Hyperliquid launched the first SPCX-USDC synthetic perpetual contract on May 18, opening at a reference price tied to a roughly $1.78 trillion valuation. Within hours, the synthetic contract surged from $150 to as high as $216 before stabilizing near $203. Binance, OKX, Bitget, and BingX quickly followed with their own SpaceX-linked trading products, showing how crypto platforms are increasingly moving into pre-IPO speculation markets traditionally dominated by Wall Street.

The trend highlights how tokenized finance and synthetic assets are evolving into a major new category inside crypto. Traders are now able to speculate on high-profile companies like SpaceX and OpenAI before traditional investors even gain access through public markets, raising new questions about regulation, synthetic securities, and how financial markets may operate in the future.