Iran - Hormuz crisis pushes Wall Street towards 24/7 tokenised markets
Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, combined with severe disruptions to traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, are having effects that extend far beyond the energy sector. At the core of global finance, a structural transformation is taking shape, marked by the transition towards markets that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, built on tokenised assets and innovative derivatives.
Major banks and hedge funds are adopting always-on digital infrastructures. This is driven by the need to control risk outside normal trading hours and improve capital efficiency. It is no longer just technological experimentation but a response to a nonstop global economy.
According to industry participants, perpetual futures contracts combined with tokenised real-world assets are reshaping financial markets. The removal of contract expiries and the use of atomic, or instantaneous, settlement are transforming liquidity management and price formation.
Geopolitical crises and 24/7 markets: the role of digital platforms
A key element of this transformation is the growing role of platforms originating in the crypto sector, which remain operational even when traditional markets are closed, particularly over weekends.
Theo’s Chief Investment Officer, Iggy Ioppe, explained in an interview with Euronews that the shift to continuous trading is no longer optional.
“It is not a matter of preference. It is becoming a structural necessity. We saw this clearly during the Strait of Hormuz closure. Traditional markets were inactive over the weekend, and tokenised gold and oil were the only transparent markets, traded continuously and able to reflect real-time demand for safe haven assets,” said Ioppe.
Andrei Grachev, Managing Partner at DWF Labs, also highlighted how recent events have accelerated this shift.
“A clear example occurred on 28 February this year, when US and Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities were announced on a Saturday morning. All major commodity exchanges, including CME, NYMEX, and ICE, were closed. Traders responded by moving to decentralised perpetual futures platforms for oil, gold, and silver,” Grachev noted.
When traditional markets reopen, price levels are often influenced by activity on always-on digital infrastructures. This signals a shift in global price discovery dynamics.
Tokenisation and traditional finance: an inevitable convergence
The boundary between traditional finance and blockchain-based infrastructure is gradually narrowing. Trading desks, macro funds, and multi-strategy asset managers are actively exploring these digital architectures, which address operational limitations common to traditional markets.
A recent report by the International Monetary Fund, authored by Tobias Adrian, describes this shift as a “structural reconfiguration” of the global financial system. The report highlights how atomic settlement and programmability improve capital efficiency while reducing the time buffers that banks and regulators rely on during periods of market stress.
According to the IMF, ensuring stability in these new markets requires a “public anchor” of trust, particularly through instruments such as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Without such mechanisms, the speed of tokenised systems could trigger instant liquidity crises that are difficult to contain.
Tokenised assets: what they are and why they attract capital
Real-world assets, commonly referred to as RWA, include physical assets and traditional financial instruments such as gold, oil, real estate, government bonds and equities. Their tokenisation involves the digital representation of economic value and ownership rights on a blockchain.
In practical terms, this takes the form of a digital receipt recorded on a distributed ledger, representing either a fraction or the entirety of the underlying asset.
Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, is among the prominent supporters of this change. In his 2026 annual letter to investors, he wrote, “Tokenisation could help accelerate the future by upgrading the core infrastructure of the financial system and making investments easier to issue, trade and access.”
BlackRock has launched the BUIDL fund to support this vision. It tokenises US Treasuries on a public blockchain and has reached nearly $3 billion in assets under management.
Perpetual futures: the engine of markets without closing hours
Perpetual futures contracts are a key component in this system. These derivatives enable investors to continuously track asset prices without having to hold the underlying asset or be limited by a set expiry date. Their structure supports 24/7 trading and hedging, essential for markets that no longer pause for traditional hours.
Unlike traditional futures, perpetual contracts can be held indefinitely. Their balance is maintained through the so-called funding rate, a periodic fee that aligns long and short positions.
Holding a perpetual futures contract gives synthetic exposure to the underlying asset. This enables continuous trading even when spot markets are closed. Industry estimates show this market moves tens of billions of dollars per day and continues to attract institutions.
Atomic settlement and emerging liquidity challenges
Moving to atomic settlement is a major change from traditional finance. Conventional systems settle transactions after a delay of 1 or 2 business days, known as T+1 or T+2. In tokenised systems, execution and settlement occur simultaneously.
While this reduces counterparty risk, it significantly increases the demand for immediate liquidity. Institutions must therefore adopt more advanced capital management frameworks and increasingly sophisticated automation systems.
At present, a large share of these transactions is conducted using stablecoins issued by private entities, an aspect the IMF considers a potential systemic risk. This has led to growing attention on public settlement solutions such as CBDCs.
Grachev pointed out an additional concern. “The market infrastructure supporting always-on tokenised trading is still trying to keep pace with the demand it generates. This gap between product capability and operational readiness is currently one of the most underestimated risks in the space.”
The data challenge: pricing, latency and reliability
Another critical issue concerns the quality of price data. In 24/7 markets, liquidity depends on reliable, up-to-date and low-latency data feeds.
“The price data infrastructure is probably the most critical unresolved challenge in 24/7 tokenised markets. When providing continuous liquidity across decentralised and regulated venues, the quality, latency and reliability of price feeds directly determine profitability and risk exposure,” Ioppe outlined.
As regulated players and institutional capital enter the space, the standards platforms must meet are rising rapidly. This trend favours operators capable of combining technological innovation with robust regulatory frameworks.
The future of markets: integration between traditional finance and blockchain
The future of finance appears increasingly oriented towards a hybrid model in which traditional infrastructure and blockchain technologies coexist and integrate. Competition will depend on market participants’ ability to adapt to an environment that is faster, more interconnected, and continuously active.
According to Grachev, the platforms that succeed will be those able to evolve in this direction. “The platforms that remain relevant will be those that use this speed to genuinely improve their standards, rather than simply bypass regulation. As institutional investment increases, compliance infrastructure will increasingly determine which venues attract significant capital and which do not.”
In a world shaped by sudden crises and increasingly interconnected global markets, finance can no longer afford to pause. The transition towards 24/7 tokenised markets is no longer a future scenario but a reality already taking shape.
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