I tried to join the SpaceX IPO. I failed. More on that disaster in a minute.
But first, a confession. This isn’t even my first failed attempt at buying SpaceX. Back in 2017, I was taking profits on crypto and wanted to rotate some gains into something different. SpaceX shares on the OTC markets seemed like the move. I went hunting for a seller with about $10K to deploy.
I found nothing. Pre-IPO shares were nearly impossible to source for a ticket that small. After a few days of dead ends, I gave up and moved on.
That $10K would have done roughly 200-400x by now. Lol. Some misses age worse than others.
Fast forward to this week. The SpaceX IPO finally happened, and it pulled the crypto world in with it. Binance and Hyperliquid listed SpaceX perpetual futures before the debut. Those perps traded around $162.50 on Thursday. The actual stock closed at $160.95 on Friday. Crypto front-ran the biggest IPO in history and nailed the price within two dollars.
And then the SEC filings dropped another bomb. SpaceX holds 18,712 Bitcoin. More on that below.
Let’s break down what happened, why my second SpaceX attempt also flopped, and what I’m watching next.
SpaceX IPO by the Numbers
First, the headline stats. The SpaceX IPO priced at $135 per share on Thursday night. The stock started trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX on Friday, June 12.
It opened at $150. At one point, shares spiked over 30%, briefly pushing the market cap above $2.25 trillion. By the close, SPCX settled at $160.95. That’s a 19% gain on day one.
The company raised roughly $75 billion by selling more than 555 million shares. That makes the SpaceX IPO the largest initial public offering in history. It also made Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.
One detail caught my eye. Retail demand was insane. SpaceX targeted a retail allocation of around 30%, far above the typical 5-10% for most IPOs. Reports suggest retail orders exceeded $100 billion. According to Vanda Research, SPCX was the most-bought stock by retail investors on Friday, with net buying running at 3.5x that of Nvidia.
Retail showed up in force. Sound familiar? It should. This is the same crowd that moves meme coins.
Crypto Called It Before Wall Street Did
Here’s my favorite part of the SpaceX IPO story.
Days before the listing, SpaceX perpetual futures were already live on Binance. Traders could speculate on the debut price before a single share changed hands on the Nasdaq.
Those perps traded around $162.50 heading into the listing. The stock closed its first day at $160.95.
Think about that. A crypto derivatives market priced the biggest IPO ever with near-perfect accuracy. No roadshow access. No allocation games. Just open price discovery, 24/7.
We covered this trend before when Bybit launched its IPO Express platform with tokenized SpaceX shares. The line between TradFi and crypto keeps getting thinner. Pre-IPO exposure used to be reserved for institutions and insiders. Now anyone with a crypto exchange account can trade it.
If you’re new to derivatives, start with the basics first. Our guide to starting crypto trading covers everything you need before touching perps.
My Bybit SpaceX IPO Attempt: Refunded, Not Allocated
So how did I try to join the SpaceX IPO this time? Through Bybit.
Bybit offered SpaceX exposure via its IPO Express platform, the same product we covered when it launched with tokenized stocks. I subscribed to test it. The plan was simple: get an allocation at the IPO price, flip it into the day-one pop, bank a quick win.
It didn’t happen. Bybit announced that xStocks, the provider behind the tokenized shares, failed to deliver the underlying assets. Zero SpaceX allocations came through. Every subscriber got nothing.
To Bybit’s credit, the handling was clean. All subscription funds were automatically refunded to the original funding account, no action required. On top of that, participants received a compensation reward based on 10% APR over a fixed 4-day period, credited automatically.
Still, the math stings a little. If the allocation had landed, I would have sold into the open for a 20-25% gain in two days. Easy money, gone. My size wasn’t big enough to be genuinely upset about it. Happens.
But it’s a useful lesson about tokenized stocks and pre-IPO products. The exchange layer can work perfectly while the asset delivery behind it breaks. Counterparty risk doesn’t disappear just because the interface looks like a crypto exchange. Keep that in mind before sizing up on any tokenized equity product.
So that’s two failed SpaceX entries for me. 2017 OTC, 2026 IPO. Third time’s the charm, maybe.
The Bitcoin Bombshell: SpaceX Holds 18,712 BTC
Now for the part crypto Twitter is still digesting.
