On July 2, 2026, the AI and semiconductor sectors in the US stock market experienced a "TOP 1" level pullback in just one day. Meanwhile, within the same emotional fluctuation cycle, on-chain tokens and contracts surrounding the AI narrative demonstrated another extreme: NFP was pushed up from $0.004412 to $0.04391 within approximately 13 hours, an increase of about 895%. It then rapidly plummeted to about $0.00773 in about 6 hours, a decline of approximately 82.36%. The open interest in contracts shrank by about 90% from a short-term peak, and the 24-hour trading volume surged to the top of the platform rankings, becoming a sample of leverage cleansing amid intertwined fear and frenzy. On the same timeline, in SKHX, an AI-related asset on Hyperliquid, the largest long position address 0x9dc passively closed approximately $35.16 million in long positions "last night and this morning," incurring a loss of about $4.42 million. The on-chain version of "AI leader pullback + heavy account liquidation" was documented more directly on the funding curve than on the US stock market. In stark contrast to these bloody localized bubble liquidations is Goldman Sachs' head of US equity strategy, Ben Snider's public stance: he emphasized that the current market remains a profit-driven bull market, claiming that talks of an AI bubble are premature and redirecting attention to the AI and power sectors supported by cash flow and infrastructure. Beneath a complex narrative of traditional market valuation assassinations, violent price swings of on-chain AI tokens, and institutional rhetoric continuing to uphold "structural AI bull market," we are not witnessing a simple trend reversal but a transitional phase where structural AI main lines coexist with localized speculative bubbles, forcing funds holding AI stocks, leveraged funds chasing NFP and SKHX, and defensive funds allocating BTC and ETH to recalibrate risk preferences and liquidity paths.

AI Stocks Day's "TOP 1" Pullback and Risk Cooling

On July 2, the US stock AI and semiconductor sectors recorded a "TOP 1" level drop in one day. This was not an ordinary green bar, but a sudden pull on the pricing valve of the entire market regarding "how much is AI really worth?". Prior debates surrounding whether a bubble existed had remained at the rhetorical level, but the day's trading offered a more direct answer: before profit expectations are overturned, valuations can be reassessed. What has changed on a macro level is the risk budget surrounding the AI theme – the same growth story can only bear smaller positions, shorter holding periods, and stricter risk controls at a new level of volatility. This signal of "valuation assassination" will not remain solely on US stock trading screens; it is understood in the global asset pricing system as: the AI story still exists, but the premium one is willing to pay for it is declining.

The on-chain feedback to this change is reflected in more direct leveraged unwinding. SKHX, associated with AI chips and storage, which is highly leveraged on Hyperliquid, staged a textbook "long liquidation" during the same volatility cycle: the largest long position address 0x9dc passively closed approximately $35.16 million in long positions "last night and this morning," incurring a loss of about $4.42 million. For 0x9dc, this was a failed trade; for the entire thematic sector, it was a live demonstration of shrinking risk appetite. The forced liquidation of high-leverage longs suggests that the "offensive funds" that had previously added positions in both the stock market and on-chain AI are beginning to peel away chips, and the willingness to add margin and increase positions for related themes is naturally cooling. When the dramatic adjustment of the US stock AI sector overlaps with the forced deleveraging of on-chain assets like SKHX, funds will instinctively tighten their exposure to all high beta assets: on-chain AI narrative tokens become harder to secure chasing capital, nominal risk exposure in futures and perpetual contracts is reduced, while assets like BTC and ETH, which have more mature liquidity and narratives, gain relative advantage under the new risk budget.

NFP's One-Day Surge and Collapse Before Delisting

If the AI sector in the US stock market and SKHX are being "collectively under-allocated" by the market, then NFP is actively putting on a "last dance" under the expectation of delisting. In front of the institutional window, which clearly states it will be delisted on July 10, NFP surged from $0.004412 to $0.04391 in about 13 hours, an increase of about 895%, and then dropped sharply from its high to $0.00773 in about 6 hours, a decline of about 82.36%. The price curve is almost a textbook "rocket launch + free fall," and the open interest in contracts shrank by about 90% from a short-term peak. The 24-hour trading volume surged onto the platform leaderboard, and on-chain analysis showed large-scale liquidations occurring in both long and short directions, indicating that this was not a unilateral short squeeze but rather an extensive liquidation of all high-leverage chips in extreme volatility. The delisting expectation locked the time window, and the price spike attracted the last batch of "daredevils," followed by a crash that concentratedly cleared these funds and the previously accumulated leverage, resembling a liquidity squeeze experiment with an institutional endpoint.

This one-day event has a significant demonstrative effect on the risk structure of on-chain AI narrative tokens and the entire contract market. First, it tells participants: when regulatory or platform rules provide a clear "endpoint" for a specific asset, the story can be pushed to the extreme, but the outcome is often a loss for both long and short, with the only winner being the cash position that retreats early, which directly lowers the market's willingness to leverage long-tail AI themes. Secondly, the cliff-like contraction of NFP's open interest pushed many actively or passively participating leveraged funds "out of the pool." This experience will conversely reinforce the attraction of mainstream contracts and BTC, ETH — not because they are more exciting, but because they do not have a delisting time bomb, deeper liquidity, becoming essential tools that are still held during a tightening risk budget. The extreme trajectory left by NFP on-chain is not just a replay of market dynamics but a clear signal: no matter how hot the narrative is, if the trading structure has a timed end and liquidity is highly concentrated, the endpoint for high-leverage funds will not be a wealth myth, but a forced exit imposed by the market.

