Ventuals, a team building real-world asset perpetuals on Hyperliquid, is shutting down its on-chain pre-IPO markets for OpenAI and Anthropic. The project froze both markets at 24-hour average prices and is returning deposited HYPE tokens to users as the team merges into another ecosystem project.
The move removes two high-profile AI-related markets from Hyperliquid's platform, which had offered speculative trading on private company valuations. The closure affects users who held positions tied to the AI firms' potential public listings, a niche but growing segment in crypto derivatives.
Regulatory scrutiny remains a backdrop for pre-IPO tokenized markets, with the SEC's stance on trading unregistered securities via crypto protocols still unresolved. Ventuals' shutdown sidesteps potential compliance challenges, though it also limits Hyperliquid's offerings in this emerging asset class.
Hyperliquid's native token HYPE saw volatility amid the announcement, though broader market impact was contained given Ventuals' relatively small market share compared to other on-chain derivatives platforms. The protocol's total value locked remained largely unchanged, reflecting ecosystem resilience.
Community sentiment is mixed: some praise Ventuals for orderly wind-down procedures, while others question the viability of pre-IPO markets on DeFi platforms. Competing protocols like Synthetix and dYdX have yet to replicate this specific product vertical.