TechFlow reported on July 29 that on May 22, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said it would strictly investigate illegal cross-border business activities involving Tiger, Futu and Longbridge, while eight agencies simultaneously launched a rectification campaign targeting illegal cross-border securities operations. For investors in mainland China, access to U.S. stock trading was switched to a “sell-only” mode, meaning existing users could only sell holdings and transfer funds out.
At the time, social media users joked that the arrangement was an official “sell-the-top signal.”
XYZ100 traded near Nasdaq 100 levels when the notice was issued
According to Hyperinsight, XYZ100 on Hyperliquid traded between 29,479 and 29,578 during the hour when the announcement was released. On the same day, the Nasdaq 100 and XYZ100 were trading at similar levels.
The Nasdaq 100 then extended its gains and hit a record high of 30,762.20 on June 3. Tiger, Longbridge and Futu later set June 12 as the date to implement their business adjustments. From that point, existing mainland users were left only with selling, closing positions and transferring funds out, formally putting mainland U.S. stock traders into a one-way exit process.
XYZ100 is down about 10.1% from its record high
In other words, by the time mainland investors were explicitly barred from continuing to buy U.S. stocks, U.S. technology assets had already moved into a record-high zone. During the same period, the memory semiconductor segment also went through a steeper pullback.
As of publication, XYZ100 was about 27,664, down roughly 10.1% from its record high of 30,771. It was also about 6.2% lower than the level seen when the May 22 regulatory notice was released.
South Korea saw a deeper correction
The report added that the adjustment in South Korea was more severe. KOSPI fell from 7,847.71 on May 22 to about 5,550, a decline of nearly 29%. Compared with its record closing high in June, the retreat was close to 39%.