New gameplay for participating in initial offerings on cryptocurrency exchanges

Author: Chloe, ChainCatcher

On June 12, SpaceX listed at $135 per share, raising approximately $75 billion, with a valuation nearing $1.75 trillion. However, for many retail investors, the memory of this day is not the excitement of the stock jumping to $150 at opening, but rather a refund notification. Through the tokenized subscription packaged by xStocks, over $1 billion in orders were siphoned off on Bybit, Binance, and Bitget, ultimately resulting in full refunds due to the inability to secure underlying shares.

However, the market has a Plan B taking shape, which involves two paths to indirectly hold private assets like OpenAI, SpaceX, and Anthropic through regular brokerage accounts: treasury-type stocks and registered private equity funds. This article will examine each of their trade-offs and risks.

Why Plan A Failed: An Additional Layer of Intermediary Preventing Share Acquisition

The demand from retail investors for SpaceX's IPO was immense. Reports indicated that retail subscription intentions exceeded $100 billion, while SpaceX reduced the originally planned allocation of about 30% for retail investors to just over 20% due to strong demand. Ultimately, the stock was priced at $135, opening around $150, nearly 12% higher than the issue price. The difference between those who could secure an allocation at $135 and those who could only chase in at $150 is stark.

Cryptocurrency exchanges initially aimed to open this door through tokenized subscriptions. Bybit, Binance Wallet, and Bitget Wallet all launched pre-listing subscription activities for SpaceX, promoting the ability for overseas retail investors to subscribe at the issue price and receive a 1:1 backed token post-listing. Just the Binance Wallet activity attracted approximately $557 million from 27,689 wallet addresses. However, when the underwriting syndicate finalized allocations, most of these orders went unfulfilled. Bybit directly informed users that due to xStocks' inability to deliver underlying assets, no allocations were received, leading to full refunds, with Binance and Bitget Wallet also canceling and refunding while providing a consolation reward.

This failure was not due to blockchain outages or issues with token redemption. CoinDesk cited insiders indicating that xStocks and its partners raised over $1 billion in orders, but these platforms had no direct relationship with SpaceX's underwriting syndicate and could only vie for underlying shares through xStocks as an intermediary. An additional layer of intermediary means another step where shares cannot be obtained. Even retail investors from traditional brokerages only received partial allocations, indicating a supply-demand imbalance rather than a failure of crypto technology. Tokenization can package a stock into a globally tradable token, but it cannot create something out of nothing, producing shares that were never secured.

The timing of this event is also crucial. SpaceX is just the first in a wave of mega IPOs, with the market generally expecting OpenAI and Anthropic to IPO soon as well, with the three being viewed as the most notable group of giant listings in recent years. This means that the drama of retail investors being unable to secure SpaceX allocations is likely to be repeated with OpenAI and Anthropic. For this reason, a channel that does not rely on immediate allocations at listing and can position itself in advance for these companies is in high demand.

Two Forms of Plan B

Breaking down the wave of refunds reveals a proof of demand behind it. Over $100 billion in retail orders, combined with a series of tokenized and perpetual contract purchases before listing, indicates that retail investors are not looking for a specific product but rather a way to access cutting-edge private assets. The specific blockage in Plan A is that it places all hope on the moment of listing, whether one can immediately secure allocations released by the underwriting syndicate. If allocations are insufficient, the entire structure will be inoperative.

The common logic of Plan B is to move this timing forward. Instead of competing for the same batch of new shares at the moment of listing, it is better to buy vehicles that already hold these private shares. When the entity you are buying into has already secured shares before the IPO, the smoothness of allocation distribution on listing day becomes irrelevant to you. The tools available in the market to achieve this can be broadly divided into two paths:

• The first path is to package private equity exposure into a treasury-type company that trades as a regular stock.

• The second path is to bundle private equity into a registered fund, allowing retail investors to hold fund shares.

Both paths do not require accredited investor status, do not require one to engage with SPVs, and do not require participation in KYC private rounds.

