Encryption Pre-IPO New Era: Can Ordinary Investors Enter Early Through the Crypto Market?

Pre-IPO investing was originally exclusive territory for top-tier venture capital firms, private equity funds, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. According to data, in 2024, the global secondary market trading volume for Pre-IPO deals reached $160 billion, with the United States alone accounting for $61.1 billion. Single transactions typically exceed $10 million, making retail investors virtually shut out.

By April 2026, the situation underwent a fundamental shift. On April 9, Gate announced the launch of a digital Pre-IPO participation mechanism, opening this previously institutional-only early investment channel to over 52 million users worldwide. This marked a milestone in the crypto Pre-IPO space, signifying that the most valuable early-stage investment opportunities in traditional finance are now, for the first time, accessible to retail investors through digital means.

Soon after, on April 13, Gate’s stock section launched perpetual contracts for five targets—OpenAI, Anthropic, Anduril, Kalshi, and Polymarket—allowing pre-market trading with 1-10x leverage for long and short positions. On April 18, Gate officially released its first Pre-IPO product, SPCX, enabling users to gain exposure before SpaceX’s public listing.

The Fundamental Difference Between Crypto Pre-IPOs and Traditional Pre-IPO

To understand whether crypto Pre-IPOs are suitable for ordinary investors, it’s essential to clarify their core differences from traditional Pre-IPO investments.

Traditional Pre-IPO Investment

Traditional Pre-IPO investments are usually conducted through SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles): original shareholders place their shares into a specially established shell company, and investors hold shares of this SPV, indirectly owning the underlying company’s equity. The barriers are extremely high—requirements for qualified investor status, minimum investment amounts of several million dollars, and multi-year lock-up periods—making it nearly impossible for ordinary investors to participate.

Crypto Pre-IPO Tokenization

Crypto Pre-IPs are fundamentally about tokenizing traditional Pre-IPO equity or financing rights via blockchain technology, creating digital assets that can be subscribed to and traded within platforms. Currently, products mainly fall into three categories: real equity holdings (where the SPV indeed holds shares), synthetic notes (platform-issued “IOUs” with no direct legal relation to real equity), and on-chain contracts (purely speculative, involving no physical assets).

Market impact is rapidly emerging. In Q1 2026, the weekly trading volume of commodity perpetual contracts (gold, silver, crude oil) on crypto exchanges surged from $38.1 million to $25 billion, a growth of 65,463%. Tokenization of traditional assets is becoming a main trend in the crypto industry over the next 5 to 10 years.

Core Advantages of Crypto Pre-IPOs

1. Extremely Low Participation Bar

Traditional Pre-IPO investments often require millions of dollars to start, but Gate’s Pre-IPO mechanism lowers the barrier to just 100 USDT through tokenized equity and stablecoin subscriptions. Any global user completing KYC can participate—no longer requiring qualified investor status.

For example, the first SpaceX project SPCX launched by Gate saw a total subscription amount exceeding $353 million on the first day.

2. 24/7 Liquidity

Traditional Pre-IPO investments typically have poor liquidity, with funds locked for years, and exits relying on IPOs or mergers. Crypto Pre-IPs, through the PreToken minting and settlement mechanism, allow users to stake USDT to mint PreTokens representing future token rights, which can be freely traded on order books. When the project goes public, the system automatically executes a 1:1 asset conversion, returning the staked USDT to users.

3. Portfolio Diversification

Crypto Pre-IPs open a new window for users to invest in global tech unicorns. The most talked-about targets include SpaceX (which filed for IPO with the SEC in April 2026, rumored valuation around $2 trillion), OpenAI (estimated at $852 billion), Anthropic (about $380 billion), as well as Anduril, Kalshi, and Polymarket.

Practical Steps for Ordinary Investors to Participate in Gate Pre-IPs

As of April 29, 2026, Gate completed the subscription and allocation for its first Pre-IPO project, SPCX. The participation process is standardized as follows:

Step 1: Access the platform — Visit Gate’s “Pre-IPs” or “PreMarket” section.

Step 2: Join the waitlist — Receive subscription reminders; the system will notify you via email and in-platform messages as soon as subscriptions open.

Step 3: Prepare for participation — Complete KYC verification and ensure sufficient USDT balance for subscription.

Using SPCX’s actual subscription data as an example:

Source: Gate official announcement and ChainCatcher reports

Five Major Risks to Be Aware Of

While low barriers and high return expectations are tempting, ordinary investors must fully understand these five risks when participating in crypto Pre-IPs:

Settlement risk: the project may never go live. This is the most unique and deadly risk in the crypto Pre-IPO market. The PreToken you buy is essentially a “promise of the future.” If the underlying company fails to go public as scheduled or the token issuance plan is canceled, your PreToken could become worthless.

Extreme premium risk: you may be paying for “sentiment.” Pre-market prices are often driven higher by emotions. If the official opening price is significantly lower than your purchase price, you will face losses. The VCX event in March 2026 is a typical example: VCX was issued at $31.25 on the NYSE, reaching a peak of $575 within a week—a nearly 30-fold premium—then plummeted about 40% on the same day after being shorted.

Liquidity illusion: it looks tradable at any time, but you may find no buyers when exiting. Some platforms’ secondary markets for PreTokens have much less depth than main boards, making large transactions difficult and prices easily manipulated. Deeper structural mismatches exist: traditional Pre-IPs are designed for long-term investment, while crypto market participants are accustomed to high liquidity. Introducing illiquid assets into a high-liquidity culture creates risks that must be carefully managed.

Information asymmetry: retail investors are always one step behind institutions. Institutional investors have structured due diligence, direct communication with founders, and priority allocation; retail participants entering via platforms rely on filtered data and delayed insights. For example, Kraken’s pre-IPO funding in November 2025 valued the company at $20 billion, but by April 2026, the secondary market valuation had fallen to about $13.3 billion. Most retail investors would not have access to shares at the $20 billion valuation point.

Regulatory uncertainty: legal risks cannot be ignored. The U.S. SEC clarified in January 2026 that tokenized securities are still subject to existing laws. Most platforms operate under Regulation S, and non-U.S. investors must also closely monitor local regulatory developments.

Summary

Crypto Pre-IPs have enabled ordinary investors to access early growth opportunities of top global unicorns at unprecedented low thresholds. Through partnerships with mainstream exchanges like Gate, participation in high-value projects like SpaceX and OpenAI now requires only 100 USDT—an historic breakthrough toward inclusive capital markets.

However, it’s crucial to recognize that crypto Pre-IPs are never low-risk investments but involve entirely different risk structures and high risks. They are more suitable for investors with risk awareness and resilience, rather than speculators seeking “get-rich-quick” schemes.

The 2026 IPO “supercycle” may be witnessing a new turning point in the capital markets. For ordinary investors, understanding the rules, recognizing risks, and participating rationally might be the best way to seize this opportunity.