SpaceX soared 20% on its Nasdaq debut Friday, opening at $135 per share and trading above $160 in volatile action, according to CoinDesk. The listing marks the largest IPO in history at $75 billion pre-greenshoe, per Nasdaq and Morgan Stanley.
On crypto markets, tokenized SpaceX tokens commanded a 30% premium on Binance, where a whale opened a $22.3 million long position on the SPCX synthetic token. Binance's campaign drew $557 million in commitments ahead of the debut, highlighting crypto rails as a new venue for pre-IPO price discovery.
However, Bybit, Binance, and Bitget canceled tokenized allocations due to a share shortage, issuing full refunds and additional compensation to affected users. The tokenized market remains fragmented, with no unified settlement mechanism.
Regulatory clarity around tokenized securities remains murky. While the SEC has not weighed in directly on this structure, the use of crypto platforms for pre-IPO trading could invite scrutiny if retail protections are deemed insufficient.
The 20% first-day pop aligns with SpaceX's market dominance but mirrors a risky pattern: richly valued listings often struggle after initial hype fades, as noted by CoinTelegraph. At current prices, SpaceX's market cap exceeds $90 billion, making it one of the most valuable publicly traded aerospace firms.