Coinbase launches 24/7 pre‑IPO perps beginning with SpaceX

Coinbase announced on June 4 that it has launched pre‑IPO perpetual futures available to eligible users outside the United States, with SpaceX as the inaugural listing.

The contracts are perpetual futures, or “perps”: they trade around the clock, have no expiry and are settled in the USDC stablecoin. Open positions will automatically convert into post‑IPO exposure when a company completes its public offering.

Perpetual futures let traders take long or short positions on a company’s valuation without owning underlying shares and without a set settlement date. With the pre‑IPO perps, gains and losses will be denominated in USDC until conversion to the listed stock.

Coinbase said the SpaceX listing is live for eligible non‑U.S. users and that more pre‑IPO names will be added soon, covering technology, artificial intelligence, energy and space companies. The offering is not available to U.S. customers.

Pre‑IPO prices can differ from an eventual IPO opening price. Coinbase review noted traders can profit or lose depending on how the perpetual price compares with the IPO debut price, and that limited information around private valuations can create high volatility.

Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s chief executive, posted on X: “Pre‑IPO perps are great to get exposure to private companies before they go public (outside the U.S. only for now) and to help with price discovery.”

Coinbase review indicated it will expand pre‑IPO coverage over time but did not publish a full timetable or complete technical details for how post‑IPO conversion will be handled beyond automatic translation of positions.