Blockchain.com Opens 24/7 SpaceX Pre-IPO Perps as UK FCA Weighs 10% Crypto ETN Cap

Crypto News

Blockchain.com has rolled out 24/7 perpetual trading for institutional clients through its over-the-counter desk, giving eligible investors continuous exposure to equities, indices, commodities, foreign exchange and pre-IPO companies. The platform targets options desks, macro funds and firms that need to hedge or rebalance outside conventional market hours, including weekends when most traditional venues are closed. The expansion builds on the firm's April launch of perpetual futures through its self-custody wallet, when it first signaled plans to move beyond crypto into broader asset classes. The push positions the blockchain-native broker as a round-the-clock gateway between digital and traditional markets.

Central to the rollout is a SpaceX-linked perpetual contract, already live on the OTC desk, that lets qualified investors take positions tied to the aerospace company's anticipated listing. Anticipation has built around an expected June 12 market debut, with the rocket maker reportedly weighing a valuation above $1.75 trillion — potentially one of the largest US listings on record. Blockchain.com itself confidentially filed IPO paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in May, according to the official filing. The company framed pre-IPO exposure as a tool for investors seeking access to marquee private names before their shares formally begin trading on public exchanges.

Rival venues have raced into the same arena. Binance last month introduced pre-IPO perpetual futures tied to private companies, opening with a SpaceX-linked contract settled in the USDT stablecoin. The derivatives let traders speculate on a company's projected valuation both before and after a public debut without ever holding the underlying equity. The format mirrors the leveraged structures common across crypto altcoin markets, extending familiar perpetual mechanics to private-company exposure. For exchanges, the products open a fresh revenue line and a way to capture speculative demand around high-profile listings that retail investors have historically struggled to reach through traditional brokerage channels.

Kraken took a different route, naming SpaceX as the first company on its xStocks IPO Access platform. Eligible users across more than 110 markets can participate through tokenized shares backed one-to-one by the underlying stock, with the tokens tradable around the clock on Kraken and other xStocks-supported venues. Bybit followed within days, signaling it would offer access through the same xStocks framework. The tokenization model leans on decentralized finance style settlement rails, letting holders move and trade exposure continuously rather than within fixed exchange hours. Collectively, the launches mark pre-IPO trading as a new competitive front among major crypto platforms.

Across the Atlantic, the UK Financial Conduct Authority is weighing a rule that would let UCITS schemes and most non-UCITS retail schemes hold crypto exchange-traded notes, capped at 10% of scheme property. Set out in the regulator's CP26/17 consultation, the proposal would push digital-asset exposure deeper into regulated fund structures after retail investors already gained access to crypto ETNs as standalone listed products. The cap applies at the scheme-property level, allowing a limited ETN sleeve as a satellite allocation where it matches a fund's disclosed objective and risk profile. Comments on the fund chapter are due July 13, 2026.

The FCA draws sharp lines between vehicle types. Qualified investor schemes, sold to professional and sophisticated clients, would sit outside the proposed 10% retail-fund limit, while long-term asset funds and non-UCITS retail schemes operating as funds of alternative investment funds face a proposed prohibition on holding crypto ETNs altogether. Crucially, direct holdings of Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets for investment purposes remain outside the proposal, keeping exposure indirect through listed notes. The structure signals a measured stance: Britain is widening access through securities law and fund plumbing while still ring-fencing how far tokens themselves can travel inside mainstream portfolios.

Taken together, the week's moves trace a single arc: institutions are being handed ever more sophisticated, around-the-clock wrappers for exposure that once lived only in private markets, even as regulators carefully fence the perimeter. COINOTAG's aggregate market data frames that ambition against a cautious backdrop. The Fear and Greed Index sits at 9 out of 100, deep in Extreme Fear, while Bitcoin dominance stands at 70.4% and total crypto market capitalization holds near $1.76 trillion. That concentration and defensive sentiment — hallmarks of a risk-off, bear-market tone — suggest pre-IPO perpetuals and capped ETN sleeves are arriving precisely when investor appetite for speculative breadth is thin.