Bitget has rolled out a new platform called IPO Prime, and it’s trying something pretty bold: letting users get exposure to private companies before they ever go public. The first name on the list is SpaceX, accessed through a token called preSPAX, which runs on Solana.
The token isn’t issued directly by Bitget alone—it comes through Republic, a private investment platform that usually deals with early-stage and pre-IPO opportunities. After a short subscription window, trading opened up quickly, giving regular crypto users a way to jump into something that’s normally reserved for major venture funds and insiders.
In simple terms, this is the kind of deal that used to be locked away in Silicon Valley circles. Now it’s being packaged into something that can trade more freely, almost like a crypto asset.
But there’s an important catch: this isn’t actual equity in SpaceX. preSPAX is a derivative token. It’s designed to track how SpaceX might perform if and when it goes public, rather than giving ownership rights in the company itself. No voting rights, no shares, no claim on assets—just exposure to potential valuation changes.
Users deposit stablecoins into a pool, and tokens are distributed based on demand. After that, they can be traded on the open market, which is where things get interesting—because it creates liquidity in a space that’s traditionally been completely illiquid.
That’s really the big shift here. Pre-IPO investments normally stay locked up for years. This model turns that into something that can be bought and sold much more easily, even if what you’re trading is still just a synthetic version of the underlying asset.
Why SpaceX, and why now?
The choice of SpaceX isn’t random. It’s one of the most talked-about private companies in the world, and there’s been ongoing speculation about a possible IPO in the future. That makes it exactly the kind of asset retail investors are eager to get access to—but usually can’t.
By turning that demand into a token, Bitget is essentially testing how far “real-world asset” tokenization can go beyond things like bonds or funds.
Solana is powering the settlement side of things, mainly because it’s fast and cheap to use compared to other networks. And Republic brings some traditional finance credibility into the mix, which helps bridge the gap between crypto and private markets.
Bigger picture
This move sits in a larger trend where exchanges are trying to go beyond just spot trading and derivatives. Everyone is looking for the next layer of financial products—things that feel closer to real-world investing, but still work inside crypto rails.
The big question is where regulators draw the line. Because while this looks like “access to pre-IPO assets,” it also raises familiar concerns: Is this a security? A derivative? Something entirely new?
That answer will likely decide whether products like IPO Prime become mainstream—or run into regulatory pushback before they scale.
