Cryptocurrency markets briefly became the primary venue for global price discovery after US military strikes on Iran occurred while traditional financial markets were closed, according to Bitwise Asset Management CIO Matt Hougan.
US President Donald Trump announced the strikes early on Saturday, February 28, 2026, when stock and commodity exchanges across the United States, Europe and Asia were largely offline.
“With traditional financial systems largely closed, on-chain markets became the main venue for price discovery,”
Said Bitwise Asset Management CIO, Matt Hougan.
Decentralised trading platform Hyperliquid recorded significant activity during the weekend as traders reacted to the geopolitical shock, with Bloomberg reporting that its crude oil-linked perpetual futures were among the earliest markets reflecting sentiment.
Hyperliquid’s native token HYPE surged about 30% during the weekend while tokenised gold products such as Tether’s XAUT recorded more than $300 million in 24-hour trading volume.
Blockchain analytics data also showed a sharp increase in capital leaving Iranian crypto exchanges as news of the strikes spread across the region.
Hougan said the episode may accelerate institutional interest in decentralised trading infrastructure, warning that ignoring stablecoin wallets and on-chain markets could leave traditional financial players at a disadvantage.
At the time of reporting, Hyperliquid price was $31.77.