In a pioneering move for an Indian company, crypto exchange Bitget has introduced pre-IPO perpetual futures contracts for Jio Platforms Ltd, enabling crypto traders to speculate on the telecom and digital services giant's valuation before its official public listing. This novel financial product offers a new mechanism for price discovery ahead of one of India's most anticipated initial public offerings.
The JIOUSDT contract, which was listed by Bitget days before Jio's expected public debut, has been trading around $11.93. This price point suggests an implied valuation of approximately $110 billion for Jio Platforms, a figure slightly exceeding the estimated $107 billion valuation at the top end of its IPO price range. The contract facilitates 24-hour trading, offers leverage of up to 20 times, and settles using Tether's USDT stablecoin.
Data from Bitget indicated a turnover of approximately $1.4 million for the contract within a 24-hour period. This activity underscores a growing trend where perpetual futures markets, traditionally used for crypto speculation, are expanding to encompass real-world assets, including equities and pre-IPO companies. Unlike traditional futures, perpetual futures lack an expiry date, with funding payments helping to align their prices with the underlying market.
Pratik Kala, a portfolio manager at Apollo Crypto, commented on the phenomenon, stating,
"Traders of these pre-IPO perpetual futures appear to be enormously informed and successful in pinning the IPO prices of many international IPOs – indicating more and more sophisticated players are using these platforms to express their views."
Jio Platforms, the digital arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd, is poised for a significant market entry. The trading activity on Bitget suggests that investors are actively leveraging crypto-based perpetual futures to express their outlook on Jio's valuation, signaling a robust appetite for early price speculation.