Viewpoint: Algorithmic and programmatic selling triggered a sharp sell-off in U.S. stocks, with liquidity conditions at market opening showing distinct liquidation characteristics.

Overnight into early this morning, US stocks suffered a brutal sell-off. The S&P 500 index dropped 4.4%, while the Nasdaq 100 plunged 6.4% — marking its largest single-day decline since March 2020, with roughly $2.3 trillion in market value erased. The semiconductor index dived 12%, and the VIX index surged 70%. On the news front, Democrats won both chambers of the US Congress in the midterm elections. Markets are concerned that the new legislative majority will tighten regulations on AI-related spending and data center construction, with the political shockwave hitting the stock market with a delay. Goldman Sachs’ trading desk analysis noted that if land, power and cabinet supplies in 2028 fail to keep up due to approval restrictions, chip production capacity will become relatively oversupplied, and the prices of memory chips, which were supported by supply-demand gaps, will lose their foundation. In terms of individual stocks, data from BIT Stock Platform shows Nvidia fell 9%, erasing all its year-to-date gains; Micron dropped 17.46%. Memory stocks were hit hard: SanDisk plummeted 22%, Western Digital fell 17%. Previously strong optical communication concept stocks saw steeper declines: AAOI down 20.89%, LITE down 18.68%, MRVL down 16.43%. In the neocloud sector, NBIS fell 14.95%, SHAZ down 19.9%. Among star stocks, Tesla dropped 10.77%, SPCX down 9.05%, Apple down 1.53%. For crypto-related stocks, MSTR fell 9.29%, BMNR down 12.56%, COIN down 9.69%, and CRCL down 8.72%. According to HTX market data, Bitcoin fell sharply after the US stock market opened, then stabilized at $76,000, and is currently trading at $76,292.00.

South Korea's KOSPI index plunged 8%, triggering a circuit breaker and halting trading for 20 minutes. Additionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell below the 59,000 level, logging a 3.65% intraday decline.

On-chain data shows that at 07:09 Beijing Time, the USDC Treasury minted 250 million new USDC tokens on the Solana network, worth approximately $250 million.

According to Bitget’s market data, Nasdaq futures dropped over 1% in early Friday trading. However, tech stocks temporarily halted their decline and stabilized after hours. Data from the BIT stock platform shows: Nvidia rose 0.58% after hours, SNDK gained 3.04%, Micron Technology increased 2.82%, while AAOI posted the steepest after-hours drop, currently down 8.91%.

According to CNN, Texas Governor-elect Gina Inohosa stated, "Don't hate data centers—hate how they take advantage of Texans. We can build a strong partnership with Elon Musk and his company on our terms. Until measures are found to protect the safety of Texas residents, we must halt the current construction of data centers."

U.S. President Trump posted: "The stock market has experienced one of the worst trading days in history due to the election results. It’s really upsetting to watch! We put in so much effort to reach unprecedented levels, and this is what happened as a result. So, your 401(k) retirement accounts have shrunk. Remember, this isn’t the fault of Republicans—it’s the 'Dumocrats' (a deliberate misspelling of Democrats) who did it. But don’t be afraid; we will soon become stronger than ever before in some way. Make America Great Again!"