Crypto04 July, 20263 min read
Kraken Opens SpaceX Pre-IPO Access in More Than 110 Markets Via xStocks Tokenized Shares
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SpaceX pre-IPO access via tokenized shares in over 110 countries. Initial tokenized offering covers 10 assets, including Apple, Nvidia, Tesla.
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SpaceX IPO via xStocks
Kraken is opening access to SpaceX's pre-IPO to more than 110 international markets through xStocks, with an IPO expected on June 12 at a target valuation of at least $1.8 trillion. Eligible users can express interest until June 11 to obtain an allocation at the chosen IPO price of $135 per share, and those allocations will be converted into SPCXx tokens at the time of the official IPO on June 12. The SPCXx token is described as a 1:1 tokenized representation of SpaceX shares held by partner entities, and Kraken says the tokens are tradable 24/7 on Kraken and other xStocks platforms.
Access requires a verified Kraken account (full KYC) and a request via the Kraken mobile app exclusively, with access via Kraken Pro or the web interface not available for this product. The program is positioned as a new intermediary model, with Actufinance describing Kraken as neither a traditional broker nor a simple crypto exchange, but an accelerator of access to assets previously reserved for institutional investors.
Collateral for leveraged trades
Kraken has begun accepting select tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as collateral for futures and margin trading, letting eligible users open leveraged positions without selling their holdings. The feature initially supports 10 tokenized stocks and ETFs, including Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, Strategy, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF and Invesco QQQ Trust, and Cointelegraph says each eligible asset is assigned a collateral haircut that reduces its lending value based on risk. Broad-market ETFs receive the lowest haircut at 10%, while more volatile stocks such as Strategy and Robinhood are discounted by 30%, and Kraken also imposed collateral limits with broad-market ETFs capped at up to $1 million in collateral value.
Kraken said the feature is available only to eligible clients outside the United States, with tokenized stocks usable as collateral for futures trading in the European Economic Area and margin collateral support available in other eligible jurisdictions outside the bloc. Cointelegraph adds that the launch comes about a week after Kraken partnered with Maple to launch an onchain warehouse financing facility for institutional crypto lending.
Regulatory and practical stakes
For investors located in the EEA, including France, access to SpaceX's IPO via xStocks is described as technically available, while the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom are explicitly excluded for regulatory reasons. Actufinance says the legal classification of a 1:1 backed SPCXx token of a SpaceX share remains open, noting that if it were classified as a financial instrument under MiFID II it would impose prospectus, advisory and customer-protection obligations far more stringent than a simple digital asset under MiCA. The same article states that ESMA is currently studying this issue, and that the boundary between “crypto-asset” and “security token” has not yet been uniformly drawn across all member states.
“The question of the legal classification remains open.”
In parallel, Finect says Kraken’s IPO access for Spain routes through xStocks and that xStocks do not confer voting rights or dividends, while also describing continuous trading 24/7, seven days a week. Actufinance frames the practical stakes for French investors around the “lack of deposit guarantees,” dependence on the solvency of the entity holding the underlying shares, and the terms of handling corporate rights such as dividends and corporate actions.