Abstract

In 2026, the global capital markets are迎来 an unprecedented "IPO super cycle." Top private tech companies represented by SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic are sequentially advancing their initial public offering (IPO) plans. Among them, SpaceX aims for a valuation as high as $2 trillion, planning to raise $75 billion, potentially becoming the largest IPO in history. At the same time, OpenAI and Anthropic have both surpassed or are close to a valuation of $1 trillion in the private market. This unprecedented capital feast will not only reshape the landscape of traditional financial markets but also have a profound impact on the cryptocurrency market.

This article explores the multifaceted impact of this macro event on the cryptocurrency market. First, we analyze the potential impact of huge IPO siphoning effects on the short-term liquidity of the crypto market; secondly, we focus on how the crypto market can provide on-chain access for retail and institutional investors to invest in top tech companies' Pre-IPO offerings through innovative mechanisms like Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization and Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV). Finally, we systematically compare the Pre-IPO products launched by Gate and look forward to the long-term impact of this trend on future trading patterns.

1. The Super Cycle of Capital Markets

The capital market of 2026 is destined to be recorded in history. After years of high interest rates and a restructuring of valuations in the primary market, the three most influential private tech companies in the world—SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic—are rapidly pushing forward their IPO plans. This wave, known as the "super cycle" of IPOs, will not only break historical records in fundraising scale but will also have far-reaching impacts on the asset pricing logic of global major asset classes, including cryptocurrencies.

1.1 SpaceX: The Space Titan Challenging a $2 Trillion Valuation

SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, is a U.S. commercial aerospace company whose core business includes reusable rocket launches, Starlink satellite internet, and deep-space exploration and human spaceflight. On April 1, 2026, SpaceX secretly submitted IPO registration documents to the U.S. SEC, officially starting the listing process. Subsequently, SpaceX publicly disclosed its S-1 prospectus on May 20, 2026, clarifying its listing progress, and the market generally expects it to land on Nasdaq as early as June 2026, intending to use the stock code "SPCX."

SpaceX's IPO could become the largest public offering in history, with various reports indicating its potential fundraising scale at around $75 billion, with a valuation range of approximately $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion, with some market communications even pointing to valuations exceeding $2 trillion.

If this goal is achieved, SpaceX's IPO will overwhelmingly break the $29.4 billion financing record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019. In contrast, the expected fundraising of $75 billion will make SpaceX one of the most iconic IPOs in the history of global capital markets.

Supporting this astonishing valuation is the strong growth and vertical integration of SpaceX's three core businesses:

•Starlink: SpaceX's global satellite internet business, providing high-speed broadband connectivity via a low-orbit satellite network.

•Launch Services (Falcon Rockets / Starship): SpaceX's aerospace launch business, responsible for launching satellites, cargo, human spaceflight, and deep-space missions, serving as one of the company's core revenue sources.

•Starshield: SpaceX's military aerospace business for government and defense clients, providing satellite communications, remote sensing, and national security-related infrastructure services.

Among them, Starlink, as the world's fastest-growing satellite internet service, surpassed 10 million active users in early 2026, and is expected to generate over $20 billion in revenue in 2026, having achieved cash flow break-even in 2023. In terms of launch services, SpaceX completed 165 orbital launches in 2025, deploying about 85% of global spacecraft, with its Falcon 9 rocket reducing launch costs to below $1,000 per kilogram. Regarding core businesses in the AI sector, in February 2026, SpaceX merged with Musk's xAI, integrating aerospace launches, global communications, and AI model infrastructure into one entity, with Musk also presenting a grand vision of launching 100 gigawatts of AI computing power annually.

1.2 OpenAI and Anthropic: The AI Twins Valued at $1 Trillion

As SpaceX advances its IPO, two giants in the AI field, OpenAI and Anthropic, are also engaging in fierce competition in the capital markets. OpenAI is an AI company focused on developing general artificial intelligence (AGI), with key products including ChatGPT, the GPT series models, and multi-modal AI platforms. OpenAI's commercialization process has been extremely rapid, with annual revenue surging from around $200 million in 2022 to over $10 billion in 2025. Based on transaction data of tokenized assets on the Jupiter chain SPV, OpenAI's implied valuation reached $1 trillion in April 2026, an increase of 163% compared to October 2025. Currently, OpenAI plans to go public as early as Q4 2026.

