JPMorgan: Iran war is driving surge in Hyperliquid oil trading

Oil volatility from the Iran conflict is pushing traders onto decentralized exchanges like Hyperliquid, where markets never close, JPMorgan said in a report. The bank flagged a surge in activity from non-crypto investors using perpetual futures, derivatives with no expiry, to gain round-the-clock oil exposure; these contracts trade 24/7 and use funding rates to track spot prices.

Trading on Hyperliquid exploded early this month when the Iran war erupted, as CME traders were unable to react when Iranian infrastructure strikes broke over the weekend and markets were shut. With CME closed, traders moved to Hyperliquid’s CL-USDC perpetual, margined in USDC with up to 20x leverage; the contract hit $1.7 billion in peak daily volume and is now the platform’s third-most traded product, while open interest has climbed to about $300 million.

More broadly, JPMorgan said demand for 24/7 access to traditional assets is accelerating interest in DEXs.

Iran

jpmorgan, hyperliquid, iran war, oil volatility, perpetual futures, usdc, cl-usdc, decentralized exchanges, funding rates, 20x leverage