On June 11, 2026, SpaceX set the price of the largest initial public offering on record at $135 a share. A day later, the stock opened around $150 and finished its first session at $160.95, about 19% above the offer. The listing also made a separate product easier to understand: a perpetual contract that follows the shares without being one.
This article covers the facts of the listing, then explains what the perp actually is and what it is not.
The listing in brief
SpaceX’s legal name is Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and the stock trades under the ticker SPCX. The main terms, as reported by TechCrunch and IPOScoop, were:
- Offer price: $135 a share
- Shares sold: about 555.6 million
- Proceeds: about $75 billion
- Option for underwriters: up to 83.3 million additional shares
- Value at pricing: about $1.77 trillion to $1.8 trillion, depending on the source
- Lead banks: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley
- Listing venues: Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas
Trading began on June 12. WSJ reporting put the company’s value at about $2.1 trillion at the first close. Market value has moved a good deal since. Canborsa lists a $1.9 trillion market cap dated September 2026, while one report put it at about $2.2 trillion on October 9. These are only snapshots.
Who got shares, and on what terms
Retail investors had an unusually large part in this deal. Reports differ on its size: Capital.com cited about 22.5% of the offering, while other sources mention about 30%. The tranche was sold through brokers including Robinhood, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, SoFi and E*TRADE. That allocation window has closed, so new buyers go through the market instead.
Public investors hold Class A stock, with one vote per share. Elon Musk also holds Class B shares carrying ten votes each, which gives him voting control.
The other term worth knowing is the lock-up. The Motley Fool described 15 staggered expirations, beginning soon after the IPO and running to shortly after the Q2 2027 results. The largest, on June 14, 2027, covers about 6.4 billion shares, including Musk’s. KuCoin’s news desk reported up to 1.3 billion shares becoming eligible on October 22, 2026, after third-quarter results. Each release adds potential supply.
What sits behind the ticker
SPCX is more than a launch company. It combines Falcon and Starship launch vehicles, Dragon spacecraft and the Starlink satellite network with a sizable AI business. In August 2026, SpaceX also completed its $60 billion all-stock purchase of Anysphere, the maker of the Cursor coding tool. Reported results reflect that mix. SpaceX reported $7.8 billion of Q2 revenue and a $541 million net loss, according to Tesla North. KuCoin’s report on Q3 put revenue at about $14.58 billion and net income at $4.4 billion.
What the perp is
For a summary of the listing alongside the derivative, see Canborsa’s page on SpaceX stock and IPO details, which shows SPCX-PERP as a live market. The contract’s main features, as listed there, are:
- Type: perpetual future, with no expiry date
- Leverage: up to 20x
- Margin and settlement: USDC, on Canton Network
- Fees: 0.055% per side, 0.11% round trip
- Minimum: from $1
- Sign-up: email, X or a wallet
- Hours: 24/7
The market page describes the contract as tracking the Nasdaq stock, while the company page uses older wording about secondary-market pricing. Neither page names the price source, so it is worth asking how the reference price is built, especially when Nasdaq is closed.
A perp has no expiry, so it needs another way to stay close to its reference. That mechanism is funding: a periodic payment between longs and shorts, charged hourly on this market. When the contract trades above its reference, longs generally pay shorts, and the reverse applies when it trades below.
What the perp is not
A position in SPCX-PERP gives price exposure and no ownership. It carries no vote, no claim on SpaceX’s assets, and nothing to transfer to a brokerage account. If you want SpaceX as a long-term holding, the listed stock is the instrument that gives you that.
The perp does offer things a cash purchase can’t: a simple way to go short, small minimums, and trading outside US market hours. These come with costs, including fees, funding and the possibility of liquidation.
An illustrative position
The following numbers are hypothetical and not a forecast. Suppose a trader posts $1,000 of margin at 5x, for $5,000 of notional exposure.
- Fees: $2.75 to open and $2.75 to close, or $5.50 in total.
- An 8% move in the trader’s favor: a $400 gain before costs.
- An 8% move against: a $400 loss before costs.
- A 20% adverse move: roughly equal to the whole $1,000 margin, and liquidation would come earlier once maintenance margin applies.
- Funding: at an assumed 0.01% an hour, holding for 72 hours would cost $36 if the trader were paying throughout. Actual rates vary and can reverse.
At the maximum 20x, the same $1,000 would control $20,000, and a 5% adverse move would erase the margin.
Where it can legally be used
SPCX shares are available through brokers that offer Nasdaq stocks, though some US brokers don’t accept non-US residents. Access to the perp is narrower. Canborsa’s terms exclude people and entities resident, located or incorporated in the United States, as well as those in sanctioned territories and citizens of those territories wherever they are. Bypassing the block with a VPN is prohibited.
Other restrictions depend on where you live. ESMA said in February 2026 that perpetuals meeting the CFD definition likely come under national CFD rules in the EU, including leverage limits and negative balance protection. The FCA banned retail sales of crypto-asset derivatives in the UK from January 2021. Canborsa’s terms also say features may be unavailable where perpetual futures trading is prohibited, and they make users responsible for checking the law where they are. A local adviser can confirm how the rules apply to you.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Leveraged derivatives and private-market investments carry a high risk of loss.
