Following a slight rebound, selling pressure above SK Hynix has intensified, with over $12 million in short positions suspected to have been placed at the high.

According to a report by the Financial Times, as AI-related stocks have continued to plunge over the past two weeks, Wall Street banks have required some hedge funds to post additional collateral (margin) to maintain their existing leverage levels. Sources said banks including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase have issued margin calls to funds with highly concentrated positions in specific sectors, with some of the requirements automatically triggered by risk control mechanisms activated by market volatility. Data shows the Nasdaq 100 index has fallen as much as 10% from its early-June all-time high, entering a technical correction zone; SanDisk and Intel have dropped 53% and 39% respectively from their year-to-date highs, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has declined roughly 25% cumulatively since the end of June. A prior Goldman Sachs report noted that total leverage among hedge funds in the first five months of this year saw its largest increase since records began in 2016, indicating many funds amplified their positions via borrowing amid the AI rally. Additionally, as of noon local time on Tuesday, long-short strategy hedge funds fell an average of 1.3%, and multi-strategy funds dropped 1.7%, marking one of their largest single-day declines since the 2020 COVID-era market volatility. Still, hedge funds as a whole have posted an average return of over 10% this year. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs disclosed that as of June 30, approximately 16% of its prime brokerage business’s risk exposure was directly linked to AI storage chip stocks.

According to Hyperinsight monitoring, SKHX on Hyperliquid extended its decline today following a 14.7% drop in South Korean stock SK Hynix’s close yesterday. As of press time, SKHX trades at $973.06, down 10.7% in 24 hours. However, no seven-figure liquidations have been recorded on the platform, with only sporadic forced liquidations above $100,000. The sharp decline did not trigger a new round of cascading liquidations. SKHX’s open interest rose 19.7% from 385,500 contracts yesterday to 461,600 contracts currently; at the corresponding mark price, the nominal value of open interest also climbed 9.3% from roughly $411 million to $449 million. Bottom-fishing capital continues to flow into the market. Data shows SKHX currently has 2,677 long accounts and 791 short accounts, with long accounts making up 77% of the total, while both long and short nominal positions stand at approximately $217 million. Calculated, the average position per short account is around $274,000, 3.4 times the average long position of about $81,000. This means there are more long accounts but their positions are generally smaller, while short accounts are fewer in number but have significantly larger individual positions. The funding rate is currently +0.036% per hour. The larger the capital size, the more bearish the position direction. Whales holding over $5 million in total hold $73.37 million in short positions and $39.07 million in long positions, with short positions accounting for roughly 65% and a net short position of around $3.43 million. Conversely, about 90% of positions in small accounts under $10,000 are long orders. Although around 74% of accounts are currently in unrealized losses, these losses are mainly spread across a large number of small long positions, while large positions are more concentrated on the short side.

SK Hynix released its Q2 2026 financial results, reporting operating profit surged 557% year-over-year to 60.5 trillion won, hitting a record high but falling short of the market consensus estimate of 64 trillion won. Revenue came in at 79 trillion won, also missing the projected 84 trillion won. Following the earnings release, the company’s U.S.-listed shares fell more than 9% in after-hours trading. As a core supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to NVIDIA, SK Hynix stated that AI demand remains robust, and projected that the global supply tightness for memory chips could persist beyond 2030. The company has signed multi-year supply agreements with around 10 clients and is advancing the mass production and sample delivery of its HBM4 and HBM4E products. This year’s capital expenditure is projected to reach 40 trillion won, as it continues expanding production capacity for AI-focused memory chips. However, market concerns are mounting over a slowdown in memory chip price gains and a potential resurgence of industry cyclical risks. Investors are closely watching whether the AI investment boom can sustain and if current high profit levels are nearing the peak of the semiconductor cycle. As of press time, SK Hynix’s shares on the South Korean stock market were down 9.61%.

As $SKHX keeps falling, the shorts are winning big. Whale 0xEbE1 is now up more than $10M on the $SKHX short and has also earned $1.23M in funding fees.

DRW Founder and CEO Don Wilson published a post systematically clarifying common market misconceptions about perpetual futures. He noted that perpetual futures are essentially just futures contracts with no expiration date—nothing more. The market’s current perceptions of perpetual contracts, such as high leverage, auto-deleveraging (ADL), 24/7 trading, and continuous margin settlement, are not inherent attributes of the contracts themselves, but product design choices made by crypto trading platforms leveraging digital collateral and real-time margin calculation environments. Wilson explicitly stated he dislikes the ADL mechanism, emphasizing "there is no reason it must be used on perpetual contracts." He added that the true innovative value of perpetual contracts lies in eliminating the need for investors to repeatedly roll over positions, thereby significantly reducing transaction costs, minimizing market impact and rollover slippage, and allowing positions to track the front end of the futures curve more closely. Regarding the ongoing U.S. regulatory debate over whether perpetual contracts should be classified as futures or swaps, Wilson urged regulators to base their determinations on economic substance: "There is no reason to treat them as swaps solely because they have no expiration date. Economically, they are futures." He called for broader adoption of perpetual futures across various markets—including commodities, securities, and crypto assets—as tools for price discovery and risk management, rather than labeling them as crypto-exclusive high-risk gambling products. Current U.S. market interest in bringing perpetual contracts to regulated platforms continues to rise, with parties still debating their legal classification. Wilson’s remarks provide a clear stance from a seasoned market participant in this regulatory debate.

Fed mouthpiece Nick Timiraos notes that ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s July rate decision, markets have seen rare, sharp divisions in policy expectations. Futures markets currently price in roughly a one-third chance of a July interest rate hike. Analysts argue that if the Fed does proceed with a hike, it would more likely reflect personal policy judgment from new Chair Kevin Warsh rather than signals previously sent by Fed officials. If rates are held steady, markets will watch for dissenting votes in favor of a hike to gauge the strength of the hawkish faction within the rate-setting committee. A surprise rate hike, meanwhile, would signal a major shift in the Fed’s policy stance, sending a clear message that Warsh prioritizes rebuilding the central bank’s anti-inflation credibility. The analysis points out that regardless of the meeting’s outcome, Warsh’s post-meeting remarks will be critical to shaping market expectations. Investors will also closely focus on whether further policy adjustments will come at the September meeting, a decision that will still hinge on inflation data in the coming months.