SpaceX won’t ring the bell on Nasdaq until June 12, but crypto traders have already started betting on it.
On Hyperliquid (HYPE), a synthetic contract by SPCX-USDC has started tracking the rocket maker’s valuation.
Hyperliquid is a decentralized crypto exchange built for perpetual futures, i.e., derivatives that track an asset’s price with no expiry. Its HIP-3 framework lets builders launch custom markets, including synthetic pre-IPO contracts like SpaceX’s.
Trades are on-chain, often without KYC and officially restricted for people in the United States.
Related: Michael Burry drops bombshell on SpaceX, OpenAI IPOs
Betting on a stock that doesn’t exist yet
SpaceX’s IPO is expected to be the biggest in 2026. As per the filing, about 555.6 million shares are being offered at $135 per share at a roughly $1.75 trillion valuation. Goldman Sachs is leading the book. The company also carries 18,712 Bitcoin (BTC).
Private secondary markets have quietly priced SpaceX for years, but SPCX-USDC is the first live, retail-accessible market to put that pre-IPO price discovery on-chain.
The SPCX-USDC contract was launched on May 17 via Trade.xyz and was built at a $150 reference price.
It is a perpetual future, which means it is a derivative with no expiry and is settled in stablecoin USDC by Circle (NYSE: CRCL).
Holders own no shares, have no voting rights, and have no claim on SpaceX. They are simply wagering on the valuation.
But what’s interesting is its price activity on May 18. On that day, the contract opened at $216 and went as high as $230, which is about 70% higher than the IPO offering of $135.
The charts show the bet cooling. At press time, the 24-hour volume is near $29 million and open interest around $67 million, with the price grinding lower as June 12 nears.
However, even at $165, the perp still sits about 22% above SpaceX’s $135 IPO price.
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Cerebras playbook hanging over SpaceX
SpaceX is not the only IPO where Hyperliquid traders are betting higher than the IPO price. Cerebras (NASDAQ: CBRS), the AI chipmaker and a direct challenger to Nvidia, priced its May IPO at $185.
Ahead of Cerebras’ public debut, Hyperliquid traders, including billionaire investor Arthur Hayes, pushed pre-IPO contracts to peak near $320 to $323.
The AI chipmaker, known for its dinner-plate-sized Wafer-Scale Engine, then opened at $350, within about 8% of where the perp was pointing, and far above the $185 IPO price the bankers set.
