Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit is making a bold push into traditional capital markets, announcing that retail investors will be able to buy tokenized shares of initial public offerings at the offering price, beginning with the highly anticipated debut of Elon Musk’s space and satellite company, SpaceX.
The move marks another step in the convergence of digital assets and conventional finance, as crypto exchanges seek to position themselves as gateways to equity investing rather than solely cryptocurrency trading platforms.
Under the initiative, Bybit users will gain access to tokenized representations of IPO shares through xStocks, a tokenization platform operated by Payward. Registration and subscription for the SpaceX offering will run from June 7 through June 11, with allocations expected to be finalized between June 11 and June 12. Trading of the tokenized shares is scheduled to begin on Bybit’s spot market on June 12.
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The arrangement allows investors to purchase exposure to IPO shares at the offering price without opening a traditional brokerage account, potentially bypassing one of the longstanding barriers that have often limited retail participation in high-profile listings.
The announcement comes as investor interest in SpaceX reaches extraordinary levels. The company, which began its IPO roadshow last week, has reportedly attracted roughly $150 billion in demand, about twice the $75 billion it is seeking to raise, underscoring the intense appetite for one of the world’s most closely watched technology offerings.
Bybit’s move follows a similar initiative by crypto exchange Kraken, which recently opened access to the SpaceX IPO for clients in more than 110 countries through the same xStocks infrastructure. The growing involvement of crypto platforms highlights how tokenization is increasingly being viewed as a mechanism for democratizing access to investments that were traditionally dominated by institutional investors and wealthy clients.
For the crypto industry, tokenized equities represent a potentially significant growth avenue at a time when digital asset exchanges are seeking new revenue streams beyond cryptocurrency trading. The model enables investors to gain exposure to stocks through blockchain-based instruments that can be traded around the clock and integrated into digital asset ecosystems.
The development also comes off as part of broader changes taking place across global capital markets. Financial institutions, exchanges, and technology firms have accelerated efforts to tokenize real-world assets, including stocks, bonds, funds, and private market securities, arguing that blockchain infrastructure can improve accessibility, settlement efficiency, and market liquidity.
SpaceX’s IPO is emerging as a key test case for that vision.
The company is targeting a valuation of about $1.75 trillion, making it one of the largest public offerings ever attempted. Strong demand has fueled expectations that the listing could trigger a wave of major technology IPOs, including anticipated debuts from leading artificial intelligence firms later this year.
Wall Street firms view 2026 as a potential breakout year for the U.S. IPO market after several years of subdued activity. A pipeline of large private technology companies, combined with renewed investor enthusiasm for AI, space technology, and digital infrastructure, has created favorable conditions for new listings.
For retail investors, platforms such as Bybit and Kraken are marketing tokenized IPO access as a way to participate in those offerings on terms that were previously difficult to obtain. However, it is not yet clear whether tokenized shares will become a mainstream feature of future IPOs, but the SpaceX offering is likely to serve as a closely watched indicator of how far blockchain-based capital markets have progressed from the industry’s crypto-centric roots.
Analysts expect the model to accelerate a broader shift toward tokenized securities, blurring the distinction between traditional stock exchanges and digital asset platforms while expanding access to some of the world’s most sought-after investment opportunities.