Bloomberg: The cryptocurrency market becomes a 24-hour window for traders to gauge Middle East conflict risks

Gate News, March 9 — According to Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency market has once again become the only public window for traders to gauge the ongoing Middle East conflict risk. As the Iran war continues, contracts tracking crude oil, gold, and silver on the Hyperliquid platform have experienced significant volatility. These contracts are perpetual futures on Hyperliquid, which has become one of the world’s largest 24-hour derivatives trading venues. Perpetual contracts track asset prices but never expire, allowing traders to hold leveraged positions without liquidation delays, settled in stablecoins such as USDC pegged to the US dollar. Although trading volume remains far below that of traditional commodities markets, activity has noticeably increased since the conflict erupted. Over the weekend, commodity price fluctuations on Hyperliquid were mainly driven by retail and crypto-native traders, serving as real-time indicators of market sentiment, though their reference value is limited. Observers focused on the crypto market say these platforms also provide a reference model for “around-the-clock trading” that could be adopted by traditional markets, with some traditional trading platforms exploring the possibility of offering continuous trading.