultra wealthy.

The SEC has been slow to adapt because it wants to protect people from scams and bad investments.

And investing in startups is risky.

Many companies fail, and investors could lose money. But every investment comes with risk, whether it’s a lemonade stand or a Fortune 500 company.

And with the right rules, these risks can be managed, just like they are in traditional stock markets.

Ultimately, blockchain technology can create a new, inclusive way to invest.

I can see the Trump administration pushing for a regulatory framework that allows only American investors access to early stage American companies.

And that would be a great start.

Because the rest of the world is already moving toward tokenization.

And if the U.S. wants to stay ahead, it needs to keep up with this financial revolution.

In the meantime, I’ve uncovered a way to invest in some of the most exciting private companies today.

I put together a video with all the details…

Including what I believe will be the hottest company of the year.

Click here now for FREE access to this presentation.

Regards,

Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing