The best IPOs were tilted toward those with the right address or bank
For generations, the opening moments of a company's public life have belonged to the few — those with institutional relationships, geographic privilege, and capital enough to matter to underwriters. Payward Services, the infrastructure arm of crypto exchange Kraken, is now attempting to rewrite that arrangement by offering retail investors across more than 110 countries the chance to participate in the pre-IPO of Bending Spoons, an Italian technology holding company preparing to list on the Nasdaq. Through tokenized shares backed 1:1 by real equity, the xStocks Alliance is testing whether blockchain infrastructure can finally collapse the two-tier system that has long separated primary markets from ordinary people. It is, at its core, a wager that access — not just technology — is the next frontier of financial disruption.
- The pre-IPO market has historically been a closed room: institutional investors and the well-connected bought in early, while retail investors worldwide were left to purchase at whatever marked-up price the opening bell delivered.
- Payward Services is now aggregating demand signals from retail investors across 110+ countries, pooling collective interest to negotiate actual share allocations from Bending Spoons' underwriting syndicate — a structural inversion of how IPO access has traditionally worked.
- Each allocated share is tokenized into a blockchain-native asset called BSPx, held 1:1 in regulated custody, and distributed to investors at the moment of public listing — making the asset tradeable, transferable, and even usable in decentralized finance applications.
- This is already the second pre-IPO offering in Payward's pipeline, following a SpaceX offering earlier in June, signaling a deliberate strategy to validate the model with high-profile names before scaling it further.
- Significant friction remains: allocation is not guaranteed, geographic restrictions still apply within the 110-country network, and regulatory complexity across jurisdictions continues to test the limits of what this infrastructure can promise.
For most people outside the United States, an IPO has always been a spectator sport. The best deals — shares purchased at institutional prices before the stock opens to the public — went to those with the right connections, the right bank, or the right address. Everyone else arrived after the markup.
Payward Services, the infrastructure arm of crypto exchange Kraken, announced on June 27 that it is moving to change that. Through its xStocks Alliance — a network spanning more than 110 countries — eligible retail investors can now register interest in buying pre-IPO shares of Bending Spoons, an Italian technology holding company whose portfolio includes WeTransfer, Evernote, Vimeo, and Eventbrite, ahead of its planned Nasdaq listing under the ticker BSP.
The mechanics are novel. Investors indicate how many shares they want within a price range set by Bending Spoons and its underwriters, with funds reserved but not charged until allocations are confirmed. Payward Services aggregates that collective demand and works with the underwriting syndicate to secure an actual block of shares. Those shares are then tokenized into blockchain-native assets called BSPx — each backed 1:1 by a real share held in regulated custody — and distributed to investors at the moment of public listing, where they can be traded, transferred, or deployed in decentralized finance applications.
Mark Greenberg, global head of Payward Services, described the offering as a structural challenge to decades of gatekeeping. Bending Spoons, a Milan-based acquirer of digital businesses with roughly 500 million monthly users across 50+ products, appears to share confidence in the model by participating in it.
This is the second offering in what Payward describes as a growing pipeline — SpaceX was the first, earlier in June — suggesting a deliberate strategy of proving the model with prominent names before scaling. Geographic restrictions still apply, allocation is not guaranteed, and regulatory complexity across jurisdictions remains a live challenge. But the willingness of major companies to test this infrastructure, and Payward's confidence in announcing a forward pipeline, signals that the architecture for a more democratized primary market is beginning to take form.
For most people outside the United States, an initial public offering has always been a spectator sport. The best deals—the ones where you buy at the institutional price before the stock opens to the public—went to people with the right connections, the right bank account, or the right zip code. Everyone else waited for the market to open, then bought at whatever price the institutions had already marked up.
That gatekeeping is what Payward Services, the infrastructure arm of the crypto exchange Kraken, is now trying to dismantle. On June 27, the company announced it would open pre-IPO access to Bending Spoons, an Italian technology holding company whose portfolio includes WeTransfer, Evernote, Vimeo, AOL, and Eventbrite. Eligible customers of Kraken and other partners in the xStocks Alliance—a network spanning more than 110 countries—can now register their interest in buying shares before the company lists on the Nasdaq under the ticker BSP.
