Ondo Perps Adds 3x OpenAI Pre-IPO Contract

Ondo Perps announced on Oct. 21 that its OpenAI pre-IPO perpetual was live, giving eligible traders outside the U.S. a way to take leveraged long or short positions. The OPENAI-USD.P market supports up to 3x leverage, according to its public configuration.

The contract adds a different kind of exposure from the platform's existing OpenAI Private Market Note, OPAIPon. Traders in the perpetual bet on movements in that contract's price; buyers of OPAIPon purchase a fully funded debt security. Ondo Perps describes the two as separate markets with their own pricing, both trading 24/7.

The distinction matters because OpenAI has no publicly available share price while it remains private. The perpetual's live pricing feed showed it in price-discovery mode, while its configuration lists a $1,600 seed price. Its price is not a quote for buying OpenAI shares.

How the Perpetual Is Priced

Ondo's pricing documentation describes an internal oracle that updates from order-book activity when external pricing is unavailable. Buying and selling pressure move that reference through a smoothing mechanism. The mark price, used for margin, unrealized profit and loss, and liquidations, combines the oracle with the contract's premium or discount and local trading prices.

At 9:42 a.m. ET on Oct. 21, the feed showed an OPENAI mark price of about $1,527.47 and an oracle price of $1,522.67. Those are derivatives-market reference prices, not a public-market valuation of OpenAI shares.

The venue's market configuration sets maximum leverage at 3x and maintenance margin at 16.67%. Under its margin rules, initial margin is position value divided by the selected leverage. The platform uses cross margin: all perpetual positions share a collateral pool, so losses in one market can threaten the margin supporting others.

Funding payments settle hourly in USDC between long and short holders. Rates depend on the contract's premium relative to its oracle reference; positive rates mean longs pay shorts, while negative rates reverse the payments.

Small Outstanding Positions

The venue's public feed, observed at 9:40 a.m. ET, reported about $1,034 in OPENAI open interest and $1,224 in trailing 24-hour volume. A separate order-book snapshot at 9:42 a.m. ET showed a best bid of $1,531.70 for 2.104 contracts and a best ask of $1,531.90 for 16.942 contracts. Those resting quotes are a snapshot, not a guarantee of execution.

Access remains restricted despite the venue's permissionless description. Its terms exclude U.S. persons and users in the U.S., Canada, Panama and other prohibited jurisdictions, and ban bypassing geofencing.

The platform added spot trading for tokenized stocks and ETFs in September. But OPAIPon follows different rules: it is an unsecured obligation of PM Issuer Co (BVI) Limited, not OpenAI shares. Its spot-market terms provide no leverage, borrowing or perpetual funding payments, and the note cannot be used as collateral for perpetual positions.