- A weekend geopolitical shock highlighted crypto’s 24/7 market access.
- Hyperliquid, XAUT, and prediction markets saw volume spikes as traders turned to crypto rails.
- Hougan says the event showed on-chain markets can provide real-time price discovery.
A weekend geopolitical shock has drawn attention to the continuous trading capabilities of crypto markets, as most traditional financial systems were closed during the initial reaction period. Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, stated that the incident showed how blockchain-based trading infrastructure can operate during periods when conventional exchanges remain offline.
According to Hougan, the events surrounding a late-night announcement of U.S. military action against Iran showed that crypto markets could serve as a real-time venue for price discovery while global equity, futures, and foreign exchange markets were not operating.
Crypto Markets Remain Active During Global Market Closure
The announcement of the military strike was made at approximately 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday. At that time, major financial markets were closed. U.S. stock exchanges were not operating, futures markets had not yet reopened, and trading across European and Asian markets was also inactive.
Hougan noted that historically, investors would have waited until U.S. futures markets reopened later on Sunday evening to gauge how markets might respond to a geopolitical event of that magnitude. However, crypto-related markets were already active.
Blockchain-based trading platforms operate continuously, enabling trading at any time of day throughout the year. As a result, digital asset markets provided an alternative venue for trading on weekends, when most traditional financial infrastructure was offline.
Hyperliquid and Tokenized Assets See Trading Surge
Following the announcement, several on-chain markets saw increased activity. The decentralized trading platform Hyperliquid became a main point as trading volume rose across its perpetual futures markets.
Hyperliquid offers contracts linked not only to cryptocurrencies but also to certain real-world assets, including oil. According to Hougan, trading activity in the platform’s crude oil perpetual contract increased to the point that Bloomberg referenced the contract when reporting on oil market reactions to geopolitical developments.
Other blockchain-based assets also saw notable trading activity. XAUT, a tokenized gold product issued by Tether, recorded more than $300 million in 24-hour trading volume. Prediction markets, including Kalshi and Polymarket, also reached new volume records during the period.
Event Raises Questions About Future Market Infrastructure
Hougan reported that the incident highlighted how crypto-enabled markets can serve as a primary venue for price discovery during periods when traditional financial markets are unavailable.
He noted that investors seeking to trade continuously may increasingly need access to blockchain-based infrastructure, including stablecoins and decentralized trading platforms.
The weekend activity, he said, highlighted how on-chain systems allow assets to trade continuously and settle transactions instantly, features that differ from traditional systems that rely on defined trading hours and settlement cycles.
Hougan added that the experience led him to reconsider the pace at which financial infrastructure could evolve toward blockchain-based systems. According to him, the weekend events suggested that the transition to on-chain trading environments may occur more quickly than previously expected.
Related: Geopolitical Tensions Highlight Iran’s $7.8B Alternative Crypto Economy
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