Nvidia Perpetuals Drop 10% on Hyperliquid as Board Weighs Ousting Huang

Nvidia perpetual futures fell 10% on Hyperliquid early on November 12, according to The Block, after reports that the chipmaker's board was preparing to remove CEO Jensen Huang. The reports broke after the regular US stock session had closed, making crypto venues the first market where investors could react.

The move reversed the tone of Wednesday's trading. Nvidia shares had finished the regular session up nearly 3%. After the board reports surfaced, the stock fell more than 7% in after-hours trading, and Nvidia-linked contracts on Binance, OKX and Bybit also declined.

The episode shows how tokenized equity exposure has become an after-hours price-discovery venue. Crypto exchanges let traders position themselves before Nasdaq reopened, and they used that window aggressively.

How much volume did Nvidia perpetuals handle?

Aggregate Nvidia perpetual-futures volume across exchanges reached a record above $4 billion, according to Coinglass figures cited by CoinDesk. Binance accounted for 44% of that activity.

Binance Research put 24-hour volume for its NVDAUSDT contract at $2 billion, with roughly half of that turnover occurring after the US cash close. That flow turned a corporate-governance question into an immediate trading event across several exchanges, as participants repositioned before the next regular Nasdaq session.

For context, $4 billion in a single day of trading on one company's perpetual contracts puts a governance story in the same turnover bracket as major crypto-native events, not ordinary equity news.

What does the investigation actually involve?

The board reports followed Huang's acknowledgment on November 8, 2026 of an extramarital relationship, for which he apologized to employees by email, and Nvidia's appointment of outside counsel to investigate. A late-Wednesday New York Times story alleged a second relationship with a company executive. The Wall Street Journal then described preparations to remove him.

Former acting US Attorney Joon Kim is leading the outside legal team. Nvidia's board has also engaged an outside firm to identify potential replacements and is considering an interim CEO, according to CryptoPotato. Nvidia's bylaws allow directors to remove the CEO by majority vote, with or without cause.

Nvidia said it had "no reason to believe" that US national security or company secrets had been compromised.

What does a Huang exit change for holders?

The Kobeissi Letter opposed removing Huang, arguing there was "no clear replacement" and that his departure would hurt Nvidia and its shareholders. The commentary account urged a thorough investigation and consultation with shareholders, with particular emphasis on shareholder input before any leadership decision.

Huang co-founded Nvidia and has led it for more than three decades. Succession has therefore become a risk in its own right as directors examine his conduct: keeping Huang would leave the investigation in focus, while replacing him would put the successor and transition terms under scrutiny.

For traders holding NVDA exposure overnight, the practical question was whether the board would replace the executive who built the company, and the answer now sits with the directors. An official board decision is the next milestone, followed by any announcement of an interim or permanent successor. Nvidia's price when regular Nasdaq trading resumes will offer the next signal.