Cryptocurrency exchanges such as trade XYZ and Gate.com have launched perpetual futures, or “perps,” that track CXMT, the Chinese chipmaker set to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. About $19mn of CXMT perps traded in the past 24 hours, while the company aims to raise nearly $10bn in mainland China’s biggest IPO since 2010.

These perps let foreign investors sidestep Beijing’s quota‑limited Stock Connect and QFII channels, as well as the Star Market’s Rmb500,000 ($74,000) asset requirement. The derivatives are priced on pre‑IPO expectations and converge with the underlying share price once trading begins, providing continuous exposure without expiry. Trade XYZ also introduced a perp for Giga Device Semiconductor with up to 10× leverage, and Chinese retail traders have used similar instruments to access Space X shares.

Industry experts say the products blur crypto and regulated finance. Matthew Fisher of Katana calls them a new asset class with real demand, while Andy Liu of HTX Research warns they resemble leveraged prediction markets more than genuine equity ownership. Singapore’s MAS has already placed the primary venue Hyperliquid on its investor alert list, highlighting regulatory uncertainty.