OKX is preparing to offer perpetual futures contracts linked to private companies including OpenAI, SpaceX and Anthropic, intensifying the growing race among crypto companies to bring pre-IPO speculation markets on-chain, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday.
The contracts will provide synthetic price exposure to private companies ahead of their planned IPO, without granting any real equity interest or shareholder rights.
Bitget entered the sector in April with “IPO Prime,” listing a Solana-based SpaceX-linked token issued through the Republic investment platform. Last year, Injective launched pre-IPO perpetual futures contracts tied to companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX and Perplexity, describing the products as a way to bring the $13 trillion private equity market “direct to on-chain.”
The trend also reflects how crypto exchanges are increasingly moving beyond bitcoin. and ether (ETH) trading to include stocks, prediction markets, and real-world assets as they seek new sources of trading activity.
Robinhood tried something similar but took a different approach last year. The fintech platform offered OpenAI-linked tokens backed by a special purpose vehicle that held shares purchased on the secondary market, rather than direct shares.
OpenAI publicly distanced itself from the product at the time, warning that any transfer of company equity would require its approval.
