Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has joined the tokenization race to capture SpaceX’s highly anticipated public listing later this week with its new Bybit IPO Express service.
The Dubai-based exchange is the second cryptocurrency exchange to offer tokenized initial public offerings (IPOs) after Kraken. Its parent company Payward announced that it will soon allow its Kraken clients and xStocks alliance members to participate in US-listed IPOs via tokenized shares.
Binance, Bitget and Gate previously offered pre-IPO markets as derivatives. This means that investors are not actually buying the true price of the stock. Instead, they bet on a prediction market or trade IOUs based on what they think the company is worth.
Bybit’s IPO Services are powered by Payward Services’ xStocks and are eligible retail investors worldwide who can participate in successful IPO projects by subscribing to tokenized representations of publicly traded shares.
“The launch marks a fundamental step in the convergence of traditional capital markets and crypto-native infrastructure, as exchanges increasingly compete to expand beyond digital asset trading into broader financial services,” Bybit said in its press release.
The goal of these services is to democratize access for millions of users to participate in IPOs that were previously only available to institutional investors, private bank clients and certain brokerage networks.
Bybit also said that through xStocks’ regulated blockchain, holders of tokenized stocks can access extended trading hours, the composability and flexibility of decentralized finance (DeFi), and crypto-native settlement.
“For Bybit customers, this is the first time that cryptocurrency exchange users can purchase shares at the IPO price outside of the competitive secondary market,” the press release adds.
Bybit said the registration period for SpaceX’s IPO runs from June 7 to 11. The allocation follows June 11 and 12, the day the token also becomes publicly available for trading on the Bybit spot. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is planning a $75 billion IPO on June 12, at a valuation of $1.75 trillion, ranking it among the largest ever.
