📈 Markets & Finance risk-off · 6–18 months
A what‑if from the future

What if an AI-equity correction shuts the funding window for cash-burning AI startups?

An AI-equity correction shuts the funding window for cash-burning AI startups, triggering down-rounds, shutdowns and write-downs across venture and growth portfolios.

12%
our model probability
over 6–18 months
prediction markets — wisdom of the crowd
loading live odds…
Empirically anchored 12% · 90% range 1–23% · 35 analogues · measured class tech_ai_bear 72% in 18 mo · 3% held back for the unknown
how we built this number — every step
Measured class rate — tech_ai_bear ≈0.8595/yr → 72% in 18 mo72%
Analyst prior · editorial share 17% of the class12%
Pooled · weight 85%13%
Crowd — no liquid market
Reserve 3% · no extremizing (×1.0)13%
Published12%

The class rate is measured from our dated, sourced event library (decade-normalized Poisson — the full table is public at base_rates.json). The variant’s share within its class is the analyst’s editorial call, published so you can audit it. A wider range means thinner precedent. Full recipe: methodology · scored at Reality Check.

The butterfly cascade

How this trigger trickles across markets, left → right — the root shock, its first‑order moves, then the ripple effects. Drag any node; tap a market for its real price history.

Resolution timeline — how this probability is moving

Our model's odds (gold) over time vs the crowd's (Polymarket, blue), from the past toward the 6–18 months horizon. Each dot is a real macro event that nudged the probability — green pushed it up, red pushed it down. Tap a dot for the source. The gold path is an illustrative reconstruction anchored to today's estimate — real dated events, not a live re-estimate history.

loading the timeline…

What it would mean

If this plays out, it is a risk-off shock. An AI-equity correction shuts the funding window for cash-burning AI startups, triggering down-rounds, shutdowns and write-downs across venture and growth portfolios. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — AI capex ▼ · Credit spreads ▲ · Recession signal ▲ · Risk appetite ▼ — which propagate through our causal graph to the markets below.

If it happens — the markets it would move

Biggest moves first. Projected moves are cascade-model priors; hist A–B% = what comparable past events actually did (measured abnormal returns), and model prior · unmeasured marks markets with no analogue backing yet. Tap any market for its price history.

MarketClassProjected move
1Nvidia NVDAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.4%
hist -1.41–+0.75% · other way +3.51% (n=12)
2MicroStrategy MSTRon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.2%
hist -3.75–+0.67% · other way +9.6% (n=12)
3Broadcom AVGOon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.1%
hist -1.45–+2.6% · other way +7.11% (n=12)
4Solana SOLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -1.1%
hist -19.79–+3.02% · other way -18.52% (n=10)
5Micron MUon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.0%
hist -1.22–+1.01% · other way -0.31% (n=12)
6Nasdaq 100 NDXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▼ -0.9%
hist -0.96–-0.14% · other way +0.43% (n=12)
7Semiconductors SMHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.9%
hist -0.8–+1.24% · other way +2.12% (n=12)
8Hyperliquid (HYPE) HYPEon HyperliquidCrypto▼ -0.8%
model prior · unmeasured
9Volatility (VIX) VIXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartVol▲ +0.8%
hist -1.43–+3.84% · other way -6.47% (n=12)
10Bitcoin BTCon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -0.7%
hist -8.39–+3.16% · other way +2.89% (n=11)
11Ether ETHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -0.7%
hist -11.56–+4.92% · other way -0.75% (n=10)
12High-yield credit HYG 📈 chartRate▼ -0.6%
hist -0.45–-0.19% · other way -0.24% (n=12)
13S&P 500 SPXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▼ -0.6%
hist -1.86–+0.5% · other way +0.51% (n=12)
14Financials XLF 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.5%
hist -0.43–-0.14% · other way -1.52% (n=12)

Probable recommendation

If the scenario above plays out, the probable cross‑asset positioning → a scenario‑conditional read, not personalized investment advice
Cash / hedgeRaise cash and hold the long hedges above; this scenario is net risk-off.
For a common-man portfolio: A typical stock-heavy portfolio is at risk. Consider trimming equities, raising cash, and a small cash hedge.
Also moves (not yet on Hyperliquid): High-yield credit -0.6% · Financials -0.5% · Tech sector -0.5% · JPMorgan -0.3%

Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did

Across 35 analogous events (overlap‑weighted), as abnormal returns — market beta stripped, so it's the event's own effect, not the market backdrop. Shown at 20 days (persistent) and 5 days (immediate); ↺ fades = the two horizons disagree. Confidence = consistency × sample × significance.

