Bybit Launches Pre-IPO Perpetuals Linked to Unitree and…

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has expanded its pre-IPO derivatives lineup with new perpetual contracts linked to Chinese robotics company Unitree and artificial intelligence startup Moonshot AI. The contracts, UNITREEUSDT and MOONSHOTUSDT, are denominated and settled in USDT, allowing traders to take long or short positions without owning shares in either company.

The products operate like crypto perpetual futures, using reference prices, margin and funding payments to create leveraged exposure to changes in perceived private-company valuations. Holders receive no equity, voting rights, dividends or direct legal claim on Unitree or Moonshot.

Bybit said its traditional-finance perpetual lineup has grown to more than 200 products since launching in April, covering stocks, exchange-traded funds, commodities, indices and companies that have not yet completed an IPO. The expansion reflects how crypto exchanges are moving beyond digital assets and using their 24-hour derivatives infrastructure to create markets around assets that retail traders often find difficult to access through conventional brokers.

What traders should know

Unitree is preparing for a listing on Shanghai's technology-focused STAR Market after receiving approval from China's securities regulator in July. The Hangzhou-based company produces four-legged and humanoid robots and has drawn growing investor interest as robotics and AI gain attention across Chinese capital markets. Its IPO could provide an important valuation benchmark for China's emerging humanoid robotics sector.

Moonshot AI offers a less certain pre-IPO story. The Beijing-based startup is known for Kimi, an AI assistant competing in China's generative AI market, and has attracted backing from major domestic technology investors. The company has been linked to preparations for a Hong Kong listing, but the timing and details remain uncertain. Moonshot has disputed some reports concerning its fundraising and IPO plans, leaving traders with fewer verified valuation anchors than are available for Unitree.

Neither contract has a continuously traded public share price, so traders must rely on private funding rounds, secondary transactions, company disclosures, reported valuations and expectations about future IPO pricing. Pre-IPO perpetuals provide early price exposure, not early ownership. Their value depends heavily on limited private-market information, making liquidity, leverage and the reliability of reference prices especially important risks. Leverage increases that risk: a trader using a leveraged perpetual may face liquidation during a temporary price move.

The broader trend points to growing competition among exchanges to offer more than cryptocurrencies. Tokenized stocks and pre-IPO perpetuals address different markets: tokenized equities bring exposure to existing public securities onchain, while pre-IPO contracts create derivative markets around companies whose shares are not yet freely traded. Unitree's eventual IPO will provide a key test of the model, allowing investors to compare its regulated public share price with the valuations implied by earlier perpetual trading. For traders, the important distinction remains unchanged: a pre-IPO perpetual may provide access to a company's expected valuation, but it does not provide ownership of the company itself.