According to a recent report, Hyperliquid saw the surge in trading volume over the weekend, as it became the venue to bet on commodities and other traditional asset classes. Following the escalation of tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran, Bitcoin and the crypto market succumbed to significant downward pressure.
However, the crypto market wasn’t the only asset class that saw trader activity on Saturday, February 28, as perpetual swap futures tied to various commodities on Hyperliquid also witnessed significant price action. These moves offered some insight into what to expect when the global financial markets open on Monday.
Hyperliquid Trading Volume Surges For Traditional Assets
According to the latest market data, perpetual swap futures of commodities, including oil, gold, and silver, saw significant jumps in their prices on Saturday. This price rise was triggered by the military actions of the United States and Israel against Iran, who responded on the day by targeting specific US assets in the Middle East.
Specifically, the price of oil jumped by more than 5%, as Iran threatened to restrict the passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a body of water that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, and it controls ~20% of the world’s petroleum liquids consumption.
The Strait of Hormuz situation:
Reuters is now reporting that Iran is notifying vessels that it is CLOSING the Strait of Hormuz.
If officially closed, 20+ MILLION barrels of oil PER DAY will be impacted, or 20% of global supply.
What’s next? Let us explain.
(a thread) pic.twitter.com/GPFaNVKUsW
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) February 28, 2026
Unsurprisingly, these price rises were backed by significant volume, as traders looked for war risk hedges in Hyperliquid’s round-the-clock perp market. Market data shows that silver led activity among the commodity-linked perps on the exchange, with over $227 in trading volume on Saturday. Meanwhile, the gold perpetual swap futures recorded a trading volume of approximately $173 million on the day.
The events of the past weekend and the ensuing market activity has reopened the conversations around round-the-clock trading for all asset classes. According to a Bloomberg report, Wall Street is becoming more attentive to platforms like Hyperliquid, where users are allowed to create perpetual futures tied to broader assets, including equities and commodities.
Jake Ostrovskis, head of over-the-counter trading at Wintermute, told Bloomberg:
As Middle East tensions escalated, crypto sold off and because Bitcoin trades 24/7, it became the most liquid asset available for traders looking to hedge or express a view on the move. The fact that BTC is acting as a proxy for broader risk being the only market open is exactly why more asset classes, commodities included and need to move to 24/7 trading. Round-the-clock price discovery is a structural upgrade for market efficiency, and we’re heading in the right direction.
Ultimately, this growing conversation around round-the-clock somewhat ties into recent efforts by the large financial institutions to embrace tokenization.
HYPE Price Jumps 20%
As a result of the activity and volume surge, the price of HYPE, Hyperliquid’s native token, enjoyed a bullish resurgence of nearly 20% on Saturday. As of this writing, the cryptocurrency is vaued at about $30.5.
