#PreIPOsSeason2OpenAISubscription

On July 15, 2026, Gate opened subscriptions for OpenAI (OPENAI) asset certificates in its Pre-IPOs Phase 2, accepting both USDT and GUSD.

Within one hour, cumulative subscriptions exceeded $148 million, pushing the oversubscription rate to 639%.

The total offering was approximately $20 million, issuing 27,700 OPENAI certificates at a price of $722 per unit.

These numbers do not just reflect demand.

They signal how strongly the market craves early access to the biggest AI unicorn before it hits the public exchanges.

Pre-IPOs, in essence, are a mechanism that lets everyday investors step into the valuation window of a high-growth private company before its official listing.

Traditionally, this space belonged to venture capital firms, private equity funds, and ultra-wealthy insiders who secured positions at far lower valuations.

Retail investors were forced to wait until IPO day, often buying at peak prices after early holders had already captured the steepest gains.

Gate's Pre-IPOs change that equation.

The platform issues mirror notes, called asset certificates, that track the pre-listing market value of the target company.

Subscribers gain exposure to value movements before and after the IPO, without needing connections or minimum commitments that traditional private markets demand.

The OPENAI certificates unlock in three phases:

• 25% on July 17

• 35% on August 17

• 40% on September 17

Once unlocked, they enter continuous 24/7 pre-market trading in the Pre-IPOs zone starting July 20, with prices driven entirely by supply and demand.

After OpenAI's eventual IPO and lock-up period concludes, holders can convert their certificates into stock assets, tokenized stocks, or exit at the real-time market price in USDT.

The allocation mechanism uses average hourly locked balance as the distribution basis, meaning earlier participation and longer holding periods yield higher allocation weight.

OpenAI's position in the AI landscape is unprecedented.

ChatGPT has crossed 900 million weekly active users, roughly one in eight people on Earth.

The company generated $13 billion in 2025 revenue, up from $3.7 billion in 2024, and now runs at approximately $2 billion per month.

Enterprise revenue accounts for over 40% of the total and is on track to reach parity with consumer income by the end of 2026.

In March 2026, OpenAI closed a $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion post-money valuation, making it one of the largest private financings in tech history.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are leading the IPO preparation, with a confidential S-1 filed with the SEC on May 22, 2026.

Reports indicate OpenAI is targeting a valuation between $852 billion and $1 trillion, though recent market volatility has led advisers to suggest a potential delay into 2027.

The contradiction at the heart of OpenAI's story is stark.

Revenue growth is extraordinary, scaling four times faster than Alphabet and Meta did at comparable stages.

Yet the company's losses are equally staggering.

Net loss ballooned from $5.09 billion in 2024 to $38.53 billion in 2025, with research and development alone consuming $19.18 billion last year.

OpenAI projects profitability only by 2030.

This tension between explosive growth and deepening deficits is precisely what makes pre-IPO participation so nuanced.

Investors are not buying current earnings.

They are positioning for future market dominance.

The broader AI industry reinforces this narrative.

Morgan Stanley Research found that 21% of S&P 500 companies now cite at least one measurable AI benefit in earnings calls, up from 10% in 2024.

Global corporate AI investment surged to $252 billion in 2024, a 13-fold increase since 2014.

AI-driven sectors show higher productivity gains even as employment growth slows, signaling genuine economic transformation rather than speculative froth.

Yet credit spreads for some AI firms have begun widening, indicating that financial markets are pricing risk alongside optimism.

This macro backdrop matters because OpenAI's eventual valuation will depend not only on its own trajectory but on whether the broader AI investment cycle continues to accelerate or begins to cool.

How does Gate's Pre-IPOs model compare with traditional IPO investing?

In a conventional IPO, retail access is limited to whatever allocation brokers grant, often a small fraction of the total offering.

Lock-up periods restrict early selling.

Post-listing volatility can be extreme, with institutional players dominating order flow.

Pre-IPO certificates sidestep several of these constraints.

They trade 24/7 before the listing, allowing position building and gradual entry.

The phased unlock structure reduces concentration risk.

The conversion mechanism provides a clear exit path linked to real market pricing after the IPO.

On the risk side, the underlying company has no determined listing date, and mirror notes carry no guarantee of price performance.

The certificates do not represent actual equity in OpenAI.

They are derivative instruments reflecting hedging exposure, and the company itself has not authorized, endorsed, or participated in this offering.

Current market sentiment around OpenAI is complex.

The appetite is undeniable, as the $148 million in first-hour subscriptions proves.

Yet investor psychology is layered with caution.

SpaceX's IPO in June 2026 debuted at a $2 trillion valuation but saw its stock tumble shortly after, sending a warning signal about pricing exuberance in mega-IPOs.

OpenAI's advisers have flagged similar concerns, and the possibility of a 2027 delay means certificate holders may wait longer than expected for a conversion event.

The long-term outlook, however, remains structurally bullish.

OpenAI's competitive moat, measured by user base, enterprise deployment, and product breadth, is widening.

The restructured Microsoft partnership, with a non-exclusive IP license extended through 2032, gives OpenAI multi-cloud flexibility that strengthens its platform positioning.

Bank of America extending a $520 million credit line in July 2026 further signals institutional confidence in the company's financial architecture.

Analysis by 2in1:

The real opportunity here is not about chasing a price on day one.

It is about securing a position in the pre-listing value formation process, where the gap between private valuation and public market pricing is widest.

Investors who understand that this gap narrows over time, and that early positioning carries both higher upside and higher uncertainty, are the ones who will navigate this most effectively.

The question every investor should ask themselves is simple.

If you believe AI will reshape the global economy over the next decade, what is the right entry point, and are you prepared to hold through the uncertainty that comes with it?

2 in 1