The hottest robotics company today saw its stock rise 16%, but its on-chain futures contract is trading at a discount.
Futures contracts let you bet on whether a price will rise or fall without actually buying the stock. You put up margin, which can magnify your exposure dozens of times. Go long if you’re betting on a rise; go short if you’re betting on a fall. Traders also pay each other fees, known as funding payments. When everyone is rushing to go long, longs pay shorts at regular intervals. When everyone is rushing to go short, shorts pay longs.
Unitree was quoted at 496 yuan today, giving it a market cap of 200.5 billion yuan. On Hyperliquid, its futures contract was trading 1.19% below the “true reference price.” The contract is on sale. Stock buyers are enthusiastic, but futures traders aren’t chasing it.
The funding payments are going the other way, too. In five consecutive rounds between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. today, shorts paid longs each time. The current rate is 0.137% per hour, which works out to 1,240% a year at this pace. That annualized figure is a scary way to calculate it: broken down, it’s 3.3% a day, deducted from shorts’ margin.
So who got hit? Over the past 12 hours, $1.9284 million in futures positions were liquidated across the market. Shorts accounted for $1.9049 million of that, while longs accounted for just $23,500. Liquidation means the margin has been wiped out and the position forcibly closed. This time, shorts are backing out; longs aren’t piling in.
The biggest on-chain long account is now in a tough spot. It holds a $6.289 million position entered at $89.46, while the current price is $73.50, leaving it down $1.7187 million on paper. The stock is up 16%, but the account still needs a 22% rise to break even.
For the same $10,000 short held for 24 hours, Hyperliquid charges $338, while Binance charges $467—38% more. Choosing a direction is one thing; choosing where to place the trade is another.
Rates can go this crazy because the pool is so small. This contract trades about $12.83 million a day, with open interest around $18.5 million. When the water is shallow, one side’s positions can distort both the price and the funding rate.
A report today said that 36,000 humanoid robots were sold worldwide in the first half of 2026, more than in all of 2025, and the top five companies by revenue were all Chinese. That’s fuel for the stock side. But the futures market’s message is clear: at this price, I’m not chasing it just yet.
The discount isn’t because the company is bad. It’s because, at this level, longs aren’t convinced—for now.
Futures contracts let you bet on whether a price will rise or fall without actually buying the stock. You put up margin, which can magnify your exposure dozens of times. Go long if you’re betting on a rise; go short if you’re betting on a fall. Traders also pay each other fees, known as funding payments. When everyone is rushing to go long, longs pay shorts at regular intervals. When everyone is rushing to go short, shorts pay longs.
Unitree was quoted at 496 yuan today, giving it a market cap of 200.5 billion yuan. On Hyperliquid, its futures contract was trading 1.19% below the “true reference price.” The contract is on sale. Stock buyers are enthusiastic, but futures traders aren’t chasing it.
The funding payments are going the other way, too. In five consecutive rounds between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. today, shorts paid longs each time. The current rate is 0.137% per hour, which works out to 1,240% a year at this pace. That annualized figure is a scary way to calculate it: broken down, it’s 3.3% a day, deducted from shorts’ margin.
So who got hit? Over the past 12 hours, $1.9284 million in futures positions were liquidated across the market. Shorts accounted for $1.9049 million of that, while longs accounted for just $23,500. Liquidation means the margin has been wiped out and the position forcibly closed. This time, shorts are backing out; longs aren’t piling in.
The biggest on-chain long account is now in a tough spot. It holds a $6.289 million position entered at $89.46, while the current price is $73.50, leaving it down $1.7187 million on paper. The stock is up 16%, but the account still needs a 22% rise to break even.
For the same $10,000 short held for 24 hours, Hyperliquid charges $338, while Binance charges $467—38% more. Choosing a direction is one thing; choosing where to place the trade is another.
Rates can go this crazy because the pool is so small. This contract trades about $12.83 million a day, with open interest around $18.5 million. When the water is shallow, one side’s positions can distort both the price and the funding rate.
A report today said that 36,000 humanoid robots were sold worldwide in the first half of 2026, more than in all of 2025, and the top five companies by revenue were all Chinese. That’s fuel for the stock side. But the futures market’s message is clear: at this price, I’m not chasing it just yet.
The discount isn’t because the company is bad. It’s because, at this level, longs aren’t convinced—for now.