SpaceX slide leaves $615M in crypto bets before share unlock

For crypto traders, the SpaceX trade is no longer about IPO momentum. The stock has fallen about 40% from its first-week peak, yet leveraged crypto exposure remains large ahead of a major increase in tradable shares.

SpaceX briefly dropped below its $135 IPO price on Wednesday before closing at $135.27, according to Yahoo Finance. That leaves buyers from the $150 open down about 10%, while traders who entered near the $225.64 high are facing losses of roughly 40%. The decline has also produced an estimated $8.7 billion in paper gains for short sellers, based on Ortex data.

In crypto markets, SpaceX-linked perpetual futures still carried about $615 million in open interest early Thursday, CoinGlass data showed. Daily volume fell to about $1.6 billion from more than $10 billion during the June frenzy, which means activity has cooled far faster than positions have been closed. A tokenized SpaceX product also remains active, with nearly $25 million in assets across more than 7,800 holders and about $313 million in transfer volume over the past month, according to RWA.xyz.

The next test is expected in early August, when SpaceX reports quarterly results. On the second trading day after that release, 911.5 million insider shares could become eligible for sale, worth about $123 billion at Wednesday's close.