Anthropic is an AI company founded by former OpenAI members, focusing on the development of large language models in the Claude series that emphasize safety, controllability, and long-term alignment. Anthropic's recent valuation surge is also noteworthy; in February 2026, the company achieved a post-funding valuation of $380 billion in its Series G financing. However, just three months later, according to data from secondary market platforms such as Forge Global, Anthropic's valuation soared to about $1 trillion, surpassing OpenAI in the secondary market for the first time (the latter's trading valuation on Forge was around $880 billion). This price surge is primarily due to the widespread adoption of its enterprise-level coding tool, Claude Code, driving its annual revenue from $9 billion at the end of 2025 to $30 billion by March 2026, with a quarterly growth rate of up to 233%. The market currently expects Anthropic to initiate its IPO in October 2026, with potential fundraising exceeding $60 billion.

The concentrated public listings of these three giants mean that a total of nearly $4 trillion in assets will gradually enter the public market, which will inevitably transmit a capital diversion effect to various risk assets, including the cryptocurrency market.

2. Far-reaching Impacts on Crypto Market Liquidity and Trading Patterns

As highly certain and high-growth hard tech assets like SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic enter the public market, it will inevitably trigger a reallocation of capital—bringing short-term pressure for capital outflows while providing a new catalyst for merging cryptocurrency asset pricing logic and infrastructure in the long term.

2.1 Short-term Siphoning Effects and Transmission Mechanisms

In terms of short-term siphoning effects, during the subscription period and early trading phase of these giants' IPOs (expected in the second half of 2026), institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals often need to raise substantial cash to obtain allocation shares. This liquidity demand may cause some funds to flow out of high-risk assets like the crypto market, especially for crypto funds and family offices that profited greatly in the last bull market, possibly choosing to take profits on some crypto assets and instead invest in these once-in-a-century tech unicorns.

However, to assess the specific potential magnitude of siphoning effects, we first need to anchor on the financing scale of the three IPOs. Based on the current secondary market valuations: SpaceX's latest round of financing corresponds to a valuation of about $2 trillion, OpenAI approximately $1 trillion, and Anthropic about $1 trillion. Even if all three adopt a conservative public float ratio of 10–15%, the total new share issuance scale could reach $400–600 billion. If combined with significant shareholder reductions, the actual funding demand will further amplify.

The operational path for institutional investors participating in large-scale IPOs does not directly use idle cash; rather, there is a systematic liquidity management logic. Firstly, the subscription allocation system requires institutions to pay margins or full funds to underwriters during the subscription period, with a cash lock-up window typically from T-5 to T+1; secondly, for hot IPOs with a very high probability of oversubscription, institutions often prefer to oversubscribe, further amplifying short-term cash demands; thirdly, family offices and hedge funds commonly use risk assets (including crypto assets) as liquidity reserves, and during concentrated cash demand explosions, such assets tend to be the first positions to be reduced. This transmission chain can be simplified as: IPO subscription demand surges → institutions raise cash → net selling of crypto assets → increased fiat outflows from exchanges, with stablecoin market value under pressure → liquidity flowing one-way to the stock market.

While comparable historical samples of the same magnitude are scarce, there are several local cases for reference. For instance, on the first day Coinbase went public in April 2021, it touched a historical high of about $64,000 and then corrected more than 50%, with some analyses considering this a classic case of "good news being fully priced in," indicating that institutions often concentrate profits after the event occurs rather than continuously buying. Similarly, during Alibaba's IPO in 2014, a noticeable brief outflow of funds from global emerging markets occurred. Before Facebook's IPO in 2012, the Nasdaq index, represented by tech growth stocks, saw a structural correction of about 5% in the two weeks before the subscription window, which the market attributed to institutional repositioning for cash availability.

2.2 Long-term Wealth Effects and Cryptocurrency Sector Differentiation

Regarding long-term wealth effects and spillover, it contrasts sharply with short-term liquidity pressures. The public listings of SpaceX and AI giants will transform the illiquid equity held by early investors, founding teams, and employees into wealth that can be monetized at any time. Historical experience indicates that after the expiration of the lock-up period, such large-scale wealth realizations often produce significant spillover effects. Some funds will seek new high-growth targets, while blue-chip cryptocurrencies, AI infrastructure, and high-performance networks in the crypto market are expected to become absorbing assets.

