SpaceX surges after going public; why is the value of Pre-IPOs now clearer?

After SpaceX went public, market discussions about it did not end; instead, they entered a new phase. The company priced its IPO at $135 per share on June 11, completing a $75 billion scale IPO, with an estimated valuation of about $1.77 trillion based on the offering price, setting a record as the largest IPO in U.S. history. Subsequently, as trading continued, the stock price further rose on June 16, with market capitalization reaching as high as $2.655 trillion, pulling global capital markets' attention back to this super unicorn within just a few days.

What Does SpaceX’s Post-IPO Performance Indicate

The most important significance of this rally is not just how much SpaceX’s stock has risen, but that it has made clearer a long-neglected fact: the core value of a super unicorn often does not start forming on the day of its IPO, but is largely accumulated long before going public. SpaceX’s revenue, Starlink’s expansion, the maturity of its commercial launch business, and the market’s long-term infrastructure narrative—all of these mostly occurred outside the public markets. Because of this, looking back now, the market will realize that what’s truly worth studying is not just the IPO result, but the entire value-creation process leading up to the IPO.

This is also why SpaceX’s post-IPO performance reinforces the significance of Pre-IPOs. It proves a simple yet crucial logic: if the post-IPO valuation can push a company to a historic level, then the pre-IPO phase should not be a closed domain for a few institutions, but a market that can be observed, participated in, and priced.

Why the Value of Super Unicorns Occurs More Before Going Public

In the past, IPOs were often seen as the starting point of a company’s growth story. But today, this logic has clearly changed. More and more super unicorns complete multiple rounds of financing, business validation, and valuation expansion in the private market before going public. By the time they actually list, the market often sees them not as “growing companies,” but as “fully grown giants.” SpaceX is a typical example. Before its IPO, the company already had a massive Starlink business, continuous growth in launch revenue, and a long-term infrastructure narrative that kept market valuations high.

This means that what ordinary investors truly miss is not the moment of IPO itself, but the first half of the company’s value release, when most of the value is concentrated. For such companies, going public is more like a formal confirmation of value rather than its beginning. The market is starting to reconsider: if most of the value is realized before the IPO, shouldn’t there be a more comprehensive way for the market to participate before the listing?

What Market Gap Do Pre-IPOs Fill?

Pre-IPOs address this gap. They exist between the private and public markets, focusing on the value changes and price expectations before a company’s official listing. Traditionally, only institutions and high-net-worth investors could participate in primary markets, and public markets only opened after the IPO was completed. During this period, issues such as high entry barriers, limited information, and weak liquidity have persisted. Gate’s Pre-IPOs step in at this point, transforming the originally more closed pre-listing phase into a more standardized, digital participation process.

Gate’s official statement clarifies that the goal of Pre-IPOs is to enable users to participate in value changes before the company’s listing through digital subscription and asset certificates, tracking the company’s market performance. In other words, it’s not about selling stocks to users early, but about turning the pre-listing, hard-to-access market into a structure that allows participation and trading.

How Gate Pre-IPOs Turn This Gap Into a Product

Gate launched its Pre-IPO mechanism in April 2026, with SpaceX’s SPCX as its first project. SPCX uses a Mirror Note structure, allowing users to participate via stablecoins, with asset certificates issued in 100% unlock form, and later entering pre-market trading. The platform also set a subscription price of 590 USDT/GUSD, a total of 33,900 SPCX tokens, a minimum participation threshold of 100 USDT, and a personal cap of 339 SPCX.

More importantly, this mechanism is not just about “subscribing to a project,” but about connecting subscription, allocation, unlocking, and trading into a complete chain. Gate’s product description explicitly states that Pre-IPOs allow users to participate in value changes before the company’s official listing through asset certificates, and then enter pre-market trading. In other words, users are not just doing a one-time IPO subscription but engaging in a pre-market price discovery process.

How SPCX Demonstrates Digital Pre-IPOs in Action

The significance of SPCX lies in turning SpaceX’s pre-IPO value changes into an observable, tradable mirror. Gate emphasizes that SPCX is not SpaceX stock, nor does it represent equity; it’s a Mirror Note, giving holders economic exposure to the company’s value changes without voting rights or dividends. This distinction is crucial because it shows SPCX is not a traditional equity substitute but a structured asset built around pre-IPO expectations.

As SpaceX’s IPO date moves forward and its valuation continues to rise, this type of asset becomes more visible to the market. It directly reflects investors’ last-stage pre-IPO price judgments. The more the market focuses on IPO pricing, the more products like SPCX resemble a rehearsal stage. They first bring expectations into the digital market, then allow prices to form gradually through liquidity.

Will Pre-IPOs Be More Important in the Next Mega IPO Cycle?

From a broader cycle perspective, SpaceX is just the beginning. Reuters recently mentioned that SpaceX’s strong listing is driving market attention toward more super unicorns, and even the SPAC market has rebounded due to the mega-IPO boom. In other words, the market is reaccepting a fact: future large tech companies may stay longer in the private market, with higher valuations and more complex pre-listing price discovery.

In this environment, the significance of Pre-IPOs is not just as a product but as a market structure supplement. It transforms the pre-listing window, once limited to a few institutions, into a more transparent digital entry point, giving ordinary investors their first systematic opportunity to observe this phase. Recently, Gate also launched a more comprehensive IPO Access service, indicating that the platform is connecting “pre-listing subscriptions” and “post-listing trading” into a more complete pathway.

FAQ

What exactly are Pre-IPOs?

Pre-IPOs are a digital participation mechanism before a company’s official IPO, allowing users to track valuation changes through subscription asset certificates.

Is SPCX SpaceX stock?

No. SPCX is a Mirror Note structure, not actual stock or equity, and does not grant shareholder rights.

Why does SpaceX’s listing make Pre-IPOs more attention-grabbing?

Because SpaceX proves that most of a super unicorn’s core value occurs before listing, with only the post-listing phase being a public valuation.

How are Gate Pre-IPOs different from traditional IPO subscriptions?

Traditional IPOs involve already publicly issued stocks, while Gate Pre-IPOs focus on subscription, distribution, and pre-market trading before listing.

What should participants pay attention to when engaging with these products?

Most importantly, understand the asset attributes, trading rules, and exit paths, as valuation volatility and liquidity risks are higher before listing.