Many people ask me, why does Bitget go to such great lengths to engage in Pre-IPO assets? Isn't it simpler to just focus on a few popular cryptocurrencies or US stock tokens?
The answer is simple. Since Bitget's goal is Universal Exchange (UEX), I want to cover all global assets that our users are interested in trading universally. Therefore, even though Pre-IPO assets are unconventional and we have to face the intense collision with traditional laws, regulations, and the willingness of the companies themselves, we are still determined to tackle the challenges.
Today, I want to talk about the stories behind the launch of the first project of IPO Prime, the ones that were not written in the announcement, about the games and choices involved.
Why SpaceX? Because it is the starting point of the "interstellar brain"
Earlier this year, Elon Musk made a crazy decision: SpaceX acquired xAI.
The narrative behind this is incredibly vast - bringing AI and computing power to space, building an "orbital brain".
When we discuss the asset composition of UEX, besides coins, RWA, and commodities, Pre-IPO assets that represent the future of humanity also serve as anchor points to strengthen the UEX trend. Thus, SpaceX became our only choice for the pilot project.
Finding the "ferryman": two years of fate and last year's insistence
Photo with Andrew in the Republic Crypto New York office
I met Andrew Durgee, Co-CEO of Republic Crypto, two years ago, and he is one of my many "eyes" in the U.S. I often consult him about U.S. crypto policies and those lesser-known discussions in the White House. Our company began to conduct in-depth research on Republic Crypto and their products in September of last year. It wasn’t until early this year that we decided to formally advance the cooperation on Pre-IPO.
Why choose Republic? Because the Pre-IPO market is too chaotic. Many projects promoted by various platforms have unclear underlying assets; some do not fully hold corresponding equity, some have too small a quota, and many issues arise from insufficient holding licenses, leading to extremely high risks.
We ultimately chose Republic because they operate with a full license: they have streamlined the complete chain from "Issuance – Distribution – Trade" of assets, possess the capability of cross-jurisdiction compliant operations and end-to-end RWA service capabilities, and are one of the few global platforms that hold compliant qualifications in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Their shareholders are also top-tier, including Valor Equity Partners (early investors in Tesla and SpaceX), Morgan Stanley, and Web3 players like Avalanche and Binance Labs (now Yzi Labs).
Our cooperation model is very robust: we require holding corresponding Pre-IPO equity (such as SpaceX), typically held by an independent SPV, with Republic tokenizing the rights of the SPV. This method circumvents the difficulty of directly modifying SpaceX's shareholder register while achieving extreme subdivision of shares.
Republic provides a full suite of RWA (real-world assets) onboarding solutions, including smart contract auditing, KYC/AML integration, and full lifecycle management of tokens.
The final sprint: those lost nights of sleep and sincere commitment of approximately 60 million USD total pool
In the first half of this year, the Pre-IPO market experienced tremendous fluctuations. After SpaceX's acquisition of xAI (also known as Grok), the market pricing instantly became chaotic, and the transfer of underlying assets was restricted.
We needed to reverify assets, coordinate with equity sellers, persuade Republic's compliance officers, and handle repeated negotiations on contract specifics among various internal departments like products and legal within Bitget, all within a very short time frame.
We insisted on lowering the subscription threshold and secured a share of about 60 million USD of the total pool, allowing users to subscribe using USDT and included a free airdrop for VIP users (airdrop amount of 500,000 USD). Because we want Web3 users to be able to share in the vastness of Musk's initiatives, just like top-tier venture capitalists.
Accountability to users
When designing this product, what we needed most was to provide "accountability" to users, doing our best to consider their interests:
- Price Guarantee: The price is set at 650 USD (corresponding to an asset valuation of 1.5 trillion USD), below the market reference price (the market reference price includes the potential trillion-dollar valuation of SpaceX mentioned in financial news, trading prices of over 800 on other private stock trading platforms, trading prices of over 700 on similar tokens, and expected valuations of 1.5 to 2.5 times in prediction markets).
- Exit Path: After the subscription ends, users can participate in the platform's P2P over-the-counter trading to achieve liquidity exit, or they can hold long-term until 6 months after SpaceX goes public, and then redeem at Bitget at the prevailing price at that time.
- Redemption Mechanism upon IPO Cancellation: The agreement signed by users at the time of subscription will specify the redemption process and price details in case of cancellation of the IPO.
- Third-Party Risk: As the third-party issuer's admin agent, Bitget will safeguard user rights.
Conclusion: UEX is not just a slogan, it is action
The launch of IPO Prime is an important milestone in Bitget's transition from a CEX centralized exchange to a UEX panoramic exchange.
I cannot say it is absolutely perfect, but this is the best solution we could offer in the market, one that holds ourselves accountable to users.
UEX is not just a slogan; it is our obsession with financial equality.
Project Risk Disclaimer:
- Market Risk:SpaceX may be affected by policy impacts or roadshows that are not recognized, which could lead to a decrease in token prices, resulting in potential losses for users.
- IPO Delay or Cancellation Risk:Delays or cancellations of the SpaceX IPO will affect the expected price increase, and users will need to exchange according to the subscription agreement.
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