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Binance’s SpaceX Pre-IPO Perps
Binance launched pre-IPO perpetual futures tied to SpaceX, with the first contract listed as SPCXUSDT Pre-IPO Perpetual and settled in Tether’s USDt (USDT).
“Binance launched perpetual futures contracts tied to the expected valuations of private companies”
Binance said the contract is linked to SpaceX’s expected public market valuation and is designed to reflect publicly available IPO pricing indicators, including announced valuation ranges and final offering prices, before a company begins trading publicly.
The launch comes as SpaceX prepares for an initial public offering, with the source stating that in April the company confirmed plans to sell shares of its stock to the public and that SpaceX confidentially filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in April.
A Wednesday SEC filing cited in the source showed SpaceX held 18,712 Bitcoin (BTC) purchased at an average of $35,320 per coin, and the same source compared that holding to Tesla’s 11,509 Bitcoin.
The product is framed as not representing ownership of underlying shares, instead allowing traders to speculate on expected valuations before and after a company’s public debut.
How the contracts work
Binance said the pre-IPO perpetual contracts are margined and settled in USDT and are designed to give users exposure to market expectations ahead of an initial public offering.
The exchange said additional pre-initial public offering (IPO) perpetual contracts will be introduced over time, while the first listing remains the SPCXUSDT Pre-IPO Perpetual contract linked to the anticipated public market valuation of SpaceX.
CoinDesk reported that Binance’s first contract is “SPCXUSDT,” and that it is margined and settled in the dollar-pegged stablecoin tether.
CoinDesk also quoted Binance’s head of spot and derivatives business, Shunyet Jan, saying, “we're giving users a more flexible way to engage with anticipated IPOs earlier,” in a press release shared with CoinDesk.
The same CoinDesk account said the contract price before a public debut reflects publicly available signals such as private funding rounds and announced IPO price ranges, and then transitions to reflect live market performance once the stock begins trading.
Valuation bets and market spillover
Multiple outlets tied the Binance launch to valuation expectations for SpaceX, with CoinDesk describing a “blockbuster IPO” that could value the company near or above $1.75 trillion and with CoinDesk stating the first contract is expected to be tied to a valuation of $2 trillion or more.
“The first contract to go live is tied to SpaceX, a company expected to debut at a valuation of $2 trillion or more”
CoinDesk said traders on Polymarket were pricing in more than a 70% chance that the IPO will ultimately close above $2 trillion, while Reuters was cited in the same source as reporting a target valuation of around $1.75 trillion.
The CoinDesk report also said Binance’s recent listing of SpaceX pre-IPO futures follows comparable offerings from OKX, Crypto.com, and Hyperliquid’s Trade.xyz, and that Trade.xyz’s SpaceX perpetual futures launched on May 18 with a reference price of $150 per share and generated $33 million in trading volume on its first day.
In a separate account, CoinCentral said Binance’s SPCXUSDT contract is margined and settled in USDT and tracks SpaceX’s expected valuation using publicly available financial signals including private funding rounds and announced IPO price ranges.
CoinCentral further reported that SpaceX filed its S-1 registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday and that the filing disclosed holdings of 18,712 BTC at a cost basis of roughly $35,000 per bitcoin.
