Pre-IPOs vs IPO: Which Stage Is More Profitable? Latest Data Revealed as of April 2026

In the capital markets, there is a well-known but still unresolved question: Is it more profitable to invest in a company during the Pre-IPOs (pre-IPO) stage, or is it better to wait until after it officially launches an IPO (initial public offering) to get in?

In traditional thinking, Pre-IPOs are a “VIP channel”—only top-tier venture capital firms, hedge funds, and high-net-worth individuals can participate, while retail investors have to wait until the company is listed and then buy in on the secondary market. But in 2026, all of this is being rewritten. The rise of tokenized Pre-IPOs products enables ordinary investors to get an early foothold in super unicorns with a threshold as low as 100 USDT.

First, look at the data: which of the two stages is more profitable?

On the traditional IPO side, 2026’s performance has been quite impressive. As of April 21, this year’s U.S. IPOs (excluding SPACs and closed-end funds) have seen the weighted average return jump from 4.6% a week earlier to 21%, far exceeding the return of 4.2% for the S&P 500 Index over the same period. The IPO market this month has already completed $5.4 billion in financing, and newly listed companies are once again bringing profit-making effects to investors.

The performance of crypto-related IPOs is also attracting attention. In 2025, a total of 9 crypto and related companies completed IPOs, raising approximately $7.74 billion in total. Among them, stablecoin issuer Circle’s share price surged from its $31 offering price on the first day of trading to $103.75, an increase of more than 200%. In 2026, the IPO pipeline is even more crowded—Kraken, Consensys, and Ledger are all lining up to go public, with valuations ranging from several billion to as high as $20 billion.

Now let’s look at the Pre-IPOs stage. Based on historical data, returns from investing in Pre-IPOs are significantly higher than those from investing after an IPO. One study shows that the average return on Pre-IPOs investments is about 43%, while the return for investors in IPOs and afterward is clearly lower. In the traditional VC track, early investors in Moore Threads even achieved more than 6,200 times their book return.

Pre-IPOs in the crypto space also offer huge arbitrage opportunities. In 2025, crypto IPO fundraising surged 48 times year over year to $14.6 billion, while over 80% of token offering prices during the same period fell below their issue prices. Capital is shifting from highly volatile token offerings toward more certain equity financing, and entering Pre-IPOs means locking in future listing premiums at lower costs.

Tokenized Pre-IPOs are breaking down the walls of the “rich club”

In the past, the entry threshold for Pre-IPOs investing was extremely high: minimum subscription amounts often ran into millions of dollars, users needed to undergo qualified investor verification, and lock-up periods lasted 7 to 10 years. But in April 2026, Gate officially launched a digital Pre-IPOs product. Using blockchain technology to tokenize traditional Pre-IPOs equity, users can participate in subscriptions and trading with a minimum of just 100 USDT—truly breaking down the information gap between institutions and retail investors.

Taking the first project, SpaceX (SPCX), as an example: the subscription price is 590 USDT per SPCX, and the minimum participation threshold is 100 USDT. Within 24 hours, the total subscription amount has already exceeded $353 million. SPCX will begin pre-market trading on April 24, supporting free buying and selling 7×24 hours with no restrictions on any lock-up period. If SpaceX successfully completes its IPO, token holders can exchange SPCX for stock tokens or exchange it for USDT at the market price.

Risks and rewards: don’t just look at the return rate

High returns from Pre-IPOs come with high risks. IPO uncertainty is a key variable—SpaceX has not yet announced the exact IPO listing date, and Pre-IPOs tokens may remain in a pre-IPO state for an extended period before the IPO. In addition, SPCX does not provide actual ownership of SpaceX shares; the price may fluctuate sharply depending on market sentiment, and uncertainty around the IPO timeline or valuation could lead to unexpected outcomes.

By comparison, the risk of investing during the IPO stage is lower, but the upside potential is also relatively limited. In 2025, more than 50% of IPO stocks fell below their offering price within 3 to 6 months after listing. Even for stocks that jumped strongly on the first day of IPO trading, they may still face significant pullbacks afterward.

Summary

Which is more profitable—Pre-IPOs or IPOs? The answer depends on your risk appetite and the size of your capital:

• In terms of return rates, the historical average return for Pre-IPOs (about 43%) is significantly higher than post-IPO investments. Early investors often see returns of dozens of times or even thousands of times—there are many examples in both traditional VC and the crypto space.
• In terms of risk structure, Pre-IPOs face greater uncertainty—listing timing, IPO pricing, and changes in market sentiment can all affect the final gains. While IPO stage investing has lower risk, once the first-day surge passes, there is a higher probability that the stock price will revert to fundamentals.
• In terms of participation thresholds, tokenized Pre-IPOs products are opening up investment opportunities that originally belonged to top institutions to ordinary users. In April 2026, with Gate Pre-IPOs going live for SpaceX (SPCX), retail investors can for the first time position themselves ahead of time in trillion-level unicorns with just a few hundred dollars.

If you pursue high risk and high returns, and are willing to accept uncertainty about the listing timeline, Pre-IPOs are the better choice. If you value liquidity and certainty more, the IPO stage is more reliable. Of course, a smarter strategy is to allocate to both stages: lock in your position at low cost during the Pre-IPOs stage, then, after the IPO, realize gains based on market performance—this is the true “win-all” strategy.