Naval’s USVC Opens Private AI to Retail — and Quietly Tests the Tokenization Thesis

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Naval’s USVC Opens Private AI to Retail — and Quietly Tests the Tokenization Thesis

AngelList Asset Management introduced a new fund on Wednesday, the USVC Venture Capital Access Fund, allowing everyday US investors to invest in late-stage private AI companies with a minimum investment of just $500. The fund’s initial investments include some of the most promising AI companies, such as xAI, Anthropic, OpenAI, Crusoe, Sierra, Vercel, and Legora – representing a potentially significant opportunity in the venture capital world.

The launch happened as Robinhood Ventures Fund I revealed a $75 million investment in OpenAI, proving that everyday investors in the US can now access private AI companies. This has quickly become a major point of competition for Wall Street firms.

The AI gold rush retail watched from the sidelines

The rapidly growing private AI industry is making it increasingly important to address how everyday people can access these technologies. Recent funding rounds demonstrate just how valuable these companies are: OpenAI was valued at $852 billion in March, and Anthropic reached $380 billion in February, with estimates now exceeding $800 billion. Adding to this, SpaceX merged with xAI in February, creating a company valued at an unprecedented $1.25 trillion – the largest merger in history.

Here’s a striking example of how wealth creation has shifted: In 2021, AI company Anthropic was valued at $550 million. A $1 million investment back then would be worth nearly $690 million today. However, this increase in value hasn’t been available to everyday investors. Traditionally, IPOs allowed individuals to invest in growing companies, but now they mostly serve as opportunities for early investors to cash out. Companies are staying private much longer – the average US company went public at age six in 1980, but now it’s 13. This means venture capital firms and those with inside connections are benefiting from seven extra years of growth that used to go to public investors.

This explains the core idea driving USVC. It’s the same principle behind tools like Robinhood’s RVI, platforms that create tokens from assets, and the increasing number of funds that let everyday investors access private markets and participate in things like tender offers.

Why crypto investors should pay attention to Naval

Naval Ravikant, who leads USVC’s investment committee, is the main reason why this launch is significant for people interested in digital assets.

Ravikant has been involved with cryptocurrency since its early days, even before many of today’s leaders. Back in 2014, before the surge in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), he wrote an influential essay called *The Bitcoin Model for Crowdfunding*. People like Balaji Srinivasan from Andreessen Horowitz say this essay helped lay the groundwork for how tokens are launched. That same year, he co-founded MetaStable Capital, an early crypto hedge fund that reportedly saw returns of 540% by 2017. He also served on the Zcash Foundation board, invested in projects like Filecoin, Blockstack, and OpenSea, and claims to have purchased Ethereum when it cost just 30 cents.

In 2017, Ravikant created CoinList as a separate company from AngelList. CoinList quickly became a major platform for launching new cryptocurrency projects, hosting successful sales for tokens like Filecoin, Solana, and Algorand. Recently, Ravikant has stated he believes Bitcoin is the only reliable store of value, viewing other cryptocurrencies primarily as ways to make payments. His book, *Almanack*, is highly influential within the crypto community, he has around 2.3 million followers on X (formerly Twitter), and his core ideas – like individual control, open systems, and expanding access to wealth – strongly align with the original principles of the cypherpunk movement.

It’s quite ironic that the investor who pioneered ICOs – a method intended to open up early investment opportunities to everyone – now leads a traditional, SEC-regulated fund that does essentially the same thing. As Naval Ravikant pointed out on X (formerly Twitter), by the time a company goes public with a stock offering, most of the potential for significant gains has already disappeared.

The tokenization detour

My research has uncovered some interesting details surrounding the USVC launch. As previously reported by BNC, Robinhood spent a significant portion of 2025 marketing what they called “tokenized” equity in OpenAI and SpaceX to users in Europe. This wasn’t direct stock ownership, but rather a structure using a special-purpose vehicle. However, OpenAI publicly stated these tokens didn’t represent actual equity and that no official transfer had been approved. This led to investigations by European regulators, including the Bank of Lithuania, and ultimately, the product failed to gain traction.

The $75 million investment in RVI on Wednesday is a direct purchase of OpenAI stock through a standard investment fund, marking a shift from last year’s more complex approach. USVC works similarly: it’s a professionally managed fund, regulated under standard financial rules, and available to everyday investors through typical brokerage accounts.

Crypto investors are facing a challenging reality. The idea that tokens could open up private investments – a concept driving projects like tZero and current real-world asset (RWA) platforms – is, for now, being overtaken by traditional investment funds that are navigating US regulations more quickly. While tokenization might eventually transform capital markets, current demand from everyday investors for access to private AI investments is being met by funds established under older regulations dating back to 1940.

How USVC is structured

USVC is a financial investment fund formed as a Delaware statutory trust. It invests capital in three main ways: by funding new venture capital funds, directly investing in growing companies, and buying existing shares from AngelList, a platform that connects investors with over 4,500 fund managers and manages more than $125 billion in assets.

The fund charges a 1% management fee and doesn’t take any carried interest at the fund level itself. The overall cost of running the fund (gross expense ratio) is 3.61%, as of March 2026. About 0.95% of that cost comes from fees charged by the venture funds USVC invests in – these typically include a 20-30% carried interest. However, a contract limits the total expenses charged to investors to 2.50% until October 2026.

What to watch

USVC intentionally focuses its investments. Currently, about 20% of the fund’s assets are in xAI, marked as an acquisition in progress—likely due to SpaceX’s recent purchase of xAI and the resulting changes in ownership. Other AI companies like Anthropic, Crusoe, Sierra, Legora, OpenAI, and Vercel each represent a smaller portion of the portfolio, less than 5%. Because the fund is required to invest at least 25% in technology, it’s essentially a highly focused bet on artificial intelligence, not a broadly spread venture investment.

The biggest risk is that these shares are difficult to sell. They aren’t traded on any public market, and you can only sell them back to the company through limited buyback offers – up to 5% of the fund’s value each quarter, and the company decides if and when to hold these offers. The official documents clearly state that investors should expect these shares to be hard to trade.

There are a couple of important details to note about AngelList’s investment operations. The actual firm managing USVC, AngelList Asset Management (which is registered with the SEC), reported around $329 million in assets as of September 2025. This is much less than the $125 billion often cited for the entire AngelList platform. Also, this is the first time the firm will be managing a closed-end fund. Day-to-day investment decisions are made by Ankur Nagpal, known for founding Teachable and Carry, while Naval Ravikant focuses on overseeing the process rather than choosing specific investments.

Currently, the more traditional approach is progressing more quickly than the newer, token-based method – and the person leading both initiatives supports this initial rollout. The coming months will reveal whether this strategy effectively bridges the gap between everyday shoppers and the benefits of AI, or if it merely finds a way to profit from the existing situation.

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2026-04-23 02:44