Crypto traders value Jio Platforms at about $110 billion ahead of listing

Crypto traders are valuing Jio Platforms at about $110 billion as the company's three-day IPO subscription period begins. The offering is India's largest IPO. Bitget's JIOUSDT perpetual contract traded near $12 on Thursday. Jio Platforms capped IPO bids at 1,119 rupees ($11.79) per share. Jio Platforms is expected to have about 9.21 billion outstanding shares after the offering, implying a maximum valuation of around 10.3 trillion rupees ($106 billion).

Jio Platforms operates the telecom and digital businesses of Reliance Industries, one of India's largest conglomerates. The Jio network launched in 2016 and became the largest mobile operator by subscriber count a decade later. The IPO aims to raise about 302 billion rupees. The offering exceeds Hyundai Motor India's 279 billion-rupee IPO in 2024.

Bitget introduced the contract on October 14. The contract has traded from $11.48 to $12.24 since launch. Trading volume during that period totals about 369,000 JIO, equivalent to roughly $4.4 million. The trading provides a live valuation before the stock lists.

Other companies have attracted trading on crypto platforms before their IPOs. SpaceX (SPCX) and Cerebras (CBRS) perpetual contracts traded before their stock market debuts on TradeXYZ, a platform operating on the Hyperliquid network. Such contracts are moving some price discovery for major IPOs onto crypto platforms before stock trading begins. However, pre-IPO contract prices do not always match official IPO valuations. Synthetic SpaceX perpetual futures on Hyperliquid and Binance traded around $162 to $165, implying a $2.2 trillion valuation. SpaceX's official IPO valuation was almost 20% lower, at $1.8 trillion.

A pre-IPO perpetual contract has no expiration date and provides price exposure to a company before the company's stock lists. Contract holders receive no shares, voting rights or dividends. Traders use USDT, a dollar-linked stablecoin, as collateral for leveraged positions. Bitget says publicly available information, including announced IPO price ranges or final offering prices, forms the basis of the contract.

Bitget says the contract will become a standard perpetual contract after the shares begin trading. A delay, repricing or cancellation of the IPO could cause sharp changes in the contract's price.