SpaceX Perpetual Futures Short Squeeze Briefly Lifts Implied Value to $3 Trillion

A short squeeze in the perpetual futures market tied to SpaceX shares briefly pushed the company’s implied valuation to $3 trillion based on derivative pricing.

Bloomberg reported on June 16 that SpaceX perpetual futures surged in blockchain-based markets after the US stock market closed on June 15. At one point, the implied valuation reached $3 trillion, topping the market values of Amazon and Microsoft.

Perpetual futures are derivatives with no expiration date that allow 24-hour directional trading on an underlying asset’s price. After SpaceX shares jumped 43% over two days following their Nasdaq debut, demand for bets on further gains spilled into crypto exchanges after regular trading ended.

At the same time, traders betting on a decline in SpaceX through perpetual futures were forced out of short positions in large numbers. Bloomberg said more than $50 million of bearish bets were liquidated over 24 hours, adding to the upward pressure on prices.

SpaceX shares closed at $192.50 on June 15, valuing the company at about $2.5 trillion at the time. After the US market closed, however, SpaceX perpetual futures on Hyperliquid climbed to nearly $230 within six hours. The contract later converged toward SpaceX’s premarket price of around $212 as of 6 a.m. New York time.

Luca Palamento, a portfolio manager at D2 Finance, said long positions dominated during the regular session, meaning bullish traders were paying funding to short sellers. After the close, that dynamic reversed. “After the market closed, the pressure was on short positions to pay to keep their shorts on,” Palamento said.

Pratik Kala, a portfolio manager at digital-asset hedge fund Apollo Crypto, said traders appeared to have built large short exposure in the perpetual futures market after SpaceX rose 20% in the previous US regular session, anticipating a pullback. But as the rally continued, short holders had to buy back contracts to limit losses, triggering a short squeeze and adding further upward pressure.

Across exchanges including Hyperliquid and Binance, about $5 billion of SpaceX perpetual futures contracts traded over 24 hours. Bloomberg said the jump highlighted the growth of crypto-linked equity derivatives tied to newly listed stocks.

Crypto-based stock perpetual futures let traders bet on share-price direction even when traditional equity markets are closed. But thin liquidity and high funding costs can cause prices to diverge sharply from the underlying stock, increasing volatility risk.

Meanwhile, SpaceX said it had exercised the over-allotment option in its initial public offering. That allows underwriters to sell an additional 83.3 million shares, increasing total proceeds to $86.2 billion.

Options on SpaceX shares are scheduled to begin trading on June 16 on Cboe and Nasdaq. Options exchanges owned by the New York Stock Exchange and Miami International Holdings are also expected to list related contracts early next week.