Hyperliquid’s SPACEX-USDH perpetual contract suffered a violent flash crash on Thursday afternoon, plunging from an open of $2,277 to a low of $1,254 — a near-45% collapse — within a single 30-minute window before partially recovering to around $2,169. The move liquidated 405 users across 1,393 positions, wiping $1.51 million in notional value, according to Hyperliquid data.
What makes the episode particularly striking is the volume concentration. Over the prior 24 hours the contract had drifted quietly, generating just $4.87 million in total trading volume across an open interest base of under $2.9 million. A single candle then absorbed what was likely the bulk of that entire figure, and the market had no depth or liquidity to absorb the shock.
The median liquidated position held just $31 in margin, pointing to a retail-heavy user base taking on 3x leverage with minimal cushion.
The SPACEX-USDH is a synthetic perpetual contract tied to SpaceX’s implied market valuation. Because SpaceX remains a private company, retail investors cannot buy its shares ahead of an anticipated IPO. Hyperliquid created the contract to allow traders to speculate on what the company might be worth — though holders receive no actual shares, ownership, or shareholder rights.
Unlike perpetual futures on Bitcoin or Ethereum, which anchor to deep, liquid spot markets, the SPACEX contract has no public price benchmark. SpaceX shares trade only through private secondary markets restricted to accredited investors. At settlement, the mark price of $2,132 still sat more than $220 above the oracle price of $1,908, meaning the contract remained at a premium even after the crash.
SpaceX is targeting an IPO in June.
Source: Hyperliquid’s SpaceX perpetual contract crashes 45%, liquidating $1.5M in 30 minutes