The mechanism is straightforward in concept, though novel in execution. Investors indicate how many shares they want to buy within a price range set by Bending Spoons and its underwriters. Their money is reserved but not charged until allocations are finalized. Payward Services then aggregates all the demand signals from its partner platforms and works with the underwriting syndicate to secure an actual allocation of shares. Those shares are tokenized—converted into blockchain-native assets called BSPx, each backed 1:1 by a real share held in custody by a regulated entity. On the day of public listing, the tokens are distributed and can be traded, transferred between wallets, or even used in decentralized finance applications.
Mark Greenberg, the global head of Payward Services, framed the offering as a fundamental shift in how capital markets work. "For decades, the best IPOs were tilted in favor of those with the right address or the right bank," he said. "Pre-IPO Access via xStocks tears that down." The language is deliberate: this is not just a new product, but a challenge to an old system.
Bending Spoons itself is a substantial company. Based in Milan, it acquires digital businesses and optimizes them for profitability. Its portfolio spans more than 50 products used by roughly 500 million people each month. The company's decision to participate in this pre-IPO structure suggests confidence in both the mechanism and the demand it might unlock.
This is the second such offering in what Payward Services describes as a growing pipeline. Earlier in June, the company opened pre-IPO access to SpaceX through the same xStocks infrastructure. The pattern suggests a deliberate strategy: prove the model works with high-profile companies, then scale it. Geographic restrictions do apply—not every country in the 110-country network will have access to every offering—but the ambition is clear.
The traditional IPO process has long favored institutional investors and wealthy individuals who have relationships with underwriters and brokers. Retail investors, especially those outside the United States, have historically been locked out of the primary market entirely. They could only buy once a stock began trading publicly, often at prices significantly higher than what institutions paid. Payward Services' xStocks infrastructure is designed to collapse that two-tier system by making the primary market accessible to anyone with an internet connection and a compatible account.
Whether this actually disrupts the IPO market at scale remains to be seen. Allocation decisions still rest with Bending Spoons and its underwriters—Payward Services cannot guarantee that everyone who indicates interest will receive shares. The company is also still navigating regulatory complexity across multiple jurisdictions. But the fact that a major technology company is willing to test this model, and that Payward Services is confident enough to announce a pipeline of future offerings, suggests the infrastructure for a more democratized capital market is beginning to take shape.
Notable Quotes
For decades, the best IPOs were tilted in favor of those with the right address or the right bank. Pre-IPO Access via xStocks tears that down.— Mark Greenberg, Global Head of Payward Services
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that retail investors can now buy Bending Spoons shares before the IPO? Isn't this just moving the same old game onto blockchain?
The difference is access. Historically, pre-IPO shares went to people with institutional relationships or significant wealth. Most retail investors never got the chance to buy at the offering price. They entered the market after institutions had already taken their allocation and the stock had moved. This opens that primary market to people in 110 countries who would never have had a seat at the table.
But you said allocation decisions still rest with the underwriters. So Payward can't actually guarantee you'll get shares, right?
That's correct. Payward aggregates the demand and works with underwriters to secure an allocation, but the underwriters still decide who gets what. The difference is that now there's a mechanism for retail demand to be visible and aggregated at all. Before, retail investors weren't even in the conversation.
What's the blockchain part actually doing here? Why not just let people buy shares through a regular brokerage?
The tokenization creates portability. A traditional share sits in a brokerage account. A tokenized share can move between wallets, be transferred peer-to-peer, or used as collateral in decentralized finance. It's always-on, not bound to business hours. And it's the same share—backed 1:1 by the underlying stock, held in custody by a regulated entity.
So this is really about infrastructure. Making capital markets work 24/7 and globally, not just during NYSE hours for people with the right bank.
Exactly. The blockchain is the plumbing that makes that possible. The real story is that Payward is using that plumbing to let ordinary people participate in something that was previously reserved for the wealthy and connected.