Jensen, a Chinese Spy, and a Sunday Night: Nvidia’s Price Was Set by Perps, Not Nasdaq
Nvidia shares were priced on crypto perpetual futures and alternative trading systems after the company announced a probe into CEO Jensen Huang while US markets were closed.
Hyperliquid's NVDA perpetual futures showed a mark price of $178.48, down 4.54% in 24 hours, while Nasdaq was closed. The board probe into CEO Jensen Huang landed when US cash markets were shut, so 24/7 venues set the first price. Nvidia reports earnings on November 17.
Crypto Markets Set Price
Nvidia shares were priced for the first time after the board announced a probe into CEO Jensen Huang on venues that do not depend on the Nasdaq calendar. Crypto perpetual futures, an overnight alternative trading system and retail apps all quoted the stock while the exchange was closed.
London's trading industry is coming home! Hyperliquid's market page for the Nvidia perpetual showed a mark price of $178.48 against an oracle price of $178.37. The contract was down $8.48, or 4.54%, over 24 hours. Volume over the period was about $197.9 million and open interest about $117.5 million. The funding rate was 0.0023%.
Other venues showed smaller falls. Perpetual futures on Hyperliquid and after-hours trading on the Blue Ocean system were around $180.30 a share, Reuters reported. That was about 3.4% below Friday's Nasdaq close of $186.64. Bloomberg reported that the stock was down about 3.7% on Robinhood's platform on Sunday night, New York time.
Board Investigation Details
Nvidia's board announced on November 8 that it is opening an independent investigation after reports that Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. A committee of independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, will oversee it.
The board said it has no reason to believe national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, and that it has confidence in Huang. He remains CEO. In an internal memo published by Nvidia, Huang said he was unfaithful to his wife and would cooperate with the review.
Market Reactions
Rick Maeda, head of markets at Laevitas, told The Block that with US cash markets shut, Nvidia perps on crypto platforms such as Hyperliquid were the only place for price discovery, so the contract "took the first reaction on thinner liquidity."
Dominick John of Zeus Research pointed to deeply negative funding rates, which he said suggest short positioning may be getting crowded. Prediction markets have also opened contracts on Huang's future. Polymarket put a 16% chance on him announcing his resignation or being removed by December 31, 2026, while a Kalshi market priced his departure by January 1, 2028 at 18%.
Crypto Contract Mechanics
The Nvidia market on Hyperliquid is not run by Hyperliquid itself. It is the NVDA-USDC perpetual, listed under the ticker xyz:NVDA, on the trade[XYZ] deployment, which uses Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework for builder-run markets. Hyperliquid's matching engine handles trades, margin and liquidations, while XYZ sets the oracle source, leverage limits and other market parameters.
The contract is cash-settled and margined in USDC, so a trader holds no Nvidia shares. DefiLlama's listing for the market shows a maximum leverage of 20x and Pyth Network as the oracle provider.
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