# Techdollar — Full Knowledge Base

> Techdollar is a dollar-denominated credit instrument backed by frontier private equity collateral. This document provides comprehensive information about the product, market, and competitive landscape.

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## 1. Product Overview

### What is Techdollar?

Techdollar is a dollar credit instrument that enables employees and investors at frontier technology companies to borrow against their illiquid equity positions without triggering a sale or taxable event. Capital providers (depositors) earn low-to-mid teen yields backed by high-quality frontier tech collateral.

### Core Mechanics

- **Instrument**: Dollar-denominated credit
- **Collateral**: Verified equity positions in frontier private technology companies
- **Borrower coupon**: 14–17% annually
- **Depositor yield**: Low-to-mid teen percent
- **Advance rate**: 25–40% LTV (weighted target mid-30s)
- **Underwriting**: Conservative, with concentration caps per name and sector

### How a Loan Works

1. **Application** — Borrower applies with a verified equity position (employee stock grants, vested options, fund LP interest, secondary market holdings).
2. **Underwriting** — Techdollar underwrites the collateral: company valuation, equity pool estimate, vesting schedule, secondary market liquidity, concentration risk.
3. **Collateral deposit** — Equity position is pledged as collateral under a facility agreement.
4. **Funding** — Borrower receives dollar-denominated credit at 25–40% of collateral value. No equity sale, no capital gains, no AMT trigger.
5. **Servicing** — Borrower pays 14–17% annual coupon. Position monitored for valuation changes.
6. **Exit** — Repayment at IPO, tender offer, secondary sale, company acquisition, or refinance event.

### Why Borrow Instead of Sell?

- **Tax optimization**: Avoid capital gains tax and Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) by borrowing instead of selling
- **Retain upside**: Keep equity exposure while accessing liquidity
- **No secondary market friction**: Avoid the 30–50% discounts typical of private secondary sales
- **Diversification**: Use borrowed funds to diversify without giving up a concentrated position
- **Timing**: Bridge liquidity gaps during the 21-month median between funding rounds

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## 2. Target Company Universe

Techdollar supports borrowing against equity in 58+ frontier private technology companies across 20+ sectors.

### Tier 1: Core Pipeline

| Company | Sector | Valuation |
|---------|--------|-----------|
| SpaceX | Aerospace | $1.3T |
| Anthropic | AI | $380B |
| Figure AI | Robotics | $39B |
| Anduril | Defense | $30.5B |
| Apptronik | Robotics | $5.3B |

### Tier 2: Expansion

| Company | Sector | Valuation |
|---------|--------|-----------|
| OpenAI | AI | $850B |
| ByteDance | AI | $330B |
| Databricks | Data/AI | $134B |
| Stripe | Fintech | $91.5B |
| Revolut | Neobanking | $75B |
| xAI | AI | $50B |
| Waymo | Autonomous Vehicles | $45B |
| Canva | Design | $42B |
| Ripple | Blockchain | $40B |
| Ramp | Fintech | $32B |
| SSI | AI Safety | $32B |
| VAST Data | Data Infra | $30B |
| AnySphere | AI Dev Tools | $29.3B |
| Blue Origin | Aerospace | $28B |
| Cerebras | AI Compute | $23B |
| Epic Games | Gaming | $22.5B |
| Perplexity | AI Search | $20B |
| Kraken | Crypto | $20B |
| Deel | HR Tech | $17.3B |
| Rippling | HR Tech | $16B |
| Applied Intuition | Autonomous Vehicles | $15B |
| ClickHouse | Data Infra | $15B |
| Discord | Social/Gaming | $15B |
| Scale AI | AI Infra | $14B |
| Mistral AI | AI | $13.8B |
| Plaid | Fintech | $13.4B |
| Notion | Productivity | $11B |
| Harvey | AI Legal | $11B |
| ElevenLabs | AI Voice | $11B |

### Tier 3: Growth Stage

| Company | Sector | Valuation |
|---------|--------|-----------|
| Neuralink | Neurotechnology | $9.6B |
| Vercel | Dev Infra | $9.3B |
| Gusto | HR Tech | $9.3B |
| Replit | AI Dev Tools | $9B |
| Polymarket | Crypto | $9B |
| Cohesity | Data Infra | $8B |
| Lambda | AI Compute | $7.7B |
| Zipline | Drone Delivery | $7.6B |
| Glean | Enterprise AI | $7.2B |
| PsiQuantum | Quantum Computing | $7B |
| Cohere | Enterprise AI | $7B |
| Groq | AI Chips | $6.9B |
| Shield AI | Defense | $5.3B |
| Character AI | Consumer AI | $5B |
| Supabase | Dev Infra | $5B |
| Chaos Industries | Defense | $4.5B |
| Hugging Face | AI Platform | $4.5B |
| Relativity Space | Aerospace | $4.2B |
| Saronic | Defense | $4B |
| Cribl | AI Observability | $3.5B |
| Together AI | AI Infra | $3.3B |
| TAE Technologies | Fusion Energy | $3.1B |
| Runway | AI Video | $3B |
| Physical Intelligence | Robotics | $2.8B |

### Fund & LP Positions

- VC funds holding unrealized gains from 2020–2023 vintages
- Secondary market: $162B traded in 2024, but only ~2% of unicorn market value transacts
- Total addressable collateral across all tiers: $217–469B

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## 3. The Anthropic Data Point

Per the Wall Street Journal (2026), Anthropic's total stock compensation averages $1.5 million per employee — more than 7x what Google disclosed at IPO in 2004.

