Hyperliquid Traders Price Unitree IPO at 4x Amid Pre-IPO Perps Boom

Crypto derivatives traders are pricing Chinese robotics maker Unitree at nearly four times its initial public offering valuation ahead of its stock market debut, in the latest test of the fast-growing pre-IPO perpetual futures market on Hyperliquid.

Unitree priced its Shanghai STAR Market offering at 150.80 yuan ($22.37) per share, valuing the company at roughly $9 billion. Pre-IPO perpetual contracts trading on Hyperliquid, however, were quoted between $92 and $94 on Friday — equivalent to a valuation of about $38 billion, according to a report from blockchain analytics firm Allium.

How Pre-IPO Perps Work

Pre-IPO perpetuals do not provide ownership in the underlying company, and positions cannot be converted into shares. They enable a synthetic market for speculating on a company's valuation before its shares begin trading, with prices expected to converge toward the public stock price once a reference market opens.

The market has a growing track record: a pre-IPO contract tracking Chinese memory-chip maker CXMT came within 2.5% of its Shanghai opening price in July, and Hyperliquid traders correctly anticipated that SpaceX would debut above its $135 IPO price in June.

Two Hyperliquid markets for Unitree — operated by Trade.xyz and Paragon — have accumulated $9.1 million in open interest and roughly $59 million in turnover. The contracts traded within 1.6% of each other on average when both were active.

Liquidation Risk

The fourfold premium means Unitree could stage a blockbuster debut and still leave leveraged bulls with steep losses. "Unitree can open at twice its IPO price and still liquidate a third of long exposure," Allium analysts warned. An opening around $45 — double the IPO price — would fall far short of the $92–$94 implied by the perpetuals.

Unitree's IPO was reportedly 8,000 times oversubscribed by retail investors, with trading expected to begin between August 17 and August 21. Founded in Hangzhou in 2016, the company reported $253 million in revenue last year, up 335%, with humanoid robot shipments topping 5,500 units.