The SpaceX IPO story is no longer just cocktail-party chatter.
Barron’s and The Wall Street Journal both report that SpaceX has now filed confidential paperwork to go public, with talk of a deal that could raise roughly $75 billion and imply a valuation near $2 trillion. If that happens, it would be one of the biggest IPOs in market history. But investors still cannot buy SpaceX directly today. That is why the real question is not whether the IPO is exciting. It is how to position ahead of it without pretending the stock is already on the screen.
That creates two very different ways to trade this.
The first is the IPO-market route, where investors use funds designed to benefit from strong demand for newly public companies. The second is the private-tech route, where investors use listed vehicles that already hold private names such as SpaceX. One is steadier. One is much hotter. Both are very different from owning the eventual IPO itself.
The Cleaner ETF Route
ETF: First Trust US Equity Opportunities ETF (SYM: FPX)
Broader IPO-market ETF built around the largest, most liquid, and best-performing recently public U.S. companies.
FPX is the cleaner way to trade IPO enthusiasm without turning the whole thesis into one name.
First Trust’s holdings page shows the ETF held 100 stocks as of April 6, 2026. The fund’s expense ratio remains 0.61%. The key point is that FPX is not a direct SpaceX proxy today. It is a diversified basket of strong, relatively recent U.S. public companies, which means it can benefit if a blockbuster deal like SpaceX lifts sentiment across the broader IPO market.
That matters because IPO waves usually do not move in isolation.
When a giant new issue comes to market with strong demand, the excitement often spills into other recently public or IPO-adjacent names. That is the real value of FPX. It gives investors exposure to that ecosystem without forcing them to guess the opening print on one giant deal. The trade-off is obvious: if SpaceX becomes the one name everyone wants and nothing else matters, FPX will not move like a direct holder would. But it is a much more disciplined way to play the setup.
ETF: Renaissance IPO ETF (SYM: IPO)
Pure-play U.S. IPO ETF focused on newly public companies before they age into the broad market.
IPO is the purer expression of the same theme.
Renaissance says it is the only ETF focusing exclusively on the U.S. IPO market. The fund tracks the Renaissance IPO Index, rebalances quarterly as new IPOs are added, and cycles holdings out three years after their IPO. It charges 0.60%. That makes it the more concentrated “fresh paper” basket for investors who want a tighter tie to the IPO pipeline itself.
This is why IPO can be the more sensitive trade if the SpaceX deal lands well.
FPX gives investors a broader recent-issue basket. IPO gives investors the part of the market most directly tied to newly public names. Neither owns SpaceX today. But if the point is to trade IPO momentum, not private-tech valuation premiums, this is one of the cleaner vehicles on the board. The risk is that if the IPO window cools again, the ETF can underperform broader markets because it lives closer to the hype cycle.
The Hotter Private-Tech Route
ETF: Fundrise Innovation Fund (SYM: VCX)
Public venture fund built to give investors access to private technology companies before they go public.
VCX is where the trade gets much more speculative.
Fundrise says the Innovation Fund is now listed on the NYSE under the ticker VCX and is designed to give investors exposure to high-growth private technology businesses. Fundrise’s own materials describe it as a public venture fund focused on private tech, including AI and space exploration. That matters because this is one of the few listed vehicles built specifically for people who want exposure to companies that are still private today.
That is the appeal.
If the market gets even more excited about a SpaceX IPO, a vehicle like VCX can move because investors are no longer just buying the IPO market. They are buying the idea of pre-IPO access. But that also means premium risk, sentiment risk, and a much less stable trading pattern than a normal ETF. This is the hotter version of the trade, not the safer one.
Company/Fund: Destiny Tech100 (SYM: DXYZ)
Listed private-tech portfolio with exposure to late-stage private companies, including SpaceX-linked positions.
DXYZ is the more speculative cousin to VCX.
The original draft is directionally right about one thing: investors are using DXYZ as a way to chase exposure to private “unicorn” names that they otherwise cannot own. That includes SpaceX-linked exposure. The attraction is obvious. If SpaceX prices at a huge valuation and the market starts re-rating private-tech portfolios higher, DXYZ can benefit from the excitement. The problem is that vehicles like this can also detach hard from the value of what they actually own. That means investors are often buying premium plus hype, not just assets.
That does not make DXYZ useless.
It just means it should be treated as a trading vehicle, not a core way to build SpaceX exposure. If investors want the hottest version of the SpaceX setup, DXYZ belongs on the list. If they want the cleanest version, they should stay with FPX or IPO.
Bottom line:
FPX is the broader IPO-market basket.
IPO is the purer newly public stock ETF.
VCX and DXYZ are the hotter private-tech vehicles for investors who want more direct pre-IPO-style exposure.
That is the real setup.
The SpaceX IPO may end up being one of the defining market events of the year. But investors do not need to choose only one way to play it. They just need to decide whether they want steadier IPO-market exposure or higher-risk private-tech exposure before the excitement gets louder.
Up Next: Where Elon is putting $11 billion now
Last year, Elon Musk needed to come up with $11 billion for his satellite company, Starlink...
Now, he could have written a check. He's the richest man alive, of course.
But he didn't turn to dollars.
Instead, he paid in a completely different type of currency. One that I've watched the wealthiest people in America hoard for decades while everyone else chased paychecks and high-yield savings accounts.
And Musk isn't alone...
The biggest oil deal in decades ($59 billion) closed without a dollar changing hands.
Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia all converted nearly $1 trillion out of dollars last year.
And this shift away from dollars is accelerating faster than anything I've seen in my 47-years on Wall Street.
Most Americans have no idea it's even happening, but it could be a disaster for anyone left with cash in the bank.
I've put together a briefing explaining exactly what this other kind of currency is, why the wealthy are rushing into it, and how you could move your money before the window closes.
Found this helpful? Share it with others.
Written by Ian Cooper