SpaceX's Century-Defining IPO Countdown: Which Platforms Allow Retail Investors to "Get on Board Before the Launch"?

Original | Odaily（@OdailyChina）

Author｜Golem（@web 3_golem）

On June 12, SpaceX will ring the bell for its IPO on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX. The company is expected to raise between $75 billion and $80 billion, aiming for a valuation of approximately $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion. This will be the largest IPO in human history.

How staggering is this figure? If successful, it will single-handedly surpass the $29.4 billion record set by Saudi Aramco's 2019 IPO, while also making SpaceX the first super-giant to directly land on the capital market with a "trillion-dollar valuation" from the get-go.

Goldman Sachs has called this IPO a once-in-a-generation opportunity. But in the past, this capital frenzy had little to do with ordinary people. Leaving aside the high barriers to participating in US stock IPOs, a target as globally coveted as SpaceX would have already been fully priced and "divided up" well before its IPO. Retail investors chasing highs after the opening are highly likely to get stuck at temporary peaks. Moreover, the market capable of such pre-pricing has always been accessible only to institutions, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals.

But now, thanks to the rise of the Pre-IPO market, ordinary people finally have a chance to get in on SPCX early. This time, we can not only witness history but also ride this biggest wealth express in the history of the US stock market.

However, the current Pre-IPO platforms on the market are a mixed bag. The structure, valuation methods, and funding rates of pre-IPO SPCX vary, and the pre-market prices across different platforms also differ, leaving investors confused about how to choose. To facilitate comparison and analysis for investors, Odaily will review 7 Pre-IPO platforms currently offering pre-market SPCX in this article.

Binance: SPCX/USDT Perpetual Contract

On May 21, Binance announced the listing of the SPCX/USDT perpetual contract, offering up to 5x leverage. It also created a dedicated Pre-IPO section within the futures market, currently featuring only SPCX. SPCX listed on Binance adopts a perpetual contract structure, making it purely a price game with no connection to SpaceX's actual equity. However, the advantage of this structure is that users can not only go long on SPCX but also choose to short it, offering investors more strategic options.

Currently, the Open Interest (OI) for SPCX on Binance exceeds $27 million, making it the largest SPCX pre-market contract platform besides Hyperliquid.

• Entry Barrier: Users only need to pass Binance KYC requirements.
• Valuation Method: Binance estimates SpaceX's fully diluted share count at 11.87 billion shares. Therefore, the valuation formula is SPCX Price * Estimated Share Count = SpaceX Current Valuation. For instance, if the current SPCX price is $205, SpaceX's valuation would be 205 * 11.87 ≈ $2,433 Billion. However, it's worth noting that the actual share count for the SpaceX IPO is uncertain. If the actual share count significantly differs from the estimate, the SPCX contract price on Binance could also experience sharp volatility.
• Funding Rate: 0.005% (variable in real-time)

Hyperliquid: SPCX/USDC Perpetual Contract

Hyperliquid is currently the largest perpetual DEX on the market, and its HIP-3 market is also the largest RWA perpetual contract trading market. Commodity and US stock contracts issued by Trade.xzy constitute the majority of its volume. On May 18, Trade.xzy announced the launch of the SPCX/USDC perpetual contract, with an initial listing price of $150 and up to 5x leverage.

Currently, the Open Interest (OI) for SPCX issued by Trade.xzy exceeds $45 million, making it the largest SPCX pre-market contract by trading volume and contract OI.

• Entry Barrier: None.
• Valuation Method: Trade.xzy also estimates SpaceX's fully diluted share count at 11.87 billion shares. Thus, the valuation formula is SPCX Price * Estimated Share Count = SpaceX Current Valuation. Since the valuation calculation is the same as Binance's SPCX, there is theoretically an arbitrage opportunity between the two platforms.
• Funding Rate: Hourly floating rate, typically below 0.0001%.

OKX: SPACEX/USDT Perpetual Contract

On May 7, OKX also announced the listing of the SPACEX/USDT pre-market perpetual contract, offering up to 20x leverage. Although OKX listed its pre-market perpetual contract earlier, its total OI currently stands at less than $10 million.

OKX's valuation method also differs from Binance and Trade.xzy. Before SpaceX discloses its actual share count, the price of SPACEX equals one billionth of SpaceX's market cap. So, if the SPACEX/USDT pre-market perpetual contract is at $2,400, OKX implies a SpaceX market cap of $2.4 trillion. After SpaceX discloses its actual share count, OKX will execute a Rebase (proportional adjustment) on the SPACEX contract price, aligning it with SpaceX's Market Cap / Total Shares.

• Entry Barrier: Users only need to pass OKX KYC requirements.
• Valuation Method: Pre-Rebase: SPACEX Price * 1 Billion = SpaceX Market Cap; Post-Rebase: SPACEX Price * Actual Share Count = SpaceX Market Cap
• Funding Rate: 0%.

