Many platforms pushed tokenisation as a disruptor of the mainstream stock market structure. However, the recent cancellation of the tokenised SpaceX share allocations by four crypto exchanges, Binance, Bybit, Bitget Wallet and MEXC, has shown how thin that disruption can be when the asset behind the token refuses to materialise.

On 12 June, the same day SpaceX began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, all four platforms scrapped their tokenised IPO campaigns and began refunding subscribers. Their explanation was near-identical: xStocks, the tokenised-equity platform they relied on to source the underlying shares, could not deliver.

Bybit told users it had received no allocation because xStocks failed to provide the assets. Binance…