Oil volatility boosted crypto market adoption, as HIP-3 became the main venue to trade WTI and Brent futures. As Cryptopolitan reported, oil became a hot topic on crypto social media at a time when tokens were stagnant and BTC was sliding. Soon, oil also established a highly liquid and contested market with high open interest and volumes.
The oil market allows for directional bets, while the price fluctuates around the $100 mark. Uncertain deliveries and news of the war on Iran allow for up or down moves and potential outsized gains. The rise of oil trading followed the previous hype around silver and gold, mostly related to geopolitical risks.
Oil is even more correlated to current events, inviting traders with exposure to both Hyperliquid and Polymarket.
Oil stands just below top crypto assets on Hyperliquid
This put the XYZ:CL futures at the top with $296.68M in open interest and a $500M open interest cap. The futures also have the highest volume on HIP-3, with over $674M in 24 hours, surpassing Brent, as well as gold and silver.
Oil futures on HIP-3 moved close to the activity of established crypto assets, as crypto natives chose a new target for a directional trade. | Source:
At the peak, WTI contracts achieved over $1.2B in daily trading. The contract even briefly expanded above Ethereum’s volume on Hyperliquid, and was second only to BTC trading, with $3.6B in daily volumes. Hyperliquid also noted that RWA futures reached record activity in March.
Oil futures have been used for momentum trading and can react quickly with 24/7 trading hours. The commodity futures still caused liquidations when the official price corrected to under $80 the previous week.
Abraxas Capital has started shorting oil
As oil levels remain uncertain, Abraxas Capital added futures trading to its crypto strategy. Abraxas opened a short position on crude light oil by Trade.XYZ, with a notional value of over $14M.
The position is currently holding unrealized losses of $449K. At the same time, Abraxas has switched long on BTC, potentially predicting that the war in Iran and pressures on oil would reverse and BTC would resume its bull market.
Abraxas is just one of the players on a platform that is still mostly reserved for crypto-native whales and retail traders. The market’s rise shows crypto platforms are quick to adapt and secure liquidity, along with clear trends and rising mindshare.
Unlike Hyperliquid’s perpetual futures contracts, no other forms of tokenized oil have gained attention, showing that liquidity is more valuable than simple tokenization.
The price of crude oil on Hyperliquid is speculative and does not directly affect traditional markets. HIP-3 relies on Hyperliquid validators to offer on-chain data on the price of oil. The market is still at risk for mass liquidations and increased volatility.
