New Delhi, Nov. 11 -- A week before India's largest-ever initial public offering (IPO) opened for subscription, Jio Platforms already had a market price. It was being set not on the National Stock Exchange or BSE, but on a cryptocurrency exchange registered in Seychelles.

On 14 October, Bitget listed 'JIOUSDT', a perpetual futures contract linked to Jio's expected listing price. It was settled not in rupees but in Tether (USDT), a dollar-pegged stablecoin. The contract traded round the clock and allowed participants to make leveraged bets on Jio's listing price, outside the direct oversight of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). After the IPO, JIOUSDT transitioned into a regular perpetua...