SOXL liquidations lead $52M chip-stock wipeout in 10 minutes while Wall Street was closed

US stock markets were closed. Traders betting on chip stocks lost about $52 million anyway. On October 18, 2026, perpetual futures tied to AI-themed semiconductor stocks and ETFs dropped sharply. The slide triggered approximately $51.6 million in liquidations within 10 minutes, between 05:22 and 05:32 UTC, according to CoinGlass data compiled across multiple exchanges. The biggest casualty was a product that already carries leverage before anyone adds more: the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares, better known as SOXL. Ten minutes, five tickers, one bad morning Liquidations hit hardest on the bullish side of the trade. Long positions accounted for around $38.1 million, or 73.8% of the total. SOXL led the pack with around $12.73 million in liquidations. SanDisk (SNDK) came next at approximately $10.85 million. SK Hynix, counting its combined SKHY and SKHYNIX tickers, saw roughly $10.72 million liquidated. SOXS followed at about $9.07 million, while Micron (MU) logged around $4.40 million. Reports from outlets including KuCoin and Odaily relayed the figures. No single catalyst for the drop was identified in immediate reports. Why a stock bet can blow up when stocks aren’t tra...