SpaceX IPO Fuels Record Trading Surge on Hyperliquid

SpaceX’s stock-market debut at a valuation of roughly US$1.7 trillion (AU$2.4 trillion), the largest initial public offering on record, set off a record trading surge on Hyperliquid, where the company’s stock-linked perpetual contract drew US$1.4 billion (AU$1.97 billion) in volume in a single day.

The SPCX perpetual’s one-day haul came in at more than 50 times its recent daily average of about US$26 million (AU$36.7 million), and accounted for close to 30% of all transaction volume across Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 markets that day. 

SpaceX priced its IPO at US$135 (AU$190) per share, selling hundreds of millions of Class A shares.

Related: SpaceX IPO Frenzy Draws US$250 Billion in Orders, Igniting Buzz Across Wall Street and Crypto Market 

A Surge Built on Equity Demand

The episode highlights growing appetite for 24/7, equity-linked crypto markets that let traders take positions on high-profile stocks outside traditional exchange hours. 

SPCX and related pre-IPO perpetuals had been live on Hyperliquid since mid-May, with open interest frequently exceeding US$200 million (AU$282 million) and implied valuations swinging between US$1.7 trillion and US$2.5 trillion (AU$2.4 trillion to AU$3.5 trillion) in the weeks ahead of the listing.

That pre-IPO price discovery gave traders a rare venue to express a view on SpaceX before its shares ever reached a conventional exchange, and the volatility in those implied valuations underscored how uncertain the market remained about pricing the world’s most valuable private company. 

The SpaceX frenzy is part of a broader expansion of Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework, which lets builders deploy their own perpetual markets.

Those markets have now accumulated more than US$300 billion (AU$423 billion) in cumulative volume and reached a peak open interest of US$3.2 billion (AU$4.5 billion) by mid-June.

Related: CFTC Signals Green Light for Sports and Election Prediction Markets in Landmark Rule Proposal