A weekend of US Israeli strikes on Iran gave crypto markets an unusual test. Could blockchain based venues provide useful price discovery while major traditional exchanges were closed?
Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, believes the episode changed his view of how quickly financial markets could move onto blockchain rails. In a March 3 note titled “The Weekend That Changed Finance,” Hougan said he had expected crypto-enabled markets to grow mainly around the edges of traditional finance for the next five to 10 years. The weekend made him reconsider that timeline.
When the attacks were reported, stock exchanges in the US, Europe and Asia were closed. Crypto markets were still operating, giving traders a venue to react immediately to developments in oil, gold and other assets.
During Sunday’s attacks in Iran, when all traditional markets were closed, Bloomberg turned to Hyperliquid’s crude oil contract to gauge the impact for investors.
If hedge funds and banks weren’t looking at stablecoins or tokenized assets before this weekend, they’re paying… pic.twitter.com/xSeSgHIuXz
— Bitwise (@Bitwise) March 3, 2026
Hyperliquid showed the appeal of 24/7 markets
Much of the activity centred on Hyperliquid, which recorded more than $11.5 billion in trading volume across the weekend, according to Hougan. Traders used crypto-native markets to take positions linked to commodities and other assets while traditional venues were unavailable.
Hougan said financial media even referenced Hyperliquid’s crude oil pricing while assessing the market reaction. Tether Gold also saw heavy activity, while prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi attracted attention.
The significance is not that Hyperliquid replaced traditional commodity markets. Its contracts are derivatives, and crypto-native liquidity still has limitations. The weekend instead demonstrated a practical advantage: traders did not have to wait for Monday’s opening bell before responding to new information.
That could matter during geopolitical shocks, central bank announcements and other events that occur outside normal trading hours.
Traditional finance is moving in the same direction
The development also fits a trend already underway on Wall Street. In January, the New York Stock Exchange announced plans for a platform supporting 24/7 trading of tokenized US equities and ETFs, with blockchain-based settlement and stablecoin funding.
NYSE later partnered with Securitize on digital transfer-agent infrastructure for issuer-sponsored tokenized securities.
Meanwhile, Chainlink announced its 24/5 US Equities Streams, designed to provide pricing data for US stocks and ETFs outside regular market hours.
These developments point to a larger issue. Keeping a market open is only useful if the rest of the infrastructure can support it. Reliable price data, custody, settlement, compliance and sufficient liquidity all have to work together.
Regulators are now testing the model
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has also moved closer to on-chain securities markets.
On September 17, the SEC granted temporary, conditional relief allowing certain Tokenized Securities Venues to trade tokenized US stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools. The exemption includes volume limits, investor-protection conditions and requirements for tokenized stocks to provide holders with the same rights as equivalent traditional shares.
The SEC also requires these venues to stop trading a tokenized stock when trading in the underlying stock is halted.
That condition highlights one of the unresolved issues with 24/7 markets. Blockchain infrastructure can operate continuously, but the underlying traditional market may not. Building a useful overnight market therefore requires rules for pricing, halts, corporate actions and liquidity when the primary exchange is closed.
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