For years, blockchain analysts guessed at SpaceX’s Bitcoin position. Tracking services like Arkham estimated somewhere between 7,000 and 8,000 BTC. The truth turned out to be more than double that.
The SEC filings for the SpaceX IPO revealed the company holds 18,712 Bitcoin on its balance sheet.
The entry price is even more impressive. SpaceX paid roughly $661 million in total, which works out to an average cost of just over $35,000 per coin. As of March 31, the position was worth $1.29 billion. Even after the recent market drawdown, SpaceX is sitting on a massive paper profit. That’s a luxury most Bitcoin treasury companies that bought near the top don’t have.
SpaceX describes the position as a strategic reserve for excess cash, not a speculative bet. The holdings stayed exactly flat between late December and late March. No trading. No trimming. Just holding.
One of the most valuable companies on Earth parks part of its treasury in Bitcoin and barely talks about it. That’s a stronger signal than any laser-eyes tweet.
Musk Companies Now Hold Over 30,000 BTC
With 18,712 BTC, SpaceX now holds more Bitcoin than Tesla, which sits at around 11,500 BTC according to on-chain data. Combined, Elon Musk’s companies control more than 30,000 Bitcoin.
For context, that’s still tiny next to Strategy. Michael Saylor’s company holds over 845,000 BTC. But the symbolism matters more than the size.
Bitcoin isn’t just sitting on the balance sheets of specialized treasury companies anymore. Regular operational giants are using it to diversify cash reserves. Quietly. Strategically.
There’s also market chatter about a potential future combination of Tesla and SpaceX. That would create one of the largest corporate Bitcoin positions on public markets. To be clear, no official plan exists. Treat it as what it is: speculation.
New Accounting Rules Change Everything
This is the underrated angle of the SpaceX IPO, and most coverage skipped it.
Under new FASB accounting rules, publicly listed companies must value their digital assets at current market prices. Every Bitcoin price move now flows directly through the profit and loss statement.
If Bitcoin rises during a quarter, SpaceX reports a gain on the position. If it drops, the loss shows up in the results. No more hiding behind old cost-basis accounting.
For investors, this creates a transparent window into corporate Bitcoin holdings for the first time. No more estimates from blockchain sleuths. Audited numbers, every quarter.
The flip side? Stocks of companies holding Bitcoin become more sensitive to crypto volatility. Wall Street and the crypto market are now woven together at the accounting level. When BTC dumps, it will show up in earnings reports of trillion-dollar companies. That’s a new dynamic for both markets.
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What I’m Watching Next
A few things on my radar after the SpaceX IPO.
First, the AI angle. SpaceX acquired Musk’s AI startup xAI earlier this year and is leaning hard into artificial intelligence. Analysts are framing this as the first of several major AI-related IPOs. If that wave materializes, expect more pre-IPO perp markets on crypto exchanges.
Second, the bear case. Morningstar called the company overvalued. SpaceX generated around $19 billion in revenue last year with a $4.2 billion operating loss. A $1.77 trillion valuation for an unprofitable company is a bet on the future, not the present. Day-one pops can fade. We’ve seen it before.
Third, the quarterly Bitcoin disclosures. Every earnings report from SpaceX now doubles as a corporate Bitcoin update. How companies handle BTC on the balance sheet during a real drawdown is something this cycle still has to prove. Some shareholders already see the position as unwanted volatility and wouldn’t rule out a partial sale for liquidity someday.
Guarantees are never a thing in crypto. Neither in stocks, apparently.
If you want my live takes on setups like this, including how I’m positioning around BTC at these levels, that’s exactly what I share in the AirdropAlert trading newsletter. One email, no spam, real trades.
Final Words
The SpaceX IPO made history three times in one day. Biggest listing ever. First trillionaire. And the largest stealth corporate Bitcoin position finally revealed.
For crypto, the takeaways are bullish on the long horizon. Perp markets proved they can price major TradFi events accurately. Corporate Bitcoin adoption is broader than anyone tracked. And new accounting rules will keep pulling these positions into the light, quarter after quarter.
Every balance sheet that adds BTC normalizes Bitcoin further as a corporate asset. SpaceX just did it with 18,712 coins and a 2x paper profit.
Not bad for a “speculative” asset.
If you enjoyed this blog, you may want to check out our recent guide on “Is Airdrop Farming Still Safe?“
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