For example, SpaceX has over 13,000 employees, and according to publicly available information, employee options and restricted stock units (RSUs) constitute about 8–10% of the total equity; at a $2 trillion valuation, the corresponding market value of employee holdings exceeds $160–200 billion. Once the lock-up period (typically 180 days post-IPO) ends, this wealth will be transformed from illiquid assets into cash that can be configured at any time. Additionally, some reductions from early institutional investors (Founders Fund, Google, Fidelity, etc.) are expected, with the total realizable wealth potentially reaching several hundred billion dollars. According to historical experience, the wealth effect from Google's IPO in 2004 directly spurred an angel investing boom in the San Francisco Bay Area; after Facebook's lock-up expiry in 2012, venture capital transactions in Silicon Valley saw more than a 40% year-over-year increase in the following year.

However, not all crypto assets will benefit in proportion from this wave of wealth spillover; fund flows typically follow the principle of cognitive anchoring; for instance, newly wealthy investors who just profited in the AI sector tend to deploy their new wealth in familiar and logically similar areas. Thus, cryptocurrency assets can be classified into three categories:

•Alpha: AI infrastructure tokens and large model computing narratives directly linked, with the strongest cognitive migration paths; high-performance public chains bear substantial AI applications and DePIN projects, incorporated as infrastructure premiums; decentralized storage benefits from the AI data infrastructure narrative.

•Blue Chips: Mainstream tokens (BTC, ETH) may receive passive allocation of new wealth, acting as a ticket for capital to enter the crypto market.

•Damaged or Irrelevant Sectors: Tokens unrelated to AI and hard tech narratives could face pressure from liquidity migration during the fund reallocation process.

Once price increases establish differentiation in the outlined sectors, it will further strengthen market narratives and attract retail participants, forming a positive reflexive cycle. For example, a high correlation has currently emerged between AI tokens and tech stocks, and if OpenAI and Anthropic's listings reawaken market enthusiasm for the AI computing cycle, the premium on related tokens may significantly exceed levels supported by fundamentals.

Integrating the two-stage effects, short-term (approximately 4–6 weeks around the subscription period) will showcase net outflow pressure, putting overall pressure on the crypto market, though sector differentiation has begun to germinate in this phase; mid-term (before the lock-up expiration, about 3–6 months post-IPO) will enter a digestion phase, with the market searching for narrative anchor points; long-term (post lock-up expiration) will be dominated by wealth spillover effects, with AI-related crypto assets receiving structural incremental funding. This temporal structure provides investors with a clear strategic window, bypassing liquidity shocks in the short term, using pullbacks to accumulate high-certainty AI infrastructure tokens, and completing position layouts before the wave of lock-up expiries, representing the optimal path.

3. Cryptocurrencies and Pre-IPO Mechanisms Reshaping Retail Investment Thresholds

Traditionally, investment opportunities in super unicorns like SpaceX and OpenAI before their IPOs have been almost entirely monopolized by top venture capital firms (VCs), sovereign wealth funds, and a very few ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Ordinary investors and retail participants can only buy at extremely high premiums in the secondary market after the company goes public. However, the cryptocurrency market of 2026 is breaking this barrier through Pre-IPO tokenization. Taking Gate as an example, its SpaceX token has a minimum investment threshold of just $0.01, whereas traditional Pre-IPO investments involving VCs and private equity typically require a minimum subscription of at least $1 million.

3.1 The Explosion of RWA Tokenization Track

The rise of Pre-IPO tokens is a natural emergence after the entire RWA tokenization infrastructure matures. According to Chainalysis's research report from April 2026, excluding stablecoins, the on-chain RWA market achieved approximately 30% quarter-on-quarter growth in the first quarter of 2026, with a total scale nearing $30 billion, and Pre-IPO tokens are the fastest-growing and strongest narrative segment in this growth wave.

Among these, institutional-grade assets, such as asset-backed credit and tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds, are the mainstay of growth, but Pre-IPO equity tokenization is becoming one of the fastest-growing segments. Chainalysis's research also found that institutional-grade RWA assets took only 6.1 months from first on-chain issuance to a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion, much quicker than 36.2 months for retail-oriented commodity assets. This indicates that large financial institutions are incorporating RWA tokenization into their asset allocation frameworks at an unprecedented speed.

For retail investors, the drop in investment barriers from a traditional $1 million to $100, along with achieving 7×24 hour instant settlement globally, is an unrivaled advantage that the traditional financial system cannot match.

3.2 Operational Mechanism: Combining SPV and Tokenization

Pre-IPO tokens are blockchain-based digital assets aimed at providing retail investors with economic exposure to private companies' pre-IPO valuations. Their core operational mechanism typically includes the following steps:

1. Asset Acquisition: The platform acquires real equity of the target company (such as SpaceX) through the private secondary market or existing shareholders.

