Asian Chip Slump Sparks $800M Liquidation Wave, With Tokenized SanDisk Leading XRP

Crypto markets saw more than $800 million in leveraged positions liquidated over 24 hours, with bets on rising prices accounting for 86% of the losses. Semiconductor-related contracts on crypto exchanges also took a notable hit during the market downturn.

SanDisk (SNDK) traders suffered greater forced liquidations than XRP traders, highlighting how leveraged trading activity on crypto platforms increasingly extends beyond digital assets to technology stocks.

The liquidation wave swept across 10 exchanges as Bitcoin (BTC) fell to just below $81,000 in early Asian trading. Total forced closures surpassed $800 million during the period.

Losses accelerated in the final 12 hours, when approximately $595 million in positions were liquidated. That represented close to three-quarters of the 24-hour total and coincided with a decline of more than 6% in South Korea’s KOSPI index, alongside Bitcoin’s drop below $81,000.

The largest single liquidation involved a $9.65 million Bitcoin long on Binance, closed at approximately $81,700. Binance accounted for roughly half of all liquidations.

A liquidation occurs when an exchange closes a trader’s leveraged position after losses deplete the collateral supporting the trade. Long positions, which profit from rising prices, made up $694 million of the liquidated positions, or 86% of the overall amount.

Bitcoin recorded $181 million in liquidations, while ether followed with $178 million despite having a much smaller market capitalization.

SanDisk-linked perpetual futures were among the hardest-hit stock contracts, with $19.5 million in liquidations. The total exceeded liquidations for HYPE, at $19 million, and XRP, at $18.78 million.

These perpetual contracts allow users to trade price movements in stocks through crypto exchanges 24 hours a day without a set expiration date.

The affected instruments also included contracts linked to SK Hynix and Micron, as well as SOXL, a U.S. semiconductor ETF offering three-times leveraged exposure. Liquidations tied to SOXL reached $7.21 million.

The losses mirrored the weakness across South Korea’s chip sector. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each fell around 8% as concerns over AI stock valuations and competition from Chinese memory-chip producers weighed on investor sentiment, CoinDesk reported.

Oil contracts followed a different pattern. WTI and Brent crude were among the few instruments where short positions accounted for most liquidations. Brent traded near $106 after posting gains for three consecutive days.

More recent trading data showed a reversal in liquidation activity. Of the $74 million in positions liquidated during the latest four-hour period, short positions accounted for $59 million, or 79%, as Bitcoin recovered above $83,000.

The initial selloff primarily eliminated leveraged bullish positions, while the subsequent rebound put pressure on traders betting against the market. With much of Bitcoin’s long leverage already cleared, traders are approaching Thursday’s U.S. inflation report after a significant shakeout in bullish positioning.