# Blockchain Markets Stayed Open as Traditional Gold and Oil Trading Paused

By Enna Lee

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/25412
Published: 2026-09-29T15:23:39.000Z
Updated: 2026-09-29T15:23:39.000Z
Section: Investing

> Tokenized gold volumes topped $1.8 billion on centralized exchanges, while Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 markets surpassed $95 billion in cumulative volume.

Blockchain-based markets continued operating while traditional equity and commodity exchanges were closed during a geopolitical shock, keeping tokenized gold and oil-linked perpetual contracts available around the clock.

Bitcoin (BTC) rose roughly 7% after the Feb. 28, 2026, shock. PAX Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAU₮), each representing one fine troy ounce of vaulted gold, together accounted for $6.1 billion of the tokenized-gold market.

Combined spot trading in tokenized gold exceeded $1.8 billion on major centralized exchanges in early February 2026. Volume also topped $1 billion during tensions involving Iran, Israel and the United States. Ethereum on-chain transaction volume for tokenized gold exceeded $1.4 billion on two occasions, with XAU₮ accounting for most of the activity.

PAXG trades continuously on secondary markets, while XAU₮ is available as an Ethereum ERC-20 token. The products provide blockchain-based exposure to physical gold and trade continuously on blockchain-based markets.

Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 system enables third-party builders to create perpetual markets for commodities, equity indexes and other instruments. Builders must stake 500,000 HYPE on mainnet to deploy markets under the system.

HIP-3 markets surpassed $95 billion in cumulative volume and reached about $1.2 billion in open interest, or roughly 20% of total Hyperliquid open interest. Average trade sizes were about $2,700 for gold perpetuals, $3,400 for silver, $2,800 for CL crude and $1,100 for the XYZ100 index.

The CL-USDC crude-oil perpetual recorded a reported high ranging from $109 to $114.77, depending on the data source and measurement window. Open interest rose to about $175 million, while volume reached roughly $1.9 billion over the same period.

Perpetual futures have no expiration date and use funding payments rather than physical delivery. Their continuous availability allows trading to continue when conventional markets are closed, extending blockchain-based market access beyond standard exchange hours.