Bybit Launches tokenized IPO Access with SpaceX Debut

Bybit is joining a growing list of crypto exchange platforms allowing eligible users to subscribe to tokenized shares in US initial public offerings at the offering price, beginning with a SpaceX listing through the xStocks framework.

Kraken parent Payward Services’ xStocks framework aggregates investor demand across partner platforms and works with underwriting syndicates to secure IPO allocations before tokenizing the shares.

Eligible users can register interest and submit subscription requests for tokenized IPO shares through Bybit, with allocations distributed on a pro-rata basis and unused funds refunded if demand exceeds available shares. SpaceX will be the first offering, with tokenized shares scheduled to begin trading on Bybit’s spot market on June 12.

On listing day, allocated shares are tokenized and backed 1:1 by underlying equity held in regulated broker-dealer custody, according to Bybit.

According to RWA.xyz data, xStocks is the second-largest tokenized stock platform by value, with roughly $415 million in tokenized equities and a 28% share of the market.

Source: RWA.xyz

Kraken on Friday named SpaceX as the inaugural offering for the platform’s xStocks IPO Access product, which is available in more than 110 markets but excludes users in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom due to regulatory restrictions.

A day earlier, Coinbase launched a SpaceX pre-IPO market that gives eligible users outside the US exposure to the company’s private-market valuation through perpetual futures contracts.

Source: Bybit

Related: Bybit Pay enters South Africa through MoneyBadger integration

SpaceX targets record-breaking public debut

Founded by Elon Musk in 2002, SpaceX is a private aerospace company best known for its Falcon launch vehicles, Dragon spacecraft and Starlink satellite internet network.

The company filed confidentially for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in April. The filing came two months after SpaceX acquired Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI, expanding the aerospace company’s presence in the AI sector.

Demand for the offering has reportedly exceeded available shares ahead of SpaceX’s planned June 12 public debut. Bloomberg reported that the company is targeting a valuation of at least $1.8 trillion and a roughly $75 billion raise, which would make it the largest IPO on record.

SpaceX’s May 20 S-1 registration statement also disclosed holdings of 18,712 Bitcoin, enough to place the company among the 10 largest corporate Bitcoin (BTC) holders, ahead of firms including Coinbase and Riot Platforms, according to BitcoinTreasuries data.

Top 15 Bitcoin treasury companies. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.NET

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