Bitget: Stock Token preSPAX (preSPCX)

Bitget was the earliest exchange to list SpaceX pre-market stock. On April 18, Bitget opened subscriptions for preSPAX at a fixed price of $650 per preSPAX. The subscription period has now ended, and users can trade PreSPAX/USDT on Bitget's spot market.

Bitget's preSPAX uses a synthetic note structure. preSPAX is a digital token issued by the regulated issuer Republic. Its price tracks SpaceX's post-listing performance. Users purchasing preSPAX essentially obtain a debt instrument, rather than purely "trading air" like a perpetual contract, representing a higher compliance threshold.

• Entry Barrier: Subscription is closed; any user who has passed Bitget's KYC requirements can trade on the spot market.
• Valuation Method: The implied valuation for the preSPAX subscription was $1.5 trillion. Therefore, the SpaceX pre-market valuation formula on Bitget is preSPAX Price * Initial Implied Valuation / 650 = SpaceX Current Valuation. If the current preSPAX price is $900, then SpaceX's current valuation on Bitget is 900 * 1500(B) / 650 ≈ $2,076 Billion. Compared to the valuation benchmark on Hyperliquid, which has the largest SpaceX pre-market trading volume and OI, the valuation deviation on Bitget is relatively large.
• Trading Fee: 0.1%.

It's worth noting that on May 27, Bitget announced a split of preSPAX and a ticker change to preSPCX, with a split ratio of 1:5 (each 1 preSPAX token can be split into 5 preSPCX tokens). After the split, the market price of each preSPCX token will be adjusted to one-fifth of the pre-split preSPAX price. The user's total asset value remains unchanged. The valuation formula will also change to preSPCX Price * Initial Implied Valuation / 130 = SpaceX Current Valuation.

Gate: Stock Token SPCX

SpaceX's pre-market stock on the Gate platform also uses a synthetic note structure. On April 20, Gate opened subscriptions for SPCX at a fixed price of $590 per SPCX, with an initial implied market cap of $1.4 trillion. The subscription period has ended, and users can trade SPCX/USDT on Gate's spot market. Additionally, on May 22, Gate listed the SPCX/USDT perpetual contract pair, offering up to 10x leverage. However, there is a significant price difference between the spot and contract markets; the overall OI for the SPCX contract is currently less than $2 million.

• Entry Barrier: Users only need to pass Gate KYC requirements.
• Valuation Method: As Gate also performed a 1-for-5 split of SPCX shares on May 22, the SpaceX pre-market valuation formula on Gate is SPCX Price * Initial Implied Market Cap / 118 = SpaceX Current Valuation. For example, if the current SPCX price is $180, SpaceX's current valuation on Gate would be 180 * 1400(B) / 118 ≈ $2,135 Billion.
• Contract Funding Rate: 0%.

Lighter: SPACEX Perpetual Contract

Lighter is a perpetual DEX. On May 9, Lighter also announced the listing of the SpaceX pre-market perpetual contract, SPACEX, offering up to 3x leverage. However, Lighter's liquidity and trading depth are far inferior to Hyperliquid's. The Open Interest (OI) for its SPACEX contract is less than $1 million.

• Entry Barrier: None.
• Valuation Method: Consistent with OKX's method, SPACEX Price * 1 Billion = SpaceX Market Cap.
• Funding Rate: Floating, but more volatile than Hyperliquid's.

PreStocks: Stock Token SPACEX

PreStocks is a Pre-IPO platform built on Solana, incubated by Alliance. PreStocks listed SpaceX's pre-market token, SPACEX, as early as August 2025. Users can trade freely on-chain or purchase it through Web3 platforms like Jupiter and the Binance wallet. PreStocks uses an SPV mapping structure, i.e., it holds real shares via an offshore SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) and maps them 1:1 to on-chain tokens. The tokens purchased by users correspond to the economic rights of the underlying real shares. PreStocks maintains price stability through a minting/redeeming mechanism.

Currently, SPACEX has 8,220 on-chain holding addresses and a total supply of 8,740 tokens.

• Entry Barrier: Free on-chain trading, but large transactions require contacting the team.
• Valuation Method: The SpaceX pre-market valuation on PreStocks depends on the secondary market price of the SpaceX pre-market benchmark it pegs to. Therefore, the valuation formula is SPACEX Price * Secondary Marked Market Cap / Secondary Marked Price. The benchmark price and market cap for SpaceX pre-market that PreStocks pegs to can be viewed on its official website. For instance, if the current secondary market benchmark price for SpaceX is $965.58, and the marked market cap is $2.38 trillion, and the SPACEX price is $825, then the SpaceX pre-market valuation on PreStocks would be 825 * 2380 / 965.58 ≈ $2,033 Billion.
• Fees: None, but third-party wallets and DEXs may charge different transaction fees.