2. Establishing SPV: This equity is stored in a regulated Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which holds it on their behalf.

3. On-chain Minting: The platform mints tokens on blockchain (usually on Solana or Ethereum L2) at a 1:1 ratio representing the shares of the SPV.

4. Exchange Trading: Investors can buy and sell these tokens on exchanges.

It should be emphasized that these tokens do not confer actual ownership, voting rights, or dividends of the company to holders; they are purely economic certificates tracking changes in the company's valuation.

With the rapid development of the market, four main Pre-IPO participation models have evolved within the industry, each with its unique risk-return characteristics:

4. Evolving Trading Patterns: A New Battleground for Cryptocurrency Exchanges

In the battle for the dividends of the "IPO super cycle," global mainstream cryptocurrency exchanges view this as a core battleground for attracting traditional incremental funds and retail users.

4.1 Industry Exploration of Pre-IPO Products and Gate's Pre-IPOs Path

Since April 2026, Pre-IPO assets have gradually transitioned from a niche concept to product exploration on trading platforms and Web3 portals. Various models have emerged in the market: one type packages equity exposure of high-profile private companies like SpaceX into tradable assets through compliant investment platforms, structured notes, or SPV structures; another type reduces the technical barriers for ordinary users to engage in Pre-IPO asset trading through on-chain tokens or wallet aggregation portals.

In this trend, Gate's Pre-IPOs offer a more trading-oriented, efficient participation path. Its underlying mechanism is different from asset-backed tokens and perpetual futures, forming a unique structure through a "subscription + pre-market circulation" mechanism, essentially resembling structured notes.

Gate does not issue on-chain SPV tokens but uses a structure called Mirror Note to map the market value pre- and post-IPO into a tradable digital certificate. Taking the inaugural project SpaceX as an example, the corresponding certificate SPCX tracks the market valuation change of SpaceX, rather than its actual equity. Gate holds SpaceX equity or related derivatives over-the-counter as a hedging reserve but does not constitute a 1:1 pegged SPV holding structure—investors are engaging with this value mapping tool, not directly holding stocks.

In terms of participation mechanisms, this product adopts a two-phase design of subscription and pre-market circulation: users subscribe with USDT or GUSD (with a minimum threshold of 100 USDT, subscription price $590/SPCX), and once distributed, the tokens enter 7×24 hour pre-market trading. The product is non-leveraged and does not charge funding rates, which clearly distinguishes it from perpetual futures.

Compared to asset-backed tokens, Gate's model has advantages in faster上线 response times and a wider range of coverable assets, capable of timely accommodating market trading demands for hot pre-IPO companies; simultaneously, the note form provides stock price exposure while also retaining the high liquidity and operational convenience of crypto assets, aligning closely with the trading habits of crypto derivatives users.

4.2 Core Features of Gate Pre-IPOs

• Low barrier: Traditional Pre-IPO single transactions typically exceed $10 million, whereas Gate Pre-IPOs require a minimum of only 100 USDT to participate.

• 100% unlocked distribution: Once the subscription is completed, asset certificates are issued in fully unlocked form to the spot account, without any lock-up period.

• 7×24 hour pre-market trading: Supports free buying and selling around the clock after distribution, allowing users to exit or adjust positions at real-time values before the company officially lists.

• Dual currency subscription: Supports subscriptions in both USDT and GUSD.

• Risk features: No leverage, 1:1 holding, no risk of liquidation.

• Holding costs: No funding rates.

• Participation path: Subscription → asset certificates distributed to spot account → enter pre-market trading market → free to buy/sell or hold waiting for the company to go public.

4.3 Three Reshaping Dimensions of Trading Patterns

This Pre-IPO tokenization wave is profoundly reshaping trading patterns in the cryptocurrency market from the following three dimensions:

•Liquidity battle: Exchanges attempt to intercept retail funds that would otherwise flow to Nasdaq or U.S. brokerage firms and keep them within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Traditionally, retail participation in hot IPOs has been extremely limited, often only being able to buy at high premiums after the listing. The emergence of Pre-IPO tokens allows crypto exchanges to become one-stop investment platforms for these retail investors.