Goldman Sachs Asserts AI Bull Market is Still Profit-Driven

At the intersection of dual liquidations in the stock market and on-chain, Goldman Sachs' head of US equity strategy, Ben Snider, chose to steer the story back to the "profits" main line. He publicly emphasized that the current AI market looks more like a bull market driven by corporate profit improvements and application implementations, deeming "the AI trading bubble hypothesis premature," attempting to use fundamental narrative to cover up the shock of the "TOP 1" level pullback in AI and semiconductor sectors on July 2. Concurrently, Goldman Sachs intentionally named the two main lines of AI infrastructure and power infrastructure, redirecting funds from purely emotional bets on AI concept stocks back to "hard assets" supported by real production capacity, real electricity consumption, and real orders, providing a rationale for funds still betting on AI to remain in the market.

This Wall Street-style optimistic narrative sharply contrasts with the reality of the past wave of violent price fluctuations of on-chain AI tokens: traditional markets passively acknowledge valuations were too rapid, needing to calm with "profit-driven" rhetoric; on-chain, the trajectory of NFP's 895% surge in 13 hours, followed by an 82.36% drop in 6 hours, and a 90% shrinking of open interest in a short time, demonstrated the fragility of purely narrative leverage. For crypto investors, the outcome of divergence is that position and theme choices begin to stratify: some will follow Goldman’s logic and see AI as a long-term structural main line, but on-chain, they prefer assets with clear cash flow distribution and mapping of computing or power resources; others will, after witnessing the "TOP 1" level decline of AI stocks and large long positions being passively liquidated in SKHX, choose to shrink their risk budgets back to tools like BTC and ETH that have higher liquidity and fewer regulatory or delisting variables, making a more rational reassessment of risk preferences between the "profit-driven AI bull market" and the "on-chain narrative ferris wheel."

BTC and ETH Positions under AI Risk Volatility

After the US stock AI and semiconductor sectors recorded a "TOP 1" level pullback, the on-chain NFP's short-lived surge and drop, and the massive long liquidation of SKHX, the entire risk asset portfolio saw AI narrative being instantaneously pushed back from "core offensive position" to "high beta flanks," with funds beginning to redraw defensive and offensive lines. The AI theme in both traditional and crypto markets is essentially high growth and high uncertainty risk assets. Once such sectors experience extreme market dynamics in the same volatility cycle, risk appetite can magnify into a "sharp contraction": some funds no longer wish to be on the leveraged end of NFP, which has delisting expectations and a 90% reduction in open interest within a short time, nor do they wish to remain in edge assets like SKHX that require high leverage to magnify returns; instead, they pull back positions to mainstream chips like BTC and ETH that have large volumes, deep liquidity, and narratives not reliant on a single regulatory or delisting event, marking them again as relative safe havens amid this round of AI fluctuations.

This positional adjustment is not the first occurrence. Historically, whenever thematic stocks or concept coins, high beta sectors undergo severe volatility, there has always been some funds flowing back to core assets with greater liquidity and scale during risk contraction phases, lowering leverage before discussing where to place bets in the next round of storytelling. Currently, NFP and SKHX represent the leveraged end cleansing of the AI narrative: one completed a "double explosion" of price and contract volume driven by delisting expectations, and the other was forced to close long positions worth tens of millions of dollars "last night and this morning," providing BTC and ETH with a typical candidate position for reallocation — both can serve as temporary "neutral positions," allowing traders to maintain exposure to overall risk assets while observing whether AI profits can materialize, and can also serve as basic chips for future re-engagement. Going forward, if we see more funds transitioning from on-chain AI themes to BTC and ETH within contract and spot transaction structures, rather than completely exiting the market, it will indicate that the market is shifting from an "AI edge leverage carnival" to a defensively managed risk management mode centered on mainstream assets.

Funding Choices between AI Stocks and On-Chain AI Coins

In the current landscape, Goldman Sachs has built what seems to be a solid macro framework for the AI theme with its "profit-driven bull market" narrative. However, the "TOP 1" level pullback in the US stock AI and semiconductor sectors on July 2 presented the first true stress test for this narrative at the price level; within the same volatility cycle, the maximum long position address 0x9dc related to AI chips on Hyperliquid passively closed approximately $35.16 million in long positions, incurring a loss of about $4.42 million, and the high leverage funds of on-chain speculation were forced to retreat. Meanwhile, NFP performed its "last dance" with an 895% surge in 13 hours, followed by a 82.36% drop and an open interest shrinkage of about 90%, collectively squeezing out a sample cross-section of the leveraged bubble surrounding on-chain AI themes. From a funding perspective, the conclusion is not that "the AI story is over," but rather that the structural AI main lines (infrastructure, electricity, etc.) are still endorsed by mainstream institutions on a fundamental level, yet localized bubbles around edge tokens, secondary-line chips, and high-multiplier contracts have quickly burst. The risk-return comparison between the stock market and on-chain has been forcibly recalculated: some funds will continue to choose more "hard" cash flow in AI stocks along Goldman’s indicated profit path, while others will consolidate within assets like BTC and ETH that offer better liquidity and broader narratives, temporarily reducing their exposure to a single AI theme. Moving forward, it will be essential to observe whether the AI sector can use actual profits to repair this "TOP 1" pullback, whether the extreme volatility of NFP as a delisting token will spread to other themes, and in the next round of risk revaluation, will BTC and ETH serve as passive havens after the retreat of AI or actively absorb edge AI chips, becoming the center of a new funding narrative.

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