What are Pre-IPO X-Perps and how do they work?

Pre-IPO X-Perps trade 24/7 and support up to 10x leverage. Before an IPO, there is no publicly traded stock price to anchor the market. Instead, the contract price is market-driven rather than determined solely by OKX. Where applicable, the reference index may also incorporate prices from other major exchanges. Because there is no publicly available underlying price to peg the contract to, the premium-index component of the funding-rate calculation is set to zero. The market price may therefore differ materially from private funding round valuations or the eventual IPO price.

Before trading X-Perps or other derivatives on OKX, you need to complete the required identity verification and appropriateness assessment.

• Trade before IPO. Pre-IPO X-Perps give you price exposure to the implied valuation of selected private companies before their shares are publicly listed.

• OpenAI and Anthropic at launch. These are the first two Pre-IPO markets planned for the EEA launch.

• Long or short. You can take a position in either direction, with up to 10x leverage.

• No shares. You are trading a cash-settled derivative, not buying shares, receiving an IPO allocation or acquiring shareholder rights.

• 24/7 trading. Pre-IPO X-Perps can be traded around the clock, giving you a way to react to company developments outside traditional stock market hours.

• Market-driven pricing. Before an IPO, there is no public stock price to anchor the market. The contract price is formed by the market, and the reference index may incorporate prices from other major exchanges. The price may therefore differ materially from private valuations or the eventual IPO price.

• Funding rate. A funding mechanism may still apply, but it does not anchor the contract price to an underlying public market. For Pre-IPO X-Perps, the premium-index component of the funding-rate calculation is set to zero because there is no publicly traded underlying price to peg to.

• Rebase. An IPO-related share-count event may trigger a P&L-neutral rebase. Trading may pause and some orders, TP/SL instructions or bot strategies may be adjusted or cancelled.

• After the company goes public. Once the company completes its IPO and the Pre-IPO phase ends, OKX intends to convert the Pre-IPO X-Perp into a standard equity-linked X-Perp. The conversion will take place at a time determined by OKX.

• Long-dated expiry. Pre-IPO X-Perps use the EEA X-Perp framework and have a five-year expiry rather than being technically expiryless.

• Key risks. Thin price discovery, leverage, liquidity, rebasing and volatility around IPO-related events can all affect your position.

Pre-IPO X-Perps are derivative contracts linked to private companies that have not yet completed an IPO.

They let you trade changes in the market's implied valuation of the company before its shares are publicly listed.

For example, if you expect OpenAI's implied valuation to rise, you can take a long position. If you expect it to fall, you can take a short position.

What you hold is the X-Perp contract. You do not receive:

• shares in the company

• an IPO allocation

• voting rights

• shareholder rights

• a claim on future equity

The company is the reference for the contract, but that does not make you a shareholder in the company.

Suppose you want exposure to OpenAI before it becomes a publicly traded company.

You expect its implied valuation to rise, so you open a long position in the OpenAI Pre-IPO X-Perp.

If the market price of the contract rises, your position gains value. If it falls, your position loses value. Leverage magnifies both movements.

You are not buying OpenAI shares. You are trading a cash-settled derivative whose price is determined by buyers and sellers in the OKX market.

Later, an IPO-related share-count event may require the position to be rebased. If OpenAI eventually lists publicly, the contract is intended to convert into a standard equity-linked X-Perp.

The key point: the company is the reference. The X-Perp is what you trade.

A private company does not yet have a continuously quoted public stock price.

That means Pre-IPO X-Perps cannot rely on the same public-market price discovery as a derivative linked to an already listed stock.

Buyers and sellers express their views through the order book, and the contract price is determined by market activity. A funding rate may also apply to open positions.

As a result, the contract price can differ materially from:

• valuations reported in private funding rounds

• valuations implied by private secondary-market transactions

• analyst or media estimates

• the eventual IPO offering price

• the stock price once the company begins public trading

The contract price should therefore not be treated as an official valuation supplied by the underlying company.

Before an IPO, the company’s final share count may not yet be publicly available. OKX therefore uses an estimated share count when establishing the contract’s pricing basis.

Once an official regulatory filing discloses the actual share count, OKX may perform a one-time rebase to align the contract with the disclosed figure. The rebase is designed to preserve the USD value of your position.

