'No longer a choice': Bitwise CIO says US-Iran strikes put crypto in primary market role

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said the U.S. military strike on Iran over the weekend pushed crypto and onchain markets into a primary role for global price discovery.

In a memo titled "The Weekend That Changed Finance," Hougan described how President Donald Trump's Feb. 28 announcement of the attack at 2:30 a.m. exposed the limitations of traditional markets.

"For most of Sunday, onchain finance was the center of the financial world," Hougan wrote. "It was the first time I remember crypto-enabled markets being 'the market,' full stop."

On the day, major venues — including U.S. stock and futures markets, foreign exchange, European exchanges, and Asian markets — were inactive, except for a limited number of Middle Eastern stock markets.

Amid the massive global shake-up, investors turned to crypto-based systems that operate around the clock. Hougan noted that Hyperliquid saw significant spikes in volume, particularly in perpetual futures contracts tied to crypto assets and real-world items such as crude oil.

Tether's tokenized gold product XAUT recorded over $300 million in 24-hour trading volume, while prediction markets, including Kalshi and Polymarket, reached new volume highs. Bitcoin and Ethereum also drew heightened attention, Hougan said.

No longer a choice

This development, in essence, accelerated the shift toward onchain finance, according to the Bitwise CIO. 

"I thought that crypto-enabled markets would grow up along the edges — that, for the