Bybit rolls out tokenized SpaceX IPO access via xStocks, days after Kraken

Crypto exchange Bybit launched a tokenized SpaceX IPO access product on Sunday, opening a four-day window for eligible users to commit USDC ahead of the rocket, satellite broadband, social media and AI company's expected Nasdaq debut on June 12.

The IPO will follow SpaceX's merger with Elon Musk's xAI, which itself had acquired the social media platform X last year.

The product, called IPO Express, uses an indicative price of 135 USDC plus a 5% "underwriting fee," with a 100 USDC minimum and a cap of 50 subscription orders per user. Subscription opened at 8:00 UTC Sunday for Bybit's VIP and Pro users, allocation is set for 8:00 UTC on June 11, and token distribution is scheduled for 12:30 UTC on June 12. Subscribed funds are frozen pending allocation, and allocations may be partial or zero depending on overall demand.

If the final IPO price lands within 20% of the indicative price, Bybit will automatically subscribe users at the final price; if it lands more than 20% above, users must reconfirm within a set window, per the terms of the offering. In other words, price up modestly and you are locked in; price up a lot and you get a second bite at the apple, which is more consideration than most DeFi users ever receive.

Bybit is the second crypto exchange this week to launch tokenized SpaceX IPO access through the xStocks Alliance, the multi-exchange network operated by Payward Services, the B2B infrastructure arm of Kraken's parent company, as The Block previously reported. Kraken launched its own version on June 5 under the ticker SPCXx, available to verified users in more than 110 regions.

xStocks tokens are issued by Backed Assets (JE) Limited, a Jersey-based entity, and structured as tracker certificates that provide economic exposure to the underlying reference asset rather than direct equity ownership, with no shareholder voting rights or dividend rights. xStocks tokens are blockchain agnostic and interoperable across chains, including Ethereum, Solana, and TON.

Bybit's press release describes the SpaceX tokens as "backed 1:1 by real equity held in regulated broker-dealer custody," with co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou describing the offering as "1=1 stock backed, compliant and secure" on X. Its product terms separately disclose that the collateral "may not always consist of the underlying shares" and that "other eligible assets (including cash collateral) may be used as substitute collateral." The marketing copy and the fine print are, as ever, getting acquainted.

Bybit said it does not independently verify the collateral composition or the continued 1:1 backing. Bybit did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Block.

"Through our partnership with xStocks, Bybit customers around the world can now invest directly in US-listed IPOs alongside their crypto assets, on equal footing with institutional investors," Emily Bao, head of spot at Bybit, said in the press release.

Tokenized shares vs. pre-IPO perps

The tokenized-share approach diverges from the synthetic perpetuals path taken by most major crypto exchanges in recent weeks. Coinbase launched USDC-settled SpaceX pre-IPO perpetual futures (perps) on its Bermuda-licensed International Exchange on Wednesday, joining Binance, OKX, Bitget, Crypto.com, and Hyperliquid-based platforms including Trade.xyz and Ventuals in offering competing pre-IPO perps products.

In May, tokenized pre-IPO products on PreStocks linked to Anthropic and OpenAI plunged after both companies warned that share transfers through special purpose vehicles were void under their corporate bylaws. A useful reminder that corporate bylaws do not, in fact, care about your token.

The xStocks structure differs from the PreStocks model, using bearer debt instruments issued against shares in custody rather than direct SPV-held positions, though whether SpaceX has comparable transfer restrictions has not been publicly addressed.

Pre-IPO perpetual futures also face risks; Ventuals recently said it would compensate traders after a bug with data from an offchain oracle caused its pre-IPO SpaceX perpetual contract on Hyperliquid to plunge 45% within a 30-minute window. Oracles, bless them, remain undefeated.

Bybit's offering requires Level 1 individual or business identity verification and is restricted to main accounts. The European Economic Area is excluded from