The adjustment is based on the following ratio:

Rebase ratio = actual disclosed share count ÷ OKX estimated share count

For example, suppose OKX initially estimates that a company has 3 billion shares. The company later discloses an actual share count of 3.3 billion.

The rebase ratio would be:

3.3 billion ÷ 3 billion = 1.1

Your contract quantity would then be multiplied by 1.1, while the mark price would be divided by 1.1. This keeps the USD value of the position unchanged as a result of the rebase itself.

The rebase is applied automatically, so you do not need to take action for the adjustment itself. However, it can affect your open orders and trading strategies.

• Positions: Your position quantity and mark price are adjusted proportionally. Any unrealized P&L is settled internally during the rebase, and the position is reopened at the adjusted mark price.

• Open limit orders: Price and quantity are adjusted using the rebase ratio. Partially filled orders are cancelled, while the portion already filled remains unchanged.

• TP/SL orders: Pending TP/SL orders, including trailing TP/SL, are cancelled and are not carried over after the rebase.

• Bots and strategy orders: Trading bots and other strategy orders may be stopped or cancelled.

• Trading availability: Trading is temporarily suspended while the rebase is carried out. The contract then enters a Post-only phase before normal trading resumes.

After the rebase, review your open positions and orders and reset any TP/SL or strategy orders you still want to use.

Funding payments may apply to Pre-IPO X-Perp positions. However, the funding mechanism does not anchor the contract price to an underlying public market.

Because there is no publicly traded underlying price before an IPO, the premium-index component of the funding-rate calculation is set to zero.

Funding can still affect the cost of holding an X-Perp position, so check the applicable contract specifications before trading.

Pre-IPO X-Perps use the same margin and settlement mechanism as other X-Perps. They are cash-settled derivatives, so no shares are delivered when you close or settle a position.

Pre-IPO X-Perps support up to 10x leverage for advanced traders.

Leverage lets you control a larger position with a smaller amount of margin, but it magnifies losses as well as gains.

Using more leverage also leaves less room for adverse price movements before your position may no longer meet its margin requirements.

Once the underlying company completes its IPO and begins trading publicly, the Pre-IPO X-Perp is intended to transition into a standard equity-linked X-Perp.

OKX will announce the conversion when appropriate and, where possible, in advance. During the period after the IPO and before conversion, the Pre-IPO X-Perp remains tradable, while its pricing is expected to gradually align with the publicly traded market.

Once the conversion takes place, the contract moves into the standard equity-linked X-Perp framework.

The EEA X-Perp framework uses a long-dated expiry rather than being technically expiryless.

Pre-IPO X-Perps let eligible European traders take positions on companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic before their shares are available through traditional public stock markets.

You are not limited to taking a position that benefits from a rising valuation.

You can go long if you expect the implied valuation to rise or short if you expect it to fall.

Pre-IPO X-Perps trade 24/7.

That means you can react to developments such as funding announcements, company milestones, regulatory filings or IPO news without waiting for a traditional stock exchange to open.

If you already use OKX for crypto or X-Perps, you can access Pre-IPO markets in the same trading environment. This lets you manage crypto and stock-related exposure on one platform.

Pre-IPO X-Perps are designed primarily for experienced and highly engaged traders who already understand derivatives, leverage and active trading.

They may be particularly relevant if you follow:

• private technology companies

• AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic

• private funding rounds

• company valuations

• IPO developments

• market-moving company news

The product is particularly relevant to traders who want to respond to events and price movements rather than simply gain long-term ownership exposure.

1. Open the OKX app and select Trade.

2. Select Futures.

3. Tap the contract name at the top of the trading screen to open the market selector.

4. Search for the company name, such as OpenAI or Anthropic.

5. Select the relevant Pre-IPO X-Perp to open its trading page.

1. Sign in to your OKX account.

2. Go to Trade and select Futures.

3. Open the market selector in the upper-left corner of the trading page.

4. Search for the company name, such as OpenAI or Anthropic.

5. Select the relevant Pre-IPO X-Perp to view the market and place an order.

Pre-IPO X-Perps provide derivative exposure to companies before their IPO. Tokenized Stocks provide spot exposure to publicly traded stocks and ETFs.

Tokenized Stocks can also be integrated with features such as DCA and Grid bots and used as collateral for X-Perps where supported. That utility is separate from the Pre-IPO X-Perp itself.

The simplest distinction is:

Pre-IPO X-Perps: trade before IPO.

