WLD plunged over 20% to $0.4319, dropping its market cap to $2.247 billion, driven by the volatile synthetic pre-IPO trading surrounding the upcoming $1.75 trillion SpaceX public debut. BitMEX co-founder and Maelstrom CIO Arthur Hayes abruptly liquidated his entire WLD position, abandoning his AI proxy trade less than 24 hours after publicly stating he would continue holding the token.
Hayes pointed to the plunging chart of SpaceX synthetic pre-IPO shares on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid as the primary reason for his exit. The sudden sell-off erases the token’s recent momentum and highlights the severe volatility hitting retail proxy assets ahead of the aerospace company’s June 12 Nasdaq listing.
The reversal marks a sharp shift in sentiment from earlier in the week. Hayes published an analysis just days prior setting a $10 bull market target for the token, an endorsement that briefly drove WLD to a four-month high of $0.53 before the crash. That peak was entirely erased by the latest liquidations.
WLD was not the only casualty in his portfolio restructuring. The Maelstrom CIO initiated a broader exit from the sector, executing a complete portfolio liquidation of his WLD holdings alongside his recent exits from ZEC, NEAR, and HYPE positions.
How the SpaceX Arbitrage Window is Breaking Crypto AI Proxies
Hayes had previously positioned WLD as a retail liquidity proxy for AI-themed trades, explicitly tethering its momentum to the significant market anticipation surrounding SpaceX and xAI. Because retail investors cannot directly purchase private pre-IPO shares, synthetic perpetual futures contracts like SPCX-USDC emerged as the primary speculative vehicle.
The structural mechanics of that synthetic market are now directly impacting alternative tokens. Arbitrageurs are actively shorting the expensive synthetic shares to prepare for Nasdaq price convergence, creating a volatile SpaceX pricing race on Hyperliquid that also carries severe regulatory risks for these proxy assets. As the synthetic shares absorb heavy short pressure ahead of the June 12 IPO, the speculative premium is bleeding out of secondary AI proxy tokens, triggering high-profile exits.