$52 Million Liquidated in 10 Minutes: Chip-Stock Contracts Crash While Wall Street Was Closed

By Kevin · 2026-10-18 · News

Oct. 18 (CandyPulse) — Wall Street was closed. The crypto market was not. And in just ten minutes on Saturday, traders betting on chip stocks lost about $52 million.

About $51.6 million in leveraged positions tied to chip stocks and semiconductor funds was force-closed between 21:22 and 21:32 UTC, according to CoinGlass data. Around $38 million of that came from traders who had bet on prices rising.

Key takeaways

About $52 million in chip-stock bets was liquidated in roughly 10 minutes
It happened while U.S. stock markets were closed
About $38 million of losses came from traders betting on higher prices
SOXL was hit hardest, at about $12.7 million
The selling began on Binance and spread to Hyperliquid within about a second

How it happened

These were perpetual futures, contracts that track the price of a stock or fund but trade around the clock on crypto platforms. That means people can trade chip stocks on a Saturday night, even though the real stock market is shut.

According to David Jeong, chief executive of trading firm Tread.fi, the selling started on Binance. Within about a second, orders reached Hyperliquid, where a platform called Trade XYZ runs contracts tracking stocks.

The biggest hits

Contract	Liquidated
SOXL (3x leveraged chip fund)	About $12.7M
SanDisk	About $10.8M
SK Hynix	About $10.8M
Total	About $51.6M

Why weekends are risky

When the real market is closed, there is no live share price to anchor these contracts. Trade XYZ's rules let the platform set reference prices on its own until real stock quotes resume. In thin weekend trading, prices can swing sharply, and highly leveraged positions can be wiped out in seconds.

We saw a similar pattern earlier this week, when around $930 million was liquidated as bitcoin briefly fell below $80,000. And the IMF recently warned that tokenized stocks are 1.5 times as volatile as the real thing.

How to protect yourself

Use less leverage, especially on weekends
Know how prices are set when the underlying market is closed
Set stop-losses and never risk more than you can afford to lose

What's next

As 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks grows, weekend swings like this could become more common. Watch whether platforms add stronger safeguards for off-hours trading.

Disclaimer: This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Crypto assets are volatile and can lose value. Always do your own research before making any investment decision.