The pre-IPO futures market has surged by 6000%: Traders are storming SpaceX and OpenAI through crypto exchanges.
The trading volume of pre-IPO perpetual futures on cryptocurrency platforms reached a staggering $12 billion in June. This is more than 6,000 times higher than March's figures, when the market was valued at just $2 million. The reason for this explosive growth is traders' insatiable appetite for the largest technology giants that remain outside traditional stock exchanges.
Share of pre-IPO contracts soared to 55%
Pre-IPO perpetual contracts allow speculation on the valuation of private companies without purchasing the shares themselves. According to my data, based on CryptoQuant analytics, the volume of this market was $715 million in May, and in June it made a real breakthrough, reaching $12 billion. The key driver was the introduction of contracts for SpaceX, OpenAI, and Quantinuum, which triggered an avalanche of demand.
Notably, in June, pre-IPO instruments accounted for 55% of the entire perpetual stock contract market on crypto exchanges. For comparison, in May their share was negligible — just 5%. This indicates that traders are massively shifting from traditional assets to tokenized versions of stocks, seeking access to the hottest names in the technology sector.
Binance captured 83% of the market
The undisputed leader in this segment was Binance. In June, the exchange executed pre-IPO contract trades worth $10.3 billion — 20 times more than in May. Thus, Binance accounted for 83% of the entire market. Second place went to Bitget with a volume of $1.3 billion.
In June, several private companies debuted on public trading. Quantinuum began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker QNT, and SpaceX under the ticker SPCX. OpenAI has not yet announced an exact date but has already filed a confidential S-1 application with the SEC.
My view: The pre-IPO futures market on crypto exchanges is not just hype but a structural shift. It demonstrates how crypto infrastructure is beginning to serve demand for assets that were previously only available to institutions. However, traders should remember the high volatility and risks associated with the lack of actual share ownership.