Crypto Traders Lose $52M in 10 Minutes on Weekend Chip Stock Perpetuals
Forced liquidations hit leveraged semiconductor contracts on Binance and Hyperliquid while traditional equity markets remained closed.
At a glance
- What happened
- Leveraged crypto contracts tracking semiconductor stocks lost $51.6 million in liquidations across 10 minutes on Saturday [1].
- Why it matters
- Without underlying weekend stock trading, internal crypto order books determined prices, triggering cascades across venues [1].
- Who is affected
- Traders holding leveraged positions in synthetic chip equity contracts on Binance and Hyperliquid [1].
- What's next
- U.S. stock markets reopen Monday to restore official reference pricing [1].
- Primary source
- coindesk.com: Chip-stock bets lost $52 million in 10 minutes with Wall Street shut
Key points
- Around $51.6 million in chip-stock perpetuals were liquidated between 21:22 and 21:32 UTC on Saturday, with long positions accounting for $38 million 1.
- Contracts tracking SOXL led losses at $12.7 million, followed by SanDisk and SK Hynix at approximately $10.8 million each 1.
- The cascade began on Binance at 21:21:59 UTC before spreading to Hyperliquid within one second 1.
Nearly $52 million in leveraged perpetual contracts tracking semiconductor stocks and funds were liquidated in a 10-minute span on Saturday while traditional equity exchanges were shut 1. Traders holding long positions absorbed roughly $38 million of the losses as cascading liquidations forced contract prices downward across platforms 1.
Data from CoinGlass indicates that approximately $51.6 million in positions tied to chip equities and related instruments were force-closed between 21:22 UTC and 21:32 UTC 1. Leveraged contracts tied to SOXL, an exchange-traded fund delivering triple the daily performance of semiconductor shares, sustained $12.7 million in liquidations 1. Synthetic contracts tracking SanDisk and SK Hynix each registered roughly $10.8 million in forced closes 1.
Off-Hours Mechanics and Contagion
The sell-off originated on Binance before quickly propagating to decentralized venues 1. According to trade analysis from David Jeong, chief executive of trading firm Tread.fi, the initial large sell orders for SanDisk and Micron appeared on Binance at 21:21:59 UTC 1. Within less than one second, subsequent selling reached Hyperliquid, where synthetic stock perpetuals are listed via Trade XYZ 1. Around 10 addresses opened short positions across six chip-related contracts within 1.8 seconds 1. During the opening minute, Binance processed $21.9 million in SanDisk volume, compared to $3.1 million on Trade XYZ 1.
Because traditional equities do not trade over the weekend, the underlying stocks were idle, leaving off-market perpetual contracts without an external spot pricing feed 1. Under Trade XYZ rules, internal trading sets reference pricing when conventional equity quotes are offline 1. The volatile weekend moves followed broader pressure on memory-chip equities tied to emerging competition from Chinese manufacturer CXMT 1. Realized pricing deviations will become clear once U.S. stock exchanges reopen on Monday 1.
Sources
- [1] Chip-stock bets lost $52 million in 10 minutes with Wall Street shut — coindesk.com, October 18, 2026
Written by Basis Desk's newsroom system from the primary sources above and machine-verified against them before publication. Market figures marked "at the time of writing" come from live exchange data. Report an error: corrections@basisdesk.news · corrections policy.
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