The First Path: Packaging Private AI into a Regular Stock

ORBS: Indirectly holding OpenAI, Worldcoin, ETH, and MrBeast's media company

The most direct example is Eightco Holding (NASDAQ: ORBS), listed on NASDAQ. It operates its balance sheet as a package of emerging tech assets. According to the company's disclosure on June 11, as of June 10, its total holdings were approximately $406 million, including about $90 million in OpenAI equity held indirectly through SPVs, $18 million in Beast Industries (MrBeast's media company) equity, $1 million in Mythical Games, and 283,452,700 Worldcoin (WLD), 16,278 Ethereum, and about $142 million in cash and stablecoins.

Among these, the Worldcoin holdings account for about 8.4% of the total circulation, making it the largest disclosed institutional position currently. Comparing this list with Plan A reveals the differences. A retail investor wanting to access OpenAI would normally need to be an accredited investor, find a way to squeeze into an SPV, or participate in private rounds and go through layers of KYC, which keeps the vast majority out.

ORBS consolidates all these steps internally, allowing retail investors to indirectly gain exposure to OpenAI, Worldcoin, ETH, and even MrBeast by simply buying a stock ticker through a regular brokerage account. This is precisely what Plan A aimed to do but could not achieve: compliance, tradability, and genuine underlying assets.

What are the costs and risks of individual stocks?

Packaging private equity exposure into a single stock does not mean that risks disappear; they merely change form. A significant portion of ORBS's holdings consists of crypto assets, and the company's total holdings fluctuated within a month from about $337 million to $437 million to $406 million, primarily due to changes in WLD and ETH prices.

The stock price itself has also been volatile, having dropped about 57% at one point over the past six months, often oscillating between discounts and premiums to net asset value. In other words, what you are buying is a leveraged asset mix based on crypto and private equity valuations, which will be much more volatile than simply holding a mature tech stock.

ORBS is not an isolated case but part of a whole category of "treasury-type" assets. There are also cross-border funds like XOVR that package SpaceX into an ETF shell through zero-fee SPVs, as well as a number of individual stocks and ETFs focused on space and private equity exposure. However, the purity of the underlying assets, fee structures, and premium/discount situations vary for each, and one cannot ignore the risks just because they all carry the same star name.

The Second Path: Packaging Private AI into Registered Funds

If treasury-type stocks are about stuffing private equity exposure into a company, then the second path is to create a regulated fund that allows retail investors to hold fund shares. There are several funds specifically designed to package "unlisted AI" investment options.

Destiny Tech100 (DXYZ): Closed-end fund, SpaceX is the largest holding

The closed-end fund Destiny Tech100 (NYSE: DXYZ), listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has consistently had SpaceX as its largest holding, accounting for about 16.2% of its portfolio, while also holding stakes in unlisted companies like xAI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, and Shield AI, currently holding about 27 positions with a goal to expand to 100. As it continues to increase its positions in Anthropic and others, more recent disclosures show that the weights have shifted, with Anthropic's economic exposure reaching 18.1%, SpaceX about 14.5%, and OpenAI about 5.8%.

The key risk DXYZ needs to monitor is the premium/discount. The market price of closed-end funds can deviate from their net asset value for extended periods, and DXYZ often trends towards a premium. The net asset value is updated quarterly, with the latest net value as of March 31 being approximately $24.56, while the market price surged to about $60 in late May, meaning shares were purchased at a price significantly higher than the underlying assets. The fund itself is also planning a market issuance of up to $1 billion, and such actions of continuously issuing new shares at high premiums can dilute existing shareholders. For retail investors, this means that even if you are correct about the underlying company, you may still incur losses due to buying at an excessively high premium.

This disparity is clearer when viewed visually. The following two images show: one is the actual market price trend of DXYZ on the NYSE, which surged to about $72 in May 2026 before falling back to about $28; the other overlays the same market price with the officially published net asset value per share. Since DXYZ holds private equity, and the net value is updated quarterly, this net value line is a step line that gradually rises from about $19.97 at the end of 2025 to $24.56 on March 2026. The gap between the two lines represents the premium.

ARK Venture Fund and Fundrise Innovation Fund VCX: Interval Funds

Similar to DXYZ but with a different structure, are the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX) and Fundrise Innovation Fund VCX, both SEC-registered closed-end interval funds.