Tokenized Stocks: trade public stock and ETF exposure beyond traditional market hours.

Both use the X-Perp framework, but they reference companies at different stages.

A TradFi X-Perp references a company whose stock is already publicly traded.

A Pre-IPO X-Perp references a private company before its IPO. That means there is no continuously quoted public stock price to anchor price discovery.

Leverage magnifies both gains and losses.

A relatively small price move can therefore have a much larger effect on the margin supporting your position.

The higher the leverage you use, the less room you generally have for an adverse market move before your position reaches its margin requirements.

If losses cause your position to stop meeting the required maintenance margin level, liquidation can occur automatically.

Some or all of the position may be closed. The price at which this happens depends on the market available at that time, so the final execution price may differ from the price you expected.

This matters particularly in Pre-IPO markets because lower liquidity and stronger price movements can increase execution risk.

Pre-IPO markets do not have an established public stock price behind them.

Price discovery therefore depends heavily on the traders participating in the market and the available order book liquidity.

A market with less depth can mean:

• wider spreads

• larger price movements

• less liquidity at the displayed price

• greater differences between expected and actual execution prices

Thin price discovery and liquidity are therefore principal risks of the product, alongside leverage, rebasing and IPO-event volatility.

These risks are particularly important around major company events, when interest and volatility can increase quickly.

Slippage occurs when an order executes at a different price from the one you expected.

For example, a large market order may need to execute against several levels of the order book if there is not enough liquidity available at the best displayed price.

The thinner the order book and the faster the market moves, the larger that difference can become.

A limit order gives you greater control over the price at which you are willing to trade, but it does not guarantee execution.

A Pre-IPO X-Perp has an additional mechanic that does not apply in the same way to an ordinary listed-stock market.

An IPO-related share-count event may trigger a P&L-neutral rebase.

Although the rebase is designed not to change the economic value of the position solely because of the adjustment, it can still affect how you manage the position because:

• trading may temporarily pause

• orders may be adjusted or cancelled

• TP/SL instructions may be affected

• bot strategies may be affected

You should therefore understand the rebase mechanics before holding a position through an IPO-related event.

The period around an IPO can introduce substantial uncertainty.

The market's implied valuation before listing can differ materially from the company's eventual IPO price. New information about the company, its share count, the IPO structure or timing can also change market expectations quickly.

This means the transition from a private company to a publicly traded company can create significant volatility for an open Pre-IPO X-Perp position.

• Identity verification. Complete the required identity verification for your OKX account.

• Appropriateness assessment. Derivatives are complex products. You need to complete the applicable assessment before accessing derivative trading.

• Eligibility. Pre-IPO X-Perps are available to eligible EEA users. Availability can depend on your location and account status.

• Margin. You need sufficient eligible collateral to open and maintain a leveraged position.

• Product understanding. Before trading, understand leverage, funding, liquidation, liquidity, rebasing and what happens around an IPO.

The OKX app and web platform show the products currently available to your account.

Under MiFID II, firms offering complex products such as derivatives must assess whether a client has the knowledge and experience needed to understand the risks involved.

OKX applies an appropriateness assessment before eligible users can access derivatives. Identity verification comes first, followed by the assessment.

The assessment covers derivatives as a product group rather than requiring a separate questionnaire for each individual X-Perp.

OKX provides these trading services on an execution-only basis. That means the platform provides access to the product but does not give you a personal recommendation about whether a particular Pre-IPO X-Perp is appropriate for your investment objectives or circumstances.

Disclaimer:

Pre-IPO X-Perps are leveraged derivatives and provide no ownership or economic claim in the referenced company. Their market-derived price may differ materially from private valuations, any IPO price or post-listing share price. An IPO may be delayed, cancelled or never occur. Leverage can amplify gains and losses and may cause rapid liquidation. Tokenized Stocks are transferable securities backed by underlying shares but provide no direct ownership or shareholder rights. 24/7 trading does not guarantee continuous liquidity or execution, and spreads may widen outside regular US market hours. Capital is at risk. Company names do not imply affiliation or endorsement. These products may not be suitable for all investors. OKX Europe Markets Limited is authorised and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority under the Investment Services Act.

Leverage increases both gains and losses. Losses can happen quickly and derivatives are not suitable for everyone. Access requires completing the applicable appropriateness assessment. OKX provides execution-only services and does not give personal investment advice or recommendations.