Analysis: Iran conflict drives the market toward 24/7 trading, on-chain platforms become new all-weather price discovery scenarios

ME News report, May 15 (UTC+8). The escalation of the Iran situation is becoming a real-world stress test for the financial markets’ ability to trade “24/7.” Market analyst Huang noted that, amid the latest geopolitical conflict, traders did not wait for traditional financial markets to open; instead, they traded directly through blockchain infrastructure. On on-chain platforms such as Hyperliquid, assets including crude oil and gold undergo round-the-clock price discovery and risk hedging.

Analysis suggests that the current speed of information dissemination has long since outpaced the response mechanisms of traditional markets. News spreads instantly across time zones, but traditional trading systems are still constrained by opening hours and weekend closures, causing prices to be unable to reflect the latest information in real time. As a result, volatility and liquidity shocks are often released in concentrated bursts when markets reopen.

By contrast, blockchain networks provide 24/7 operation and real-time settlement capabilities, enabling traders to continuously adjust their positions even during non-trading hours. This is viewed as a supplement to— and in some cases an alternative pathway to— the structure of traditional markets. During this Iran conflict, the “no-rest” market model has further highlighted its value.

Analysts point out that the core contradiction lies in a structural mismatch between market infrastructure and the information environment. Although traditional financial systems still retain advantages in liquidity and scale, time boundaries are increasingly becoming a source of efficiency loss—particularly in macro conditions marked by high volatility and frequent sudden events.

At the same time, on-chain derivatives platforms represented by Hyperliquid are testing the feasibility of 24/7 markets and gradually taking on some of the risk-pricing functions during weekends and outside trading hours. However, the industry generally agrees that today’s on-chain systems still face constraints in terms of liquidity depth, performance, and institutional-grade risk controls, making it difficult for them to fully replace traditional exchanges in the short term.

Overall, the market is gradually shifting from “trading-session-driven” to “information-driven perpetual trading,” and competition at the infrastructure level is accelerating. (Source: ODAILY)