Hyperliquid's native token HYPE is outperforming the broader crypto market slump as its pre-IPO perpetual futures ecosystem gains momentum ahead of a historic wave of technology listings.
The divergence is tied to Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 marketplace, where traders are betting on pre-IPO shares of SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI, a $120 billion volume opportunity that traditional finance cannot offer.
That parity means retail traders can now access pre-IPO price exposure that was previously available only to institutional investors through secondary venues.
The gap showed that on-chain pre-IPO markets achieved faster, more accurate price discovery than off-chain alternatives.
“For years, retail investors often entered once companies were already public and much of the upside had already played out,” Diego Martin, CEO of Yellow Capital, told Decrypt. “This feels like the beginning of a much bigger shift in who gets to participate.”
What's next: SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI IPOsThe next cohort of test cases is already forming, with multiple popular IPOs lined up for 2026.
A SpaceX pre-IPO perpetual contract, SPCX, is already live on TradeXYZ with a $150 reference price. That pricing implies a valuation of roughly $1.78 trillion. The token is currently trading at $207, down roughly 10% from Monday’s $230 local top.
Market expectations are already pricing in the magnitude of these listings.
Matthew Pinnock, COO of Altura DeFi, told Decrypt the Cerebras market showed how on-chain infrastructure can outpace traditional secondary markets on price formation. “24/7 crypto rails, leveraged positioning, and global participation can create faster consensus formation around late-stage private assets, particularly for sectors like AI where demand is heavily retail-driven and information moves quickly,” he said.
“Instead of being focused purely on digital assets, crypto infrastructure starts becoming a way for people to participate in broader financial opportunities,” Martin said. “That is a story a much larger audience can understand.”
