Summary
- Perpetual futures tied to SK Hynix on the Hyperliquid exchange plunged about 20% in one minute before quickly rebounding above $1,000.
- The flash crash in the USDC-denominated contract preceded a sharp selloff in South Korea, where SK Hynix shares fell 14% and the Kospi index dropped 11%.
- The episode comes amid thin overnight crypto liquidity and broader weakness in AI-related stocks, including a 5% drop in Nvidia after a report on its potential $250 billion financial backstop for an OpenAI-linked data-center project.
Perpetual futures tied to SK Hynix, a South Korean chipmaker whose American depositary receipts debuted on Nasdaq earlier this month, suffered a flash crash on Hyperliquid shortly before the underlying share price came under pressure in its home market.
Between 23:00 UTC and 23:01 UTC, the price of perpetuals tracking the Seoul-traded stock crashed 20% to $900, according to data from Hyperliquid. The price rebounded to over $1,000 the very next minute and was recently priced at $1,092. The contract is traded and denominated in dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC.
An hour later, the Korean stock market opened on a negative note, led by chipmakers. By the end of the day, SK Hynix shares had dropped by 15% to 1,550,000 won ($1,762). Other losers included Samsung Electronics and carmaker Hyundai Motor. The benchmark Kospi index fell 11%.
Hyperliquid, the leading perpetuals-focused decentralized exchange, has emerged as a hot favorite of traders looking to express their view on traditional assets, especially since the onset of the Iran war in late February. The exchange had not responded to a request for comment by publication time.