Trader VBVIT builds largest SpaceX short position at $29M

Someone really doesn’t believe the SpaceX hype.

A trader operating under the name VBVIT has amassed a $28.9 million short position against the SPCX token, a crypto instrument that tracks SpaceX stock exposure. According to Arkham Intelligence, the position represents the largest known SpaceX short in the cryptocurrency markets, and it’s already paying off to the tune of roughly $2.5 million in unrealized gains over the past week.

The bet is striking for its timing. SpaceX completed one of the largest IPOs in history just days ago, on June 12-13, and public enthusiasm for the stock has been anything but tepid. VBVIT looked at that enthusiasm and decided to bet against it, hard.

How the position grew

VBVIT didn’t cannonball into a $29M short overnight. The trader started with a position valued at $6.3 million, then doubled it to reach the current $28.9 million total. The average entry price sits at $193 per token.

Arkham Intelligence data from June 12-13, the window around SpaceX’s IPO, showed multiple short positions in the $6 million to $7.9 million range across crypto perpetual markets. Total open interest at that time was $276 million. VBVIT’s position now dwarfs those earlier shorts by a factor of nearly four, making it an outlier by any measure.

The SPCX token trades on platforms like Hyperliquid and PolyMarket, which allow leveraged exposure to assets that don’t natively exist on-chain. These perpetual contracts and prediction markets have become the preferred playground for traders who want fast, high-leverage access to IPO action.

What this means for investors

The size of this short position matters beyond just one trader’s profit and loss statement. A $28.9 million bearish bet sends a signal to the broader market that at least some sophisticated participants think SPCX is overvalued at current levels.

With $276 million in open interest as of mid-June, the market is liquid enough to absorb significant position changes, but concentrated shorts of this magnitude can still create outsized volatility in either direction.

The broader trend here is also worth noting. The SpaceX IPO has become a proving ground for crypto’s ability to provide synthetic exposure to traditional market events. The fact that a single pseudonymous trader can build a $29 million short position on a freshly public company, entirely through on-chain instruments, says something about how far these markets have come.

Traders considering SPCX exposure on either side should be watching Arkham Intelligence for updates on VBVIT’s position sizing.

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