OKX joins crypto’s pre-IPO frenzy with OpenAI, SpaceX perpetual futures

Crypto exchanges are increasingly competing to offer retail traders exposure to Silicon Valley’s most valuable private firms, despite the products conferring neither equity ownership nor shareholder rights.

What to know:

• OKX plans to launch perpetual futures tied to private companies such as OpenAI, SpaceX and Anthropic, offering synthetic price exposure ahead of potential IPOs.
• The products mirror a broader push by crypto platforms like Bitget and Injective to bring pre-IPO and private equity-style speculation on-chain without conferring actual shareholder rights.
• The move comes as exchanges expand beyond bitcoin and ether into equities and real-world asset markets, echoing earlier experiments like Robinhood’s OpenAI-linked tokens that drew public distancing from the company.

OKX is preparing to offer perpetual futures tied to private companies, including OpenAI, SpaceX, and Anthropic, intensifying a growing race among crypto firms to bring pre-IPO speculation markets on-chain, the company said Wednesday in a blog post.

The contracts will provide synthetic price exposure to private companies ahead of their anticipated public listings, without granting actual equity ownership or shareholder rights.

Bitget entered the sector in April with “IPO Prime,” listing a Solana-based SpaceX-linked token issued through investment platform Republic. Last year, Injective rolled out pre-IPO perpetual futures tied to firms including OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, and Perplexity, describing the products as a way to bring the $13 trillion private equity market “directly on-chain.”

The trend also reflects how crypto exchanges are increasingly moving beyond bitcoin BTC$81,476.63 and ether (ETH) trading to include equities, 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 equity purchased on the secondary market, rather than direct equity ownership.

OpenAI publicly distanced itself from the product at the time, warning that any transfer of actual company equity would require its approval.

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