Kraken Opens Jersey Mike’s IPO to Retail Investors with Tokenized Shares
Reported by Cointelegraph · AI-assisted summary by ChikoCorp AI News Desk
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Summary
Crypto exchange Kraken is providing retail investors access to the upcoming initial public offering (IPO) of Jersey Mike’s, a US sandwich chain with over 3,300 locations. Eligible US customers can submit interest to receive book-entry shares at the IPO price, expected to be priced between $21 and $25 per share, with Class A shares planned to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker JMKE. Additionally, Kraken users in more than 110 countries can request a tokenized version of Jersey Mike’s shares, called JMKEx, which are backed one-to-one by the underlying stock held in regulated custody.
Once the IPO closes, the tokenized shares will trade around the clock, five days a week, on Kraken and xStocks Alliance platforms, while the underlying Jersey Mike’s shares will trade during regular US market hours. Kraken highlighted that these tokenized shares can be transferred across partner platforms, moved onchain, and integrated with decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, which broadens access to public equities beyond traditional brokerage accounts. However, allocations themselves will be determined by the IPO underwriter and are not guaranteed.
Why it matters
Jersey Mike’s follows SpaceX as the second major company offered through Kraken’s tokenized IPO platform. The SpaceX IPO in June saw demand greatly exceed supply, with reports indicating it was more than four times oversubscribed. As a result, several crypto exchanges including Binance, Bybit, Bitget Wallet, and MEXC had to cancel their tokenized IPO campaigns and refund customers after failing to secure sufficient underlying shares. Since its IPO, SpaceX shares traded on Nasdaq have fallen from $135 to roughly $115.
Despite challenges in the SpaceX rollout, the broader market for tokenized equities continues to grow. Data from RWA.xyz shows that the sector’s distributed value increased from under $500 million in mid-2023 to about $1.87 billion, reflecting a 29.4% growth over the last 30 days. This suggests ongoing investor interest in tokenized public equities, even as platforms refine how they manage allocations and underlying share custody.