Injective launches on-chain pre-IPO stocks for OpenAI, SpaceX, and Anthropic

The layer-1 blockchain is betting that retail investors want exposure to the world's most hyped private companies, and it's using tokenized stocks to deliver it.

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Add us on Google by Editorial Team May. 12, 2026

Getting a piece of OpenAI, SpaceX, or Anthropic before they go public used to require either a very large check or a very well-connected friend. Injective is trying to change that by launching on-chain pre-IPO stocks for all three companies, effectively opening the velvet rope on some of the most sought-after private equity in the world.

The layer-1 blockchain, built specifically for decentralized finance, is making these tokenized stocks available to the public.

From perpetual futures to tokenized stocks

This isn’t Injective’s first swing at democratizing private company exposure. Back in October 2025, the protocol launched pre-IPO perpetual futures, synthetic contracts that let traders speculate on the future value of private companies without actually owning shares.

That experiment worked. It generated $1 billion in trading volume within 30 days.

Injective also laid groundwork for this move in August 2025, when it partnered with Republic to tokenize private shares. Republic, a well-known investment platform that has facilitated access to private deals for retail investors, provided the bridge between traditional private markets and Injective’s on-chain infrastructure.

Why these three companies

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has become the face of the generative AI revolution. Anthropic, its chief rival and maker of Claude, has attracted massive backing from Amazon and Google. The broader AI sector secured over $100 billion in funding in 2024 alone.

For retail investors, these names carry enormous gravity. Private equity markets are historically walled gardens, reserved for accredited investors, venture capital firms, and sovereign wealth funds. The global private equity market is valued at over $13 trillion.

What this means for investors

Tokenized stocks on a blockchain are not the same as shares held in a brokerage account at Fidelity. The legal protections, settlement mechanisms, and regulatory frameworks differ significantly. In traditional markets, owning a share of SpaceX means you have certain rights, like voting and dividend claims (if applicable), backed by decades of securities law. On-chain representations of those shares may or may not carry the same weight depending on how the tokenization is structured and in which jurisdiction the investor resides.

The SEC in the US has historically taken a cautious, sometimes hostile, stance toward products that blur the line between crypto tokens and securities.

For Injective’s native token, INJ, the launch could serve as a meaningful catalyst. Community sentiment on social media has been bullish, with some speculating that INJ could eventually trade at valuations comparable to established layer-1 tokens like SOL or XRP.

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