ARKVX is actively managed by Cathie Wood's Ark Invest. It is an SEC-registered closed-end interval fund with a minimum investment threshold of $500, requiring no accredited investor status, allowing retail investors to buy through apps like SoFi, Titan, Public, or channels like Schwab. In terms of holdings, SpaceX is the largest position, recently accounting for about 14% of the overall portfolio, with the top five holdings also including OpenAI, Replit, Figure AI, and Anthropic, totaling over 40%, spanning more than 60 public and private companies.

VCX, on the other hand, is an interval fund with a higher AI content, with Anthropic alone accounting for about 21%, and other major holdings including OpenAI, SpaceX, Databricks, Anduril, and Ramp.

The key feature of interval funds is that they do not trade continuously on exchanges. Their shares cannot be sold at any time like stocks; they can only be redeemed during the fund's periodic repurchase windows. This creates a clear contrast with ORBS, DXYZ, and XOVR, which can be bought and sold at any time during trading hours: you are exchanging for a diversified holding closer to a venture capital portfolio with lower single-asset risk, at the cost of liquidity being locked up.

A Common Cost: You Are Buying "Holders," Not Shares

When looking at these funds together, it becomes evident that they share the same set of trade-offs. The benefit is diversification: both DXYZ and ARKVX do not bet on a single company but rather a basket of cutting-edge private assets, echoing the idea of "instead of betting on who the next winner is, why not buy the entire trend."

The costs come in three layers:

• Fees: Active management and fund structures have ongoing costs.

• Premium/Discount: Closed-end and interval structures can lead to market prices deviating from net asset value for extended periods.

• Liquidity: Interval funds are especially tightly locked.

More fundamentally, these tools generally adopt market value assessments, and there is no such thing as "cheap entry before listing"; you enjoy "upside potential after listing" rather than securing a position at insider prices. What you are buying is never the shares of SpaceX or OpenAI themselves, but rather a "holder of them."

The Fundamental Difference Between Plan A and Plan B: From Competing for Allocations to Buying Holders

When comparing the two plans side by side, the difference lies not in the interface or fee rates, but in your relationship with the underlying shares. Plan A's tokenized subscription essentially involves competing with the world for the same batch of new shares at the moment of listing; your success depends on whether the underwriting syndicate is willing to allocate shares to your intermediary; if you don't get allocated, all you receive is a refund.

Plan B completely bypasses this allocation competition because vehicles like ORBS, DXYZ, and ARKVX already held shares or SPV exposure before the IPO; you are buying them, not waiting in line for new shares.

The costs also shift positions. The cost of Plan A is the geographical barriers and uncertainty of unfulfilled allocations; the cost of Plan B is the premium, fund fees, liquidity, and concentrated risk of a single vehicle.

The question the former needs to answer is "Can I secure it?" while the latter needs to answer "Am I willing to pay this premium and cost for something that is already held?" For retail investors who have long been kept out of the private market, what Plan B truly changes is transforming a binary, potentially unfulfilled bet into a measurable, priceable option. Another aspect that changes is the time dimension. Plan A is a one-time event; once the subscription window closes and allocations are distributed, it ends; Plan B, however, is an exposure that can be held continuously, allowing you to gradually build positions before the IPO and continue to add or exit after the IPO, turning a bet placed at a single moment into a long-term holding curve.

When "Securing IPO Allocations" Is No Longer the Only Entry Point

Last week's $1 billion in refunds superficially appears as a failure of tokenization, but in reality, it has illuminated a clearer dividing line for the entire market. Tokenization solves the question of "how to package a stock for circulation," but it does not address the more fundamental issue of "first, you must actually secure that stock." Plan A bets on whether one can squeeze into allocations at the moment of listing, and when demand is several times greater than supply, failing to secure allocations is almost inevitable.

The value of Plan B lies in its advancement of the question. It no longer asks whether you can secure it on listing day, but rather whether you are willing to pay a premium and cost for something that has "already been held." Their forms vary, but they point to the same fact: in the competition for cutting-edge assets, what is truly scarce is not the technology, but the underlying shares themselves. Those who can secure shares before the IPO are the ones who truly hold the channel that retail investors are clamoring for.

And when "owning a small piece of an unlisted company" can take the form of a stock, a fund, or a balance sheet, the next question worth pursuing may be: as these proxy tools proliferate, will their premiums and discounts become a new way for the market to price these private giants?