Bitwise CIO: Crypto was the only market online during Iran crisis

The crypto and on-chain markets played a key role in enabling price discovery during the Iran crisis over the weekend, according to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Matt Hougan. He noted that just before the incident early Sunday morning, U.S. time, major global stock, futures, and foreign exchange markets were closed. The 24-hour crypto market was the only one where real-time price discovery was possible. Hougan explained that in the past, investors had to wait for U.S. futures markets to open following geopolitical events, but now they can react immediately through crypto infrastructure. He added that around the time of the incident, the decentralized perpetual futures exchange Hyperliquid (HYPE) became a trading hub with volume exceeding $11.5 billion, and demand for tokenized assets also surged. "This Iran crisis will significantly accelerate the shift to on-chain finance," Hougan emphasized.