Republic To Reportedly Allow Investors To Bet On Elon Musk’s SpaceX With Digital Tokens

The company also plans to expand its tokenization to private companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, which are not listed on the NYSE or the NASDAQ, as per the report.

Investment platform Republic reportedly plans to use blockchain technology to enable investors to access privately held rocket company SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk.

Republic, the Wall Street Journal reported, is starting to sell digital “tokens” this week that mirror the performance of private SpaceX shares.

The company also plans to expand its tokenization to private companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, which are not listed on the NYSE or the NASDAQ.

The report said the SpaceX tokens will initially be priced based on how its shares are trading in secondary markets, where shares of private companies can be exchanged by accredited investors. Republic will let people invest as little as $50 and up to $5,000 in the tokens.

If the privately held company goes public, the platform will owe any increase in price to the token holders, it said. However, token buyers won’t be acknowledged as shareholders in the company.

Republic CEO Kendrick Nguyen said he’s confident in the tokens’ legality, but noted the possibility of regulators taking a different view.

Nguyen said that the tokens are essentially notes that assure token holders will be paid any increase in SpaceX’s common stock price if it goes public or is purchased. The company would not need SpaceX's permission to issue tokens, as they represent securities sold by Republic.

After a year of holding the tokens, Republic says people will be able to trade them on INX, an alternative trading system Republic is in the process of acquiring, the report said.

“We’re talking about delivering products to retail investors that they’ve have been held out of previously,” Republic co-CEO Andrew Durgee told CNBC.

Republic lets investors buy tokenized securities in private assets like sports clubs or films.

SpaceX is among the unicorns with the highest market valuation in the U.S., along with OpenAI. The company provides space launch services and satellite internet to several players and countries worldwide.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SpaceX is trending in the ‘bullish’ territory.

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