During weekend trading on October 17–18, Bitcoin, Ether, and perpetual futures linked to artificial intelligence stocks experienced steep drops before clawing back a portion of their losses. These sudden movements sparked forced liquidations of leveraged bets and reignited online speculation regarding a potential “Black Monday” event when traditional equities resume trading.
Bitcoin and Ether Rebound After Sudden Weekend Declines
Price action over the weekend showed Bitcoin shedding roughly USD 1,000 before mounting a recovery of about USD 1,200. Meanwhile, Ether slid from approximately USD 2,420 down to USD 2,360 before climbing back toward USD 2,410. Trading for both cryptocurrencies persisted while US stock exchanges remained shut.
By October 18, Bitcoin was changing hands near USD 81,758.98, while Ether hovered around USD 2,416.25. These market fluctuations came on the heels of a sluggish stretch for risk-on assets. Lingering worries over inflation and sliding tech shares had already weighed on crypto valuations, extending the Bitcoin selloff linked to higher US inflation.
AI Stock Perpetuals Record USD 51.6 Million in Liquidations
The weekend downturn spilled over into perpetual futures tied to technology firms and semiconductor funds. Contracts tracking the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares fund (SOXL) retreated roughly 5.45%, while contracts associated with Sandisk (SNDK) and Micron (MU) pulled back by 3.6% and 3.42%, respectively, ahead of their own rebounds.
Data from CoinGlass highlighted in market summaries indicated that liquidations across AI-related stock and semiconductor futures hit an estimated USD 51.6 million inside a 10-minute window. Bullish long positions made up about USD 38.1 million of the total, contrasted with USD 13.5 million in bearish shorts. SOXL contracts bore the brunt of the damage, accounting for approximately USD 12.7 million in wiped-out positions.
Tread.fi chief executive DYJ reported that initial selling materialized on Binance ahead of a subsequent wave of liquidations on Hyperliquid. Analysts note this sequence is an observation rather than a definitive cause, though similar cascades of forced selling have characterized past cryptocurrency market liquidations.
BTC and ETH Funding Rates Stay Near Neutral
Despite the pullback, perpetual futures did not skew aggressively toward bearish sentiment. Funding rates for Bitcoin and Ether largely hovered between 0.005% and 0.01% on October 18, though variations existed across individual exchanges.
Funding rates reflect periodic payments exchanged between market participants holding long versus short positions. Positive metrics indicate that traders anticipating higher prices compensate those betting on a downturn. Ether futures exhibited slightly firmer positioning than their Bitcoin counterparts, though neither reading signaled a definitive bullish wave. Earlier evaluations of the Bitcoin futures market had already highlighted clusters of liquidations sitting close to current price levels.
‘Black Monday’ Fears Coincide with Ukraine Attacks
The abrupt flash crash fueled social media debates concerning whether US equities might face a severe selloff when markets reopened on Monday, October 19. The Kobeissi Letter argued that universal anticipation of a “Black Monday” does not make it a certainty, noting the potential for an equities recovery. Its perspective that the S&P 500 could eventually climb to 8,000 serves as a forward-looking projection rather than a guaranteed result.
Concurrently, AFP documented a Ukrainian drone attack targeting St. Petersburg on October 18. Alexander Beglov, the governor of St. Petersburg, confirmed that the strike ignited a fire at the municipality’s oil terminal, while local authorities noted operational disruptions at Pulkovo Airport as air defense systems engaged incoming drones.
The military strike followed the breakdown of a tentative halt on targeting energy infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously stated that Kyiv would restart strikes in response to renewed Russian assaults. Even though this geopolitical escalation coincided with erratic market conditions, no confirmed proof ties the geopolitical events to the futures selloff, leaving investors to navigate the reopening of major stock exchanges on Monday.
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