Bybit offers tokenized SpaceX IPO through xStocks

Bybit launched a tokenized SpaceX IPO product called ‘IPO Express' and opened a four-day USDC subscription window for eligible users ahead of SpaceX's expected Nasdaq listing on June 12. The sale opened at 08:00 UTC on Sunday for VIP and Pro customers. Subscribed funds are frozen pending allocation, which is scheduled for 08:00 UTC on June 11. Token distribution is planned for 12:30 UTC on June 12. Allocations may be partial or zero depending on demand.

The offering uses an indicative price of 135 USDC plus a 5% underwriting fee. The minimum subscription is 100 USDC and users may place up to 50 subscription orders. If the final IPO price falls within 20% of the indicative price, Bybit will automatically subscribe users at the final price. If the final price exceeds the indicative amount by more than 20%, users must reconfirm within a designated window.

Bybit described the tokens as ‘backed 1:1 by real equity held in regulated broker-dealer custody' in its product announcement. Product terms state that the collateral may not always be the underlying shares and that other eligible assets, including cash collateral, may be used as substitutes. Bybit also says it does not independently verify collateral composition or the continued 1:1 backing. The xStocks tokens are issued by Backed Assets (JE) Limited, a Jersey-based issuer, and are structured as tracker certificates that give economic exposure to the reference asset rather than direct equity ownership. Token holders do not receive shareholder voting rights or dividend rights. The tokens are designed to be interoperable across multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana and TON.

The xStocks Alliance is operated by Payward Services, the business-to-business arm linked to Kraken's parent company. Kraken launched a parallel xStocks SpaceX product on June 5 under the ticker SPCXx and made it available to verified users in more than 110 regions. Bybit's offering excludes the European Economic Area. Bybit requires Level 1 individual or business identity verification and restricts subscriptions to main accounts.

Several other exchanges have offered USDC-settled pre-IPO perpetual futures that allow traders to take leveraged positions on IPO prices without direct exposure to underlying shares. Earlier tokenized pre-IPO products on other infrastructures fell sharply after target companies warned that share transfers via special purpose vehicles could be void under corporate bylaws. A software bug at a market operator also caused a pre-IPO SpaceX perpetual contract to drop about 45% in 30 minutes, and affected traders received compensation. The xStocks structure uses bearer-style debt instruments issued against shares held in custody rather than SPV-held positions, a distinction that affects transferability and legal exposure but does not remove operational or market risks.

SpaceX's IPO is being managed by a 23-bank syndicate led by Goldman Sachs, with Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase among the lead bookrunners. The company is targeting a roughly $1.75 trillion valuation, with shares priced at $135 in a sale that would raise about $75 billion.

Bybit's IPO Express page showed about 550 users had pre-registered with total subscriptions of roughly $9.1 million in USDC. In a press release, Emily Bao, head of spot at Bybit, said the partnership with xStocks allows customers ‘to invest directly in US-listed IPOs alongside their crypto assets, on equal footing with institutional investors.' Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou posted on X calling the offering ‘1=1 stock backed, compliant and secure.'