Q: What happened with the Ventuals SpaceX perpetual contracts?

A: In May 2026, the Ventuals pre-IPO SpaceX perpetual contract (SPACEX-USDH) traded on the Hyperliquid platform experienced a flash crash, plunging 45% within a 30-minute window. The price dropped from $2,277 to $1,254 before partially recovering to $2,174.

Q: What was the cause of this price crash?

A: Ventuals identified the cause as incorrect data returned by an offchain data provider used in its oracle pricing system. This erroneous data caused the oracle and mark prices to move sharply, which triggered a cascade of liquidations across hundreds of trader accounts.

Q: What was the financial impact on users?

A: The liquidation cascade wiped out approximately $1.74 million in notional value and resulted in the liquidation of 484 user accounts.

Q: How is Ventuals addressing the issue?

A: Ventuals announced that it would compensate affected users within 48 hours of the event. The platform also stated that it has taken immediate steps to prevent a recurrence on its other pre-IPO markets and is currently evaluating the specific impact on each user to determine appropriate compensation.

Q: What are “pre-IPO perpetuals,” and do they represent actual ownership in a company?

A: These products are crypto-denominated perpetual swaps designed to track the speculative valuation of private companies (like SpaceX, Anthropic, or OpenAI) before they hold an initial public offering (IPO).

Important Note: They do not grant traders any underlying equity, physical stock ownership, or corporate shareholder voting rights in the companies being tracked. They are strictly derivative instruments for speculative trading.

Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes and does not constitute financial advice. Trading derivatives, especially those tracking private company valuations, involves significant risk of total loss.