In this Space co-hosted by Bitget Chinese and @OdailyChina, we invited Xie Jiayin, Bitget’s Head of Chinese Markets, and Ken, Bitget’s Spot/IPO Prime Product Lead, to deliver an in-depth overview of Bitget IPO Prime’s second-phase preOPAI launch—covering its core objectives, key advantages, new staking/unlocking rules, and asset compliance.

With traditional finance—particularly U.S. equities—remaining exceptionally strong this year, demand from crypto investors for high-quality U.S. equity assets has surged. Enabling retail users to participate safely and accessibly in unicorn investments has thus become a focal point.

Below is a summary of the key points discussed during this Space:

(Disclaimer: This article summarizes the content shared during the Space and does not constitute investment advice in any form. Final terms are subject to official announcements.)

Given the notable controversy surrounding Phase I, why is Bitget persisting with IPO Prime?

The core objective is to break down barriers in traditional finance and transform asset privileges into rights accessible to everyone.

Compared to traditional primary and secondary markets, this product directly addresses the following critical pain points:

• Extremely low entry barrier: Traditional Pre-IPO participation typically requires capital verification in the millions of USD, whereas Bitget’s platform enables ordinary users to participate in new listings.
• Significantly reduced costs: Eliminates high management fees and up to 20% carried interest (profit share) charged by traditional investment banks or wealth management channels.
• Superior liquidity: Traditional channels often impose lock-up periods of one to two years—or longer—whereas spot trading offers far better exit liquidity.

What are the core advantages of Bitget’s preOPAI versus competing offerings?

Compared to similar products on the market, this phase’s underlying asset stands out due to its genuine equity backing and superior cost-effectiveness.

Key advantages include:

• Lower valuation pricing: Tokens are priced based on the company’s actual financing valuation (implied value ≈ $898.2 billion), substantially below estimated valuations offered by other platforms ($1.18–1.47 trillion).
• High regulatory compliance: Issued exclusively in partnership with Republic—a U.S. SEC-regulated compliant institution—making this the only tokenized asset across the entire industry backed by real equity in the target company.
• Strong platform backstop: In extreme scenarios—such as the partner’s insolvency—Bitget retains the capacity, through its own financial strength and liquidation procedures, to compensate users with the underlying equity rights.
• Low holding cost: Unlike perpetual contracts—which incur ongoing funding rate friction—spot assets are better suited for medium- to long-term holders.

Why was OpenAI selected as the underlying asset for Phase II?

According to the investment research team’s assessment, OpenAI exhibits exceptional growth potential and top-tier institutional validation.

Key reasons include:

• Explosive business growth: Over the past three years, OpenAI’s valuation has surged hundreds to thousands of times.
• Strong capital and user base: Its prior fundraising rounds were fully subscribed by elite institutions—including SoftBank, Microsoft, and NVIDIA—and its product achieved over 100 million monthly active users within just two months; its current scale has reached the billion-user level.

What is the core purpose of the newly introduced “staking/unlocking mechanism”?

To filter out short-term speculation, align with IPO investment logic, and safeguard the interests of medium- to long-term investors.

Phase I’s post-mortem analysis led to rule refinements:

• Rule details: Subscription period runs from Tuesday, May 12 at 4:00 PM to Friday, May 15 at 4:00 PM. USDT refunds and token distribution will be completed by 8:00 PM Friday. Spot market trading officially begins at 10:00 PM Friday. Unlocking occurs in three tranches over three months (30%, 30%, 40%).
• Correcting investment expectations: U.S. IPOs differ fundamentally from conventional crypto IEOs (which often surge immediately at listing); they are better suited for medium- to long-term portfolio allocation.
• Protecting medium- to long-term investors: Preventing tokens from deviating from their underlying asset’s intrinsic value due to short-term sentiment shocks, a rational unlocking schedule helps guide the market toward a more effective pricing mechanism.
• User segmentation: Traders unwilling to commit to staking can purchase tokens directly on the secondary spot market after listing—reserving subscription opportunities for value-oriented investors.

Summary

From this discussion, several clear takeaways emerge regarding this round of preOPAI subscription:

• Barrier-breaking is a long-term trend: Enabling ordinary crypto users to access early-stage U.S. unicorn investments at extremely low thresholds represents an innovation with tangible problem-solving value.
• Compliance and authenticity are non-negotiable: This round’s underlying asset is backed by real equity—offering significantly higher security than purely synthetic contract quotes or unbacked certificates.
• Rules tilt toward “value investing”: The new staking mechanism clearly signals the platform’s intent to cultivate a user base anchored in medium- to long-term investment—requiring users to manage unrealistic “get-rich-quick” expectations.
• Whether through refined product rules or deep integration with compliant platforms, a clear signal is being sent: Asset models bridging traditional finance and crypto channels are evolving beyond early-stage, ad-hoc experimentation—moving steadily toward formalization and sustainability.