Kraken slings Jersey Mike’s IPO at retail, with tokenized subs on the side 🥪

Crypto exchange Kraken is opening up retail access to the upcoming Jersey Mike's initial public offering, allowing eligible US customers to request allocations of book-entry shares at the IPO price while users in more than 110 countries can request tokenized shares backed 1:1 by the underlying stock. The global product, JMKEx, holds its backing shares in regulated custody, with allocations determined by the IPO underwriter and not guaranteed. Jersey Mike's expects to price the offering between $21 and $25 per share and list its Class A shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker JMKE.

JMKEx is scheduled to begin trading 24 hours a day, five days a week on Kraken and participating xStocks Alliance platforms once the IPO closes, while the underlying Jersey Mike's shares trade during regular US market hours. Kraken said tokenized shares can be transferred across participating xStocks Alliance platforms, moved onchain and integrated with compatible decentralized finance applications, extending access to public equities beyond traditional brokerage accounts. Jersey Mike's is a US sandwich chain with more than 3,300 locations.

The Jersey Mike's offering follows Kraken's tokenized rollout of SpaceX's public debut in June, when demand quickly outpaced supply and the SpaceX IPO was reportedly more than four times oversubscribed. Several other crypto platforms, including Binance, Bybit, Blockchain.com, Bitget Wallet and MEXC, also launched products tied to the SpaceX offering, and Binance, Bybit, Bitget Wallet and MEXC ultimately canceled their tokenized IPO campaigns and refunded users after they were unable to secure enough underlying SpaceX shares to fulfill customer allocations. Those Nasdaq-traded shares have declined from their $135 IPO price, last trading at roughly $115 on Tuesday.

The SpaceX shortfall has not slowed growth in the broader tokenized equities market. RWA.xyz data shows the sector's distributed value rising from well under $500 million in mid-2025 to about $1.87 billion, including a 29.4% increase over the past 30 days.