Bloomberg: Crypto markets hedge against Iran war risk through 24/7 oil and gold trading

PANews reported on March 2nd, citing Bloomberg, that as tensions escalated between the US, Israel, and Iran, traders flocked to 24/7 trading platforms for hedging, pushing up prices for perpetual futures contracts for oil, gold, and silver on the cryptocurrency exchange Hyperliquid. Oil contracts rose approximately 5% to $70.6 per barrel, while gold and silver rose approximately 1.3% and 2% to $5,323 and $94.9 per ounce, respectively. Silver led commodity perpetual contract trading, with over $227 million in volume over the past 24 hours, while gold contracts saw approximately $173 million in trading volume. The platform's US stock-related index fell 0.4% to 0.75%.

The weekend's events validated a larger argument put forward by crypto advocates: 24/7 on-chain trading across all asset classes is inevitable, and the shift from traditional trading venues may be faster than most on Wall Street anticipates. Wintermute's head of OTC trading stated that Bitcoin has become the only proxy for broader risks in open markets, which is precisely why more asset classes need to move to 24/7 trading. The co-founder of Felix stated that this represents a macro-level shift in how global markets operate. The founder and CEO of QFEX stated that this proves that price volatility never sleeps in today's environment.