•Cross-industry integration: The boundaries between the cryptocurrency market and traditional stock market are becoming blurred. Investors can seamlessly switch exposure between Bitcoin and SpaceX within the same wallet using USDT. This convergence of asset categories will drive more traditional financial investors into the crypto ecosystem while also providing crypto-native users with access to quality traditional assets.

•Compliance pressure testing: These innovative products are testing the bottom line of global regulatory bodies. Since most products are not open to U.S. users, non-U.S. crypto exchanges are enjoying this dividend. However, with regulatory scrutiny tightening after companies like SpaceX go public, this window of opportunity may not last long.

5. Risk Warnings and Future Outlook

5.1 Risk Warnings

Although the super IPO wave intertwined with the cryptocurrency market depicts an exciting blueprint, retail and institutional investors involved must be alert to the following core risks.

Regulatory and authorization uncertainties pose the greatest systemic risk; regulatory bodies like the SEC may classify certain Pre-IPO tokens as unregistered securities. Additionally, targeted companies may legally challenge such unauthorized equity tokenization actions. BeInCrypto's analysis indicates that the SEC explicitly stated in a January 2026 announcement that it would closely monitor the compliance of RWA tokenization products.

Pricing deviations and oracle risks are also noteworthy; private company valuations are updated with a lag, and in the absence of market makers and sufficient arbitrage mechanisms, the on-chain token prices may deviate severely from the actual fundamentals due to retail sentiment. For instance, Anthropic's on-chain implied valuation once reached $1 trillion, while its official IPO target valuation range is only $400 billion to $500 billion, resulting in a large price gap, which in itself sources risk.

After a company officially goes public, liquidity and exit risks are also factors investors must consider, and how tokens can be exchanged for actual stocks or cash varies across platforms. In extreme market conditions, the SPV model may face liquidity depletion, preventing investors from exiting smoothly.

5.2 Conclusion

The public listings of SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic are not only milestones in technology history but also signify a profound reshaping of global capital markets. For the cryptocurrency market, this is both a significant liquidity test and an excellent opportunity to penetrate the mainstream financial system. Through Pre-IPO tokenization mechanisms, the crypto industry is using technical means to achieve the "financial democratization" that Wall Street has long failed to realize. In this super cycle, investors who effectively manage risks and embrace innovation are likely to reap substantial rewards.

Traditional IPO investment typically targets institutions or high-net-worth individuals, requiring complex processes and high thresholds to open brokerage accounts, and private equity often locks funds for years, making it difficult to exit. Gate Pre-IPOs reduce the financial barrier through digitization and provide liquidity support, allowing ordinary users to participate in primary market opportunities.

From a longer historical perspective, the true value of Pre-IPO tokenization may not lie in the gains or losses of any single product at this moment but rather in the direction it opens up: releasing the pricing power of private markets from a handful of institutions, enabling ordinary investors worldwide to participate in the key nodes of technology-driven wealth creation in a transparent and tradable manner.

The public listings of SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic will be the most symbolic nodes in this fusion process. Their valuation battles, price breaks or premiums, and the flow of wealth post-lockup will all become the first batch of real data validating whether the logic of Pre-IPO tokenization holds.

References

•CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/01/spacex-confidentially-files-for-ipo.html

•Bloomberg / ARK Invest, https://www.ark-invest.com/articles/analyst-research/spacex-ipo-guide

•ARK Invest, https://www.ark-invest.com/articles/analyst-research/spacex-starlink-revenue-analysis

•Decrypt, https://decrypt.co/anthropic-openai-secondary-market-valuation

•TechCrunch, https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/14/anthropic-rise-openai-investors-second-thoughts/

•Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/biggest-ipo-wave-history-promises-3-trillion-value-no-profits-2026-04-23/

•Investing.com, https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-short-squeeze-supports-price-but-trend-remains-unconfirmed-2026

•Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/2026/04/06/bitcoin-price-prediction-bloomberg-warns-10k-crash/

•BeInCrypto, https://beincrypto.com/learn/pre-ipo-tokens-tokenized-equity/

•Chainalysis, https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/tokenized-rwa-institutional-capital-2026/

•Yahoo Finance, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/binance-launches-pre-ipo-token-trading-2026.html

Gate Research Institute is a comprehensive blockchain and cryptocurrency research platform that provides readers with in-depth content, including technical analysis, hot insights, market reviews, industry research, trend predictions, and macroeconomic policy analysis.

Disclaimer

Investing in the cryptocurrency market involves high risks, and users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products being purchased before making any investment decisions. Gate is not responsible for any losses or damages resulting from such investment decisions.

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