OKX joins crypto’s pre-IPO frenzy with OpenAI, SpaceX perpetual futures
Key takeaways
- The contracts will provide synthetic price exposure to private companies ahead of their anticipated public listings, without granting actual equity ownership or shareholder rights.
- Bitget entered the sector in April with “IPO Prime,” listing a Solana-based SpaceX-linked token issued through investment platform Republic.
- Robinhood tried something similar but took a different approach last year.
The contracts will provide synthetic price exposure to private companies ahead of their anticipated public listings, without granting actual equity ownership or shareholder rights.
Bitget entered the sector in April with “IPO Prime,” listing a Solana-based SpaceX-linked token issued through investment platform Republic. Last year, Injective rolled out pre-IPO perpetual futures tied to firms including OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, and Perplexity, describing the products as a way to bring the $13 trillion private equity market “directly on-chain.”
The trend also reflects how crypto exchanges are increasingly moving beyond bitcoin BTC$81,476.63 and ether (ETH) trading to include equities, prediction markets, and real-world assets as they seek new sources of trading activity.