Republic, a global marketplace for private securities, has launched a new “mirror program” that aims to mint tokens which mirror shares in private firms. The first offering is for a tokenized asset that matches SpaceX, labeled rSpaceX.
SpaceX is Elon Musk’s successful private space venture, which handles approximately 84% of the US’s space launches. The Falcon rocket has emerged as a reliable and cost-effective platform for space projects dominating the sector. Republic notes that SpaceX is currently the most valuable private company on the planet, with a valuation of around $350 billion.
The offering page on Republic indicates that reservations are currently being accepted at a minimum of $50 and a maximum of $ 5,000. Republic is targeting a price per share range of $225-$275. Investors can participate in the offering either by Apple Pay or USDC (a dollar-based stablecoin). The tokens are expected to be tradable on a secondary marketplace after a lockup period. The tokens will be minted on the Solana blockchain.
As SpaceX is a private firm, Republic is using data from prior funding and secondary trading on private securities marketplaces. As public markets have declined due to excessive regulation and associated costs, private markets have boomed. While private markets are hot, offering the opportunity for certain investors to participate in early-stage growth firms, this has largely cut out the retail market as regulators have deemed them as not having sufficient funds to “take a hit” if things go wrong. Republic is poised to provide a path for smaller investors by using Reg CF (Regulation Crowdfunding) as the exemption to issue these tokens to investors. The Reg CF exemption allows both accredited and non-accredited investors to participate in a securities offering. As Reg CF is a notice filing, offering documents filed with the SEC do not need to be qualified.
What about an Exit?
As with any investment, you will want a liquidity path. Along with secondary trades, a liquidity event such as a public offering or acquisition will provide a payout with the tokens matching the share price of SpaceX.
This rSpaceX offering should generate significant interest. The funding cap of Reg CF is $5 million but Republic could also pair the token sale with a Reg D offering. It is not yet clear as to the amount of SpaceX shares it will “mirror.”
Perhaps even more interesting is the new business line that Republic is pursuing as it opens up a far larger universe of securities offerings, including popular startups, without having to solicit and approve issuers to use the Republic platform to raise growth capital.
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