Crypto Biz: Tokenization boom accelerates with SpaceX equity offering
Real-world asset tokenization continues upward trajectory amid market turbulence, Kraken introduces SpaceX IPO through xStocks platform, prediction market volumes eclipse blockchain-based gambling, and Sam Bankman-Fried pursues presidential pardon from Trump.
While cryptocurrency valuations have fluctuated throughout the year in response to macroeconomic developments and regulatory ambiguity, the tokenization sector has emerged as one of the few areas demonstrating sustained expansion. Real-world asset activity continues climbing, traditional banking institutions are integrating blockchain technology, and tokenized equity offerings are penetrating additional jurisdictions.
This trend was prominently showcased this week when Kraken introduced tokenized participation in the much-awaited SpaceX IPO, providing qualified participants across more than 110 jurisdictions with an opportunity to invest via xStocks.
In other developments, prediction market platforms exceeded onchain gambling activity for the first time, while Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former chief executive of FTX, officially submitted a pardon application to US President Donald Trump.
Tokenized RWAs keep growing through crypto downturn
The tokenized real-world asset sector continues expanding despite challenging conditions in the broader cryptocurrency marketplace. Data from Binance Research shows that active tokenized RWA markets have experienced a 589% increase since the beginning of 2025, with bonds and money market instruments contributing $6.5 billion in additional value while tokenized equity products soared 422%.
The industry is simultaneously experiencing greater diversification. Services like Ondo Global Markets have driven increased appetite for tokenized stock offerings, while tokenized precious metal products attracted $1.5 billion in capital as market participants pursued safe-haven investments during earlier periods this year.
Concurrently, legacy financial services firms are broadening their blockchain programs, from Apex Group's tokenized fund infrastructure to The Clearing House's forthcoming tokenized deposit system, demonstrating increasing implementation beyond companies native to the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
SpaceX IPO gets tokenized
Digital asset exchange Kraken provided qualified participants across more than 110 jurisdictions with access to the SpaceX IPO via xStocks, enabling market participants to acquire tokenized equity in Elon Musk's space exploration enterprise prior to its official market listing.
Based on information from Kraken, participants who secured an allocation will receive SPCXx, a digital token backed on a 1:1 basis by the corresponding equity instrument and available for trading around the clock on participating exchanges.
Prediction markets surpass onchain gambling
During the first quarter of 2026, prediction market platforms exceeded onchain gambling platforms for the first time, recording $36.6 billion in transaction volume against gambling's $14 billion, based on data from blockchain analytics provider TRM Labs. This achievement follows both industries exceeding $50 billion in yearly volume throughout 2025, highlighting their accelerated expansion.
Cryptocurrency-based gambling, nevertheless, has maintained its strength. Quarterly wagering figures stayed close to all-time peaks despite the wider market correction, with TRM crediting this stability to a dedicated and growing participant base. Although high-stakes players – who wagered an average of $13,558 per transaction and accumulated $378,000 in total lifetime gambling activity – continue representing the majority of betting volume, recreational participants and frequent users are experiencing the most rapid expansion, widening engagement throughout the industry.
Sam Bankman-Fried seeks Trump pardon
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive officer of FTX, has officially filed for a presidential pardon from US President Donald Trump, establishing an additional legal pathway to reverse his criminal conviction related to the cryptocurrency platform's multi-billion-dollar implosion.
The application is visible on the US Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney's registry of outstanding clemency petitions. This clemency effort arrives as Bankman-Fried maintains his appeal of his 2023 fraud conviction and 25-year incarceration sentence following the rejection of a separate motion for a new trial.
Throughout recent months, he has additionally published a sequence of social media communications that seem progressively sympathetic to Trump, notwithstanding the president's earlier statement that he had no intention of pardoning the former cryptocurrency industry leader.
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