Bybit expanded its push into synthetic private market trading in August by listing perpetual contracts linked to Unitree Robotics and Moonshot AI.
Summary
- Bybit now offers more than 200 TradFi perpetuals, including Unitree and Moonshot AI pre-IPO contracts.
- UNITREEUSDT and MOONSHOTUSDT are USDT-settled synthetic derivatives with leverage capped at 10 times for traders.
- Unitree priced its Shanghai IPO at 150.80 yuan after retail demand exceeded 8,000 times subscriptions.
- Moonshot AI has not confirmed an IPO timetable and disputed reports of an August filing.
- Bybit says these contracts provide price exposure only and do not confer company share ownership.
The contracts are settled in USDT and give traders price exposure without ownership of either company. Bybit said in an Aug. 14 release that its TradFi perpetual lineup has grown beyond 200 products since launching in April, covering equities, ETFs, commodities, indices and private companies.
The Unitree and Moonshot products offer leverage of up to 10x. Bybit’s documentation says its pre-IPO contracts are synthetic derivatives whose prices are driven by market supply and demand. The exchange warns those prices may not match the eventual IPO share price and says it is not affiliated with the referenced companies.
Unitree moves closer to its Shanghai market debut
Unitree is much further along toward a public listing. Shanghai Stock Exchange data shows the robotics company is offering about 40.45 million shares at 150.80 yuan each, equal to 10% of its post offering share capital. The transaction is expected to raise about 6.10 billion yuan in gross proceeds.
Demand has been strong. Reuters reported that retail demand exceeded the available shares by more than 8,000 times. A separate Aug. 14 report said Unitree was expected to make its STAR Market debut the following week. The public listing will give traders a direct share price against which synthetic UNITREE contracts can be compared.
Moonshot AI’s IPO timetable remains uncertain
Moonshot AI is at an earlier stage. Bybit launched MOONSHOTUSDT on Aug. 7 with maximum leverage of 10x, 24/7 trading and a fixed pre-IPO funding rate of 0.005% every four hours. It currently uses an estimated one billion shares when calculating the contract structure.
Bybit describes Moonshot’s IPO as “anticipated,” but that should not be treated as a confirmed timetable. Reuters reported in July that the company was preparing for a potential Hong Kong listing. Moonshot later disputed reports of an August filing, while the Financial Times reported that the timing remains unclear as the company restructures ahead of a possible debut.
Pre-IPO perpetuals spread across crypto exchanges
Bybit’s rollout follows a broader exchange push into synthetic private company exposure. As crypto.news previously reported, Bybit launched 24/7 leveraged SpaceX exposure in May. Coinbase later expanded pre-IPO perpetuals to private technology companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic.
These instruments differ from tokenized shares because they do not represent ownership in underlying securities. That distinction matters while a company remains private because there is no continuously traded public share price anchoring valuations. Bybit specifically warns that its pre-IPO contract prices may differ from the eventual listing price and that leveraged traders can lose their entire margin.
What happens next for the Bybit contracts
Unitree’s public debut is the nearest test. Bybit says pre-IPO perpetuals can be converted into standard TradFi perpetual contracts after an IPO, with a rebase possible when the actual share structure becomes available. The 150.80 yuan offering price will therefore provide a clearer benchmark for UNITREEUSDT once public trading begins.
Moonshot remains less certain. No final Hong Kong IPO date or public prospectus has been confirmed. Until that changes, MOONSHOTUSDT represents a market estimate of Moonshot’s value rather than ownership in its shares. Bybit also says it may delist or settle a pre-IPO contract if the underlying listing is cancelled or restructured.
