Hyperliquid’s SPACEX-USDH perpetual contract suffered a violent crash on Thursday afternoon, falling from an open of $2,277 to a low of $1,254, a nearly 45% collapse, within a single 30-minute window, before partially recovering to around $2,169. The move liquidated 405 users across 1,393 positions and wiped out $1.51 million in notional value, Hyperliquid data shows.
What makes the episode particularly striking is the volume concentration. Over the past 24 hours, the contract had been running quietly, generating just $4.87 million in total trading volume across an open interest base of less than $2.9 million. Then a candle absorbed what was probably the bulk of that entire figure and the market had no depth or liquidity to absorb it.
The median liquidated position had just $31 in margin, indicating a retail-heavy user base that assumes 3x leverage with minimal cushioning.
Hyperliquid SPACEX-USDH is a perpetual crypto contract for SpaceX’s market valuation. Since the company is private, people cannot buy its shares ahead of the expected IPO. To get around this, Hyperliquid created a synthetic perpetual contract that allows investors to bet on what they think the company will be worth.
Traders do not buy actual shares in Elon Musk’s rocket company, nor do they gain ownership or shareholder rights.
Unlike perpetual futures on Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are anchored to deep, liquid spot markets, the SPACEX contract has no public price benchmark, with SpaceX shares traded only through private secondary markets closed to accredited investors.
At settlement, the mark price of $2,132 was still more than $220 above the oracle price of $1,908, meaning the contract remained at a premium even after the carnage.
SpaceX aims for an IPO in June.
UPDATE (28 May 2026, 17:31 UTC): Adds additional context.