Greece first EU/IMF bailout 2010-05 Northern Rock bank run 2007-09 TSMC slumps as DeepSeek roils AI-chip demand assumptions 2025-02 Micron's weak FQ2 guidance sparks a sharp December selloff 2024-12 ASML bookings-miss crash 2024-10 Megacap AI-capex doubt selloff 2024-07 Trump 'Taiwan should pay for defense' chip selloff 2024-07 First Republic Bank seized and sold to JPMorgan 2023-05 Regional-bank panic deepens after Signature seizure 2023-03 Netflix subscriber-loss crash 2022-04 Meta 2022-02 Kaisa Group offshore default 2021-12 Didi removed from China app stores after NYSE IPO 2021-07 Nvidia crypto-glut guidance crash 2018-11 China-led global 'Black Monday' rout 2015-08 HYG record outflows in 2014 high-yield rout 2014-10 Mt. Gox collapse 2014-02 Mt. Gox halts withdrawals 2014-02 Cyprus deposit bail-in 2013-03 Spain requests EUR100bn bank bailout 2012-06 Bankia nationalised in Spain's banking crisis 2012-05 Portugal requests EU-IMF bailout 2011-04 Greece requests EU/IMF bailout 2010-04 Anglo Irish Bank nationalisation 2009-01 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conservatorship 2008-09 IndyMac Bank seized by the Office of Thrift Supervision 2008-07 American Home Mortgage bankruptcy 2007-08 Bear Stearns freezes redemptions on subprime hedge funds 2007-06 New Century Financial bankruptcy 2007-04 HSBC subprime profit warning 2007-02 Turkey lets the lira float 2001-02 Mexico $50bn international rescue package 1995-01 Hong Kong Stock Exchange four-day closure after Black Monday 1987-10 Penn Square Bank failure 1982-07 1976 UK sterling crisis / IMF bailout 1976-09
AssetHistory saysAbnormal (20d · 5d)HitnConfidencevs cascade
SOL SOLSHORT-16.2% · 5d -6.9%100%11 0.66✓ matches cascade
ETH ETHSHORT-10.8% · 5d -3.9%75%12 0.37✓ matches cascade
Bitcoin BTCSHORT-7.6% · 5d -2.1%71%14 0.34✓ matches cascade
COIN COINSHORT-1.4% · 5d +3.2% ↺ fades64%11 0.22✓ matches cascade
SMH SMHLONG+1.5% · 5d -1.2% ↺ fades61%31 0.20⚠ differs
MSTR MSTRSHORT-2.9% · 5d -2.6%61%31 0.19✓ matches cascade
10y yield DGS10SHORT-15bp · 5d -5bp60%35 0.18·
AVGO AVGOLONG+2.9% · 5d -1.0% ↺ fades59%22 0.17⚠ differs
ASML ASMLSHORT-1.5% · 5d -3.8%58%31 0.12✓ matches cascade
Gold XAULONG+0.2% · 5d -0.1% ↺ fades55%31 0.09·
High-yield credit HYGSHORT-0.1% · 5d +0.1% ↺ fades54%28 0.06✓ matches cascade
QCOM QCOMSHORT-1.6% · 5d -3.2%53%32 0.04✓ matches cascade
NDX NDXSHORT-0.4% · 5d -1.7%52%33 0.03✓ matches cascade
SPX SPXSHORT-1.5% · 5d -0.5%51%35 0.03✓ matches cascade

Methodology. Probability and impact are anchored to history and scored against what actually happens — wins and losses, in public, at Reality Check. Crowd odds live from Polymarket & Kalshi. By Vikas Singh, Quantitative Strategist. Updated 2026-07-03.