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Bybit just made its pre-IPO perpetuals shelf a little more crowded. The crypto exchange dropped Unitree and Moonshot AI into its lineup, pushing a product catalog that already clears 200 TradFi instruments into even broader territory.
The two additions land inside Bybit’s pre-IPO perpetual products section — a corner of the platform that lets traders get exposure to private companies before any public listing happens. It’s a pretty specific niche. Pre-IPO perpetuals don’t require you to actually own shares; you’re trading a derivative tied to the company’s implied valuation, which means you can go long or short without waiting for an IPO date that may or may not come. For retail crypto traders who’ve never touched a brokerage account, it’s basically a shortcut into a market that used to be reserved for venture funds and high-net-worth individuals.
Bybit’s broader TradFi shelf now covers equities, ETFs, commodities, indices, and private companies. Over 200 products total. That’s a big number for an exchange that started its life as a pure crypto derivatives platform.
Who Are Unitree and Moonshot AI?
The source didn’t specify detailed backgrounds on either company, so some context is worth laying out from what’s publicly known. Unitree is a Chinese robotics firm known for its quadruped robots — the kind that walk on four legs and have become something of a symbol for where consumer and industrial robotics is heading. The company has attracted significant attention from investors tracking the hardware side of AI deployment. Moonshot AI, meanwhile, is a Chinese AI startup behind the Kimi large language model, a product that’s been competing in the crowded generative AI space across Asia. Both companies are private, and neither has announced a public listing timeline that’s set in stone.
That makes them interesting additions to a pre-IPO perpetuals desk. Traders betting on either company are essentially taking a view on private market valuations — a murky exercise at the best of times, but one that’s growing in popularity as AI-linked names stay private longer than past tech generations did.
Bybit’s Push Beyond Crypto
Bybit’s move into TradFi isn’t new, but it’s been accelerating. The exchange has been stacking traditional financial instruments onto its platform for a while now, and the 200-plus product figure is the clearest sign yet of how seriously it’s taking that push. Crypto exchanges broadly have been chasing this kind of diversification — the logic being that traders who already sit on a crypto platform shouldn’t have to open a separate brokerage account to get exposure to equities or commodities. Keep them in the ecosystem, give them more to trade, and retention probably improves.
And it’s not just Bybit doing it. Across the industry, major exchanges have been layering TradFi products onto their platforms, blurring the line between crypto-native venues and traditional brokerages. Some of that is regulatory arbitrage. Some of it is genuine product demand. Probably both.
For Bybit specifically, the TradFi expansion also serves a branding function. The exchange has faced scrutiny in various jurisdictions over the years, and building out a diversified, institutional-feeling product suite sends a signal — whether to regulators, institutional clients, or retail users — that Bybit is trying to operate like a serious financial firm, not just a crypto casino.
Whether that lands is unclear. Regulatory environments across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East are still shifting fast, and what counts as a compliant pre-IPO derivative product varies a lot depending on where the user sits.
Bybit hasn’t said which markets Unitree and Moonshot AI perpetuals are available in, or what margin requirements look like for those contracts. No details on fees either. The exchange also didn’t disclose what’s coming next to the lineup, though given the pace of additions, more announcements seem likely.
What’s clear is the direction. Bybit wants to be a one-stop platform — crypto, commodities, private company exposure, ETFs, all of it sitting under one login. Adding two AI-adjacent private companies to the pre-IPO shelf fits that playbook cleanly. Traders who want to express a view on the robotics boom or the Chinese LLM race now have a venue to do it without leaving the Bybit interface.
The catalog sits at 200-plus products.
Frequently Asked Questions
What pre-IPO perpetual products did Bybit add?
Bybit added Unitree, a robotics company, and Moonshot AI, an artificial intelligence startup, to its pre-IPO perpetual products lineup.
How many TradFi products does Bybit currently offer?
Bybit’s TradFi catalog now exceeds 200 products, spanning equities, ETFs, commodities, indices, and private companies.
Why It Matters
The addition of Unitree and Moonshot AI to Bybit's pre-IPO perpetuals lineup reflects a growing trend in the crypto space to offer innovative trading products that provide exposure to private companies. This move not only diversifies the trading options available to investors but also highlights the increasing intersection between traditional finance and digital assets, as traders seek opportunities in emerging technologies before they hit the public markets. As more platforms expand their offerings in this niche, it could potentially reshape investor access to private equity and influence market dynamics.
