Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange built on its own Layer 1 blockchain, has seen a surge in activity as non-crypto traders turn to 24/7 perpetual futures markets to gain exposure to oil during traditional off-market hours and weekends, JPMorgan analysts said.

Trading in an oil-linked perpetual futures contract on Hyperliquid — the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil (CL-USDC) contract — spiked earlier this month as the Iran war escalated over a weekend, when traditional venues such as CME were not operating, the JPMorgan analysts, led by managing director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, said in a report Wednesday.

Daily trading volume in the CL-USDC contract reached around $1.7 billion at its peak in mid-March, while open interest rose to roughly $300 million, making it the exchange’s third-most traded product after bitcoin and ether, the analysts noted. The contract is margined in USDC and offers leverage of up to 20x, making it accessible to traders seeking exposure.

More broadly, the analysts said demand for trading traditional assets outside market hours is driving interest in decentralized exchanges like Hyperliquid.

Unlike many decentralized exchanges that rely on automated market makers, platforms such as Hyperliquid use onchain limit order books, which offer more precise pricing, tighter spreads, and familiar order types for professional traders, the analysts said. The platform also offers sub-second transaction finality, enabling faster execution speeds that appeal to algorithmic and high-frequency trading strategies, they added.

In addition, portfolio margining allows traders to manage risk across an entire portfolio rather than individual positions, improving capital efficiency — a feature typically associated with more advanced centralized platforms, the analysts said.

Overall, these features are helping decentralized exchanges position themselves as professional-grade trading venues that bridge traditional and crypto markets, according to the analysts.

JPMorgan on DEXs vs. CEXs

Decentralized exchanges have already started to capture market share from centralized exchanges in crypto derivatives, particularly among mid-tier venues, as traders are drawn to continuous trading, self-custody, and faster execution. While some of that shift has moderated in recent months, the analysts said the trend remains in place and is likely to grow further.

"This traction is likely to grow over time and extend to other assets beyond commodities as decentralized exchanges exploit a gap in traditional markets by facilitating 24/7 trading in traditional assets," the analysts concluded.

Traditional finance exchanges are also moving toward round-the-clock trading. CME Group plans to launch 24/7 cryptocurrency futures and options trading on May 29, while Nasdaq is advancing toward 23-hour weekday equities trading (targeting the second half of 2026) and recently gained SEC approval to trade certain tokenized securities. The New York Stock Exchange is developing a platform for tokenized assets and extended-hours trading (pending approvals), and Cboe Global Markets offers perpetual-style bitcoin and ether futures and has proposed near-24/5 equities trading for a potential December rollout.

However, most of these traditional venues typically do not offer perpetual futures or the high leverage commonly seen on decentralized exchanges, instead focusing on standardized derivatives with lower leverage.