Nvidia perps crash 7% as CEO Jensen Huang reportedly faces the axe

Nvidia perps crash 7% as CEO Jensen Huang reportedly faces the axe

Nvidia-linked perpetual futures on Hyperliquid fell nearly 7% amid reports that the company’s board was preparing to remove its chief executive, Jensen Huang.

Nvidia perps are the largest by open interest among Hyperliquid’s tradfi-linked derivatives.

They are also the fourth-largest overall, lagging bitcoin, ether and HYPE futures.

Crypto traders are reacting negatively to reports thatAI bellwether Nvidia NVDA$165.20 is prepping to remove CEO Jensen Huang amid the controversy surrounding his affair with a suspected Chinese spy.

Perpetual futures tied to NVDA, trading on the leading decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, are down nearly 12% to $160.99 as of this writing. Perps listed on major centralized exchanges, including Binance, OKX, and Bybit, have posted similar losses.

The actual Nasdaq-listed stock closed at $173 on Wednesday and dropped further by over 7% in after-market trading.

The frenzy is evident in the cumulative trading volume in perpetual futures listed across all exchanges, which has surged to a record high of over $4 billion, according to data source Coinglass. Binance alone accounts for 44% of that tally.

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Hyperliquid, in particular, has emerged as the preferred venue for traders seeking exposure to traditional assets this year. It began with the Iran war, which started in early March. As war-related news broke over the weekend and traditional markets remained closed, investors rushed to the decentralized platform to express their views on oil, gold, and equity indices.

Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, traded slightly weaker at around #73,650, well within the range seen over the past 48 hours. The cryptocurrency has occasionally shown a strong positive correlation with NVDA. Meanwhile, Nasdaq futures were down 0.75%, signaling a partial reversal of Wednesday's near 2% gain.

Nvidia turmoil

The panic began after, on Nov. 8, Huang admitted to having an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman whom U.S. intelligence officials reportedly believed was acting on behalf of Beijing.

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The company immediately opened an investigation, appointing outside counsel led by former acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim, but said it had “no reason to believe” U.S. national security or company secrets had been compromised.

The situation escalated late Wednesday after a New York Times report alleged a second extramarital relationship, this time with an Nvidia executive. The Wall Street Journal subsequently reported that Nvidia’s board was preparing to oust Huang and could meet as early as Wednesday to determine his future.

Huang, who co-founded Nvidia more than three decades ago and has led it since, has not been formally removed, according to the latest reports. Under Nvidia’s bylaws, directors can remove him with or without cause by majority vote, but the company has not announced a final decision.

Nvidia$165.20 -4.91%

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Diversified RWA stablecoins sustain 5-7% yield from real credit as crypto funding compresses to ~4%. GENIUS pushes yield off-chain; TAM grows to $4B in 3 years.

Diversified RWA stablecoins sustain 5-7% yield from real credit as crypto funding compresses to ~4%. GENIUS pushes yield off-chain; TAM grows to $4B in 3 years.

#### Nvidia CEO Huang quits company he co-founded, led for 3 decades. Shares slump #### Bitcoin dips with Nvidia as ETF outflows reach day five #### Canaan may sell more bitcoin for stock buybacks as mining-rig revenue falls 96%

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