In brief
- Three crypto exchanges cancelled campaigns that sought to provide access to the SpaceX IPO.
- The firms cited tokenized equity platform xStocks’ inability to land allocations in the IPO.
- Shares of SPCX are up more than 26% from their IPO price of $135.
Crypto exchanges Binance, Bybit, and Bitget all refunded customers hoping to gain access to a tokenized version of SpaceX (SPCX) shares on Friday as Elon Musk’s rocket company saw its price rise amid massive hype.
The crypto firms returned the customer funds after xStocks, the tokenized equities platform, was unable to secure allocations of the underlying shares, they said.
“Due to xStocks’ inability to deliver the underlying assets, no SpaceX allocations were received,” Bybit posted on X.
Binance similarly indicated that as a result of unspecified circumstances outside its control, it would have to cancel its SPCXx—the SpaceX pre-IPO token from xStocks—campaign.
“Protect users when things don’t go as planned,” Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao posted on X.
In addition to refunding the subscribers, Binance is distributing $1 million worth of SpaceX shares via bStocks—its newly introduced tokenized securities offering—equally to those who participated in the SpaceX pre-IPO campaign. Bybit is also providing participants with an additional interest reward for funds held during the campaign.
A representative for xStocks did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment, nor did it publicly comment on the incident.
However, disclaimers posted by the firm on X indicate that SPCXx, its version of pre-IPO tokenized SpaceX shares, did not guarantee an allocation.
“IPO xStocks are tokenized equities providing price exposure only—not direct ownership,” the firm posted on X.
The tokenized offering was one of a handful of ways that crypto participants were looking to participate in the highly-anticipated IPO.
Traders were able to use decentralized perps exchange Hyperliquid to trade long or short positions in SpaceX shares before they hit the market. Coinbase International offered a similar product, allowing users to help shape price discovery and gain exposure to the private company before its official public listing.
Shares in SpaceX, which were offered for $135, have jumped more than 26% since they began trading, recently changing hands at $172.31. The firm’s market cap now sits above $2.2 trillion, with the public offering reportedly making Musk the world’s first trillionaire in the process.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
