Retail access to the most promising private firms has been blocked for decades. The myopic Accredited Investor definition has disenfranchised the majority of the population, in favor of the wealthy for decades. While changes in the law like the JOBS Act of 2012 and better use of technology have opened the door wider to these private firms, Republic is taking it a step further with their “Mirror Token” offerings.
While several securities exemptions allow non-Accredited Investor access to participate in these investments, the majority of private firms raise money under Reg D. This exemption is used to raise trillions of dollars each year for private firms, but only Accredited Investors may participate. Republic is now taking securities in these firms, which are typically issued under Reg D, and then creating digital assets or Mirror Tokens that match the rise or fall in value of their shares, making them available to retail investors prior to a public offering.
As of today, there are 24 companies listed as being in the queue for the Mirror Token marketplace, and four are currently accepting reservations. Many of these firms are well-known. The private firms currently accepting reservations include:
- Canva
- Databricks
- Ramp
- Epic Games
Other names expected to offer these tokens include firms like Revolut, Anduril, xAI, Telegram, and Figure.
Four firms have already had their allocations filled, including:
- SpaceX
- Perplexity
- Anthropic
- OpenAi
All of these offerings are using the Reg CF securities exemption, which is open to retail investors.
As of yet, none of these offerings have been concluded with the filled offerings (the allocation already reserved) being in a holding pattern. This may have to do with the nuance of what the Republic is doing by mirroring a security with a digital asset. The regulatory environment is somewhat opaque here.
Regardless of this nuance, whenever you open access to high-quality investments for smaller investors, it should be viewed as a positive development and a policy goal. For years, some members of Congress have attempted to address the discriminatory nature of Reg D, and now Republic is doing it on their own.
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