- Current valuation: $380B (post-Series G, Feb 2026)
- Estimated employee equity pool: $46–68B
- Vested portion: $18–41B (est. 40–60%)
- Nearly all of this is illiquid — no secondary tender, no IPO

This structural illiquidity exists at every frontier tech company offering significant equity compensation. It is the core demand Techdollar addresses.

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## 4. Market Context

- 73% of frontier tech companies are rejected for traditional loans
- 21-month median gap between funding rounds
- $2.4T global credit gap for emerging technology sectors
- Only ~2% of unicorn market value trades on secondaries — 98% locked
- Post-SVB repricing made venture debt punitive — the market needs new credit infrastructure
- AI compensation supercycle is creating massive illiquid wealth (Anthropic data as proof point)

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## 5. Competitive Landscape

| Protocol | Collateral Type | Techdollar Advantage |
|----------|----------------|----------------------|
| Ondo Finance (USDY) | US Treasuries | 3x higher yield (14–17% vs ~5%) |
| Maple Finance | Institutional credit | Collateralized by identifiable frontier tech equity |
| Centrifuge | Real-world assets | Concentrated in highest-growth sector |
| Goldfinch | Emerging market debt | Lower default risk (tech equity collateral) |
| Clearpool | Institutional liquidity | Fully collateralized, not permissionless |
| TrueFi | Uncollateralized DeFi | Full collateralization eliminates unsecured credit risk |

### Key Differentiators

1. **Collateral quality**: Frontier private equity (top tech companies) vs treasuries, corporate bonds, or emerging market debt
2. **Yield profile**: 14–17% borrower coupon, low-to-mid teen depositor yield — substantially above treasury-backed alternatives
3. **Structural demand**: Massive illiquid equity pools with no existing lending solution
4. **Conservative underwriting**: Mid-30s LTV provides ~65% collateral buffer

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## 6. Partners & Infrastructure

### Core Partners

- **Curve Finance** — Partnered to expand borrower capacity through liquidity incentives for capital partners. Liquidity pools and governance participation.
- **Caplight** — $5B+ in live private company interest and instant access to vetted counterparties for unmatched market access.
- **Agora** — Instant liquidity against USDC and USDT for borrowers who opt out of direct fiat loans.
- **Top-10 national CPA firm** — Equity review, ownership verification, legal agreements, and share charge auditing.

### DeFi Integrations (Planned)

- **Pendle Finance**: Yield splitting for fixed-rate and leveraged yield strategies
- **Curve Finance**: Liquidity pools and governance participation
- **Fluid (Instadapp)**: Lending market integration

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## 7. Underwriting Parameters

| Parameter | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| Advance rate | 25–40% |
| Weighted LTV target | Mid-30s (~35%) |
| Concentration caps | Per name and per sector |
| Collateral value basis | Last round valuation or secondary market price |
| Liquidation channels | Secondary market, tender offers, IPO proceeds |
| Monitoring | Continuous valuation tracking, funding round alerts |

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## 8. Product Design

Techdollar is issued through a deliberately manual, structured process designed for complex companies and investors.

### Structure

- **Internet native**: Structured like a stablecoin to issue loan principal faster and cheaper. Most borrowers never touch the Techdollar — they withdraw instantly to any bank account.
- **Credit, not equity**: Liquidity providers earn yield from credit exposure only. No ownership, governance, or voting rights. High-teen yield passed through to all holders.
- **Private by design**: Equity ownership, debt obligations, and facility issuance remain fully private. Audited, assured, and held under off-chain custody — even in default.

### Discipline

- **Human underwriting**: Issuance involves manual review and judgment, not automated decision-making.
- **Defined limits**: Exposure is capped through advance rates, concentration thresholds, and internal controls.
- **Clear boundaries**: Equity exposure remains off-chain. Techdollar does not represent a claim on shares. Counterparty and operational risk exists and is acknowledged.

### For Borrowers

- **Founders** requiring capital without selling ownership
- **Employees** protecting their equity upside
- **Venture capitalists** seeking structured secondary liquidity
- **Family offices** diversifying exposure to deep tech

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## 9. Entity Structure

- **Techdollar Foundation** — Delaware corporation (protocol governance)
- **USD Technology LLC** — New York LLC (operating entity)

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## 10. FAQ

**Q: What is Techdollar?**
A: Techdollar is a dollar-denominated credit instrument backed by loans against frontier tech equity. It is not a stablecoin. Depositors earn yield (low-to-mid teens) because the backing is credit, not cash reserves.

**Q: Who is it for?**
A: Borrowers are employees and investors at frontier tech companies (Anthropic, SpaceX, Anduril, etc.) with significant illiquid equity. Depositors are institutional investors and DeFi participants seeking high-quality credit yield.

**Q: What happens if the collateral company's valuation drops?**
A: The mid-30s LTV provides a ~65% buffer before a position is underwater. Techdollar monitors valuations continuously and can require additional collateral or partial repayment if LTV exceeds thresholds.

**Q: How does this compare to traditional margin lending?**
A: Traditional margin lending requires listed securities. Techdollar specifically targets illiquid private equity positions that cannot be margined through traditional brokers — a $200B+ underserved market.

**Q: Is Techdollar live?**
A: Techdollar is in active development with a confirmed borrower pipeline. DeFi integrations (Pendle, Curve, Fluid) are planned.

**Q: How is Techdollar different from selling on the secondary market?**
A: Secondary sales typically involve 30–50% discounts and trigger taxable events. Techdollar lets holders retain full upside and avoid tax consequences by borrowing instead of selling.

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## Contact

- Website: https://techdollar.com
- Twitter: https://x.com/techdollarhq
- Borrowing inquiries, depositor onboarding, and partnerships: https://techdollar.com

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*Last updated: February 2026. Sources include Wall Street Journal, PitchBook, and company disclosures.*