Key Takeaways
- Before, you had to be ultra-wealthy and have a lot of connections in order to be able to invest in pre-IPO companies.
- In the second quarter of 2026, crypto exchanges have started offering pre-IPO products to their users to gain exposure to pre-IPO companies that are about to go public, which has started with SpaceX.
- Crypto exchanges provide three ways to get exposure to pre-IPO companies. First is you can participate in their subscription-to-allocation model; second is you can buy the actual pre-IPO tokenized token after the subscription; and third is through futures trading.
OpenAI, Anthropic, Neuralink, Anduril, and Kalshi. Do you recognize any of those names? Those are actually private companies that are about to go public in the future.
You might be wondering how you can invest in a private company when it is not listed on the U.S. stock market.
Before blockchains were a thing, you had to be ultra-wealthy and have a lot of connections on Wall Street in order for you to invest in pre-IPOs. Now in 2026, that all changed when offshore crypto exchanges started offering pre-IPO products to their users in the second quarter of the year.
That means for the first time in history, retail investors like you and me can now invest in private companies for as low as 100 USDT before they go public.
I will be discussing all about tokenized pre-IPOs along with their benefits and risks so that you are informed and be able to make the right decisions in your investing journey.
What are tokenized pre-IPO shares?
Similar to tokenized stocks, tokenized pre-IPO shares are designed to mirror the current prices of private companies that have not launched an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
They are still considered tokenized stocks; the only difference is that retail investors can now invest in private companies because of blockchain technology.
For context, getting into pre-IPOs used to be very difficult for the average investor. But now that crypto exchanges offer pre-IPO products to its platform users, investing in pre-IPOs has never been easier!
How do tokenized pre-IPO shares work?
The main reason they were created in the first place is that they enable the average investor to gain exposure to private companies before they hit the public market.
However, that does not mean they actually hold a real share of the private company. The tokenized pre-IPO token tracks the price of the private company’s original stock and serves only as an economic wrapper within the crypto exchange you use.
SpaceX and other examples of tokenized pre-IPO investments
Did you know SpaceX was the first company to be tokenized as a pre-IPO investment by offshore crypto exchanges?
Back in late April 2026, Bitget became the first crypto exchange to offer SpaceX pre-IPO through its IPO Prime platform.
Soon after, other crypto exchanges like Binance started following the same route, but with different ways to invest.
These crypto platforms also offer tokenized pre-IPO tokens and even futures contracts for OpenAI, Anthropic, and others as well.
Where to buy tokenized pre-IPO shares?
The easiest way to buy tokenized pre-IPO shares is through crypto exchanges.
I will provide a table below showing which crypto exchanges offer them, the type of pre-IPO products they are offering, along with links to the pre-IPO platforms.
| Name of the exchange/platform | Pre-IPO products offered by the exchange/platform | Pre-IPO trading types offered | The official platform link |
| Binance | TradFi Pre-IPO Futures | Perpetual Futures | Here |
| Binance Wallet | Pre-IPO Assets through PreStocks | On-chain Spot / Subscription | Here |
| Bitget | IPO Prime; Pre-IPO Futures | Subscription / Tokenized Spot / Perpetual Futures | Here |
| Gate | Gate Pre-IPOs; Pre-IPO Futures | Subscription / Spot-style Trading / Perpetual Futures | Here |
| MEXC | Pre-IPO Launchpad; Pre-IPO Futures | Subscription / Spot / Perpetual Futures | Here |
| OKX | Pre-IPO Pre-Market Futures; X-Perps | Perpetual Futures / Expiry Futures | Pre-IPO: Here X-Perps: Here |
| Bybit | Pre-IPO Perpetual Contracts | Perpetual Futures | Here |
| KuCoin | Pre-IPO Stock Index Futures | Perpetual Futures | Here |
| BingX | Pre-IPO Trading Zone | Perpetual Futures | Here |
| Kraken | Pre-IPO Perpetuals; xStocks IPO Access | Perpetual Futures / IPO Subscription | Here |
The benefits and risks of investing in tokenized pre-IPO shares
The main benefits of investing in tokenized pre-IPOs are that you can trade them 24/7, there is no minimum number of shares you need to acquire, and you can get in before the IPO listing, since the price has already risen by the time it is listed.
The risk however is that it is not yet regulated since this kind of product offering just started in Q2 2026, and you do not hold the real share of the private company.
But if you weigh the pros and cons, the pros definitely carry more weight. Overall, the trading risk is still there since we do not have a crystal ball on whether that private company’s stock will go up or down.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure if you have fully grasped the concept of tokenized pre-IPOs after reading this article? Check out the most commonly asked questions below.
Are tokenized pre-IPO shares real company shares?
No. Like the tokenized stocks I discussed in my previous article, pre-IPOs only serve as a ‘tracker’ or derivative of the real thing. The main purpose of tokenized pre-IPO shares is to give retail investors exposure to some of the world’s most famous private companies that are about to go public, giving them a fair chance to invest. However, that does not mean these tokenized assets are real company shares since they are issued synthetically by crypto exchanges.
Can anyone invest in tokenized pre-IPO stocks?
Yes. For the first time history through the power of blockchain technology, retail investors can now invest in private companies before they hit the stock market for as low as 100 USDT, as advertised by crypto exchanges. The product offering aims to give retail investors a fair chance of investing in the pre-IPO market, and not just for the ultra-wealthy.
What happens to pre-IPO tokens when a company goes public?
That pre-IPO token would be converted into another tokenized stock token. For example in the case of Bitget, if you had the SpaceX pre-IPO token before it went public in June, you would have the ticker of ‘preSPAX.’ When SpaceX went public, your preSPAX tokens were automatically converted into rSPCX tokens (the rToken equivalent of SPCX), along with any other stock splits that occurred before the company was publicly listed. So in your case, you do not have to do anything; just expect your pre-IPO tokens to convert into another token once the company is publicly listed.
Are tokenized pre-IPO investments regulated?
I would say no just yet since offshore crypto exchanges like Binance, Bitget, Gate, and others have just started offering this product in the second quarter of 2026. So if you really plan to invest in pre-IPOs, make sure you do it with the crypto exchange you really trust and that has good standing in the crypto industry.
Can you lose money investing in tokenized pre-IPO shares?
Absolutely. If you plan to invest in tokenized pre-IPO shares through a subscription-to-allocation model, you need to be careful. For example Anthropic is really hot right now because it is about to list around November 18, 2026. Notably, Bitget is offering an IPO-linked subscription and you will get the rToken equivalent of Anthropic (rANT) once it is publicly listed on the Nasdaq. In a hypothetical scenario, if Anthropic’s share price starts at $70 (according to Reuters) and opens at $80 on listing day, that means your rANT allocation is in profit. But if it opens below $70, then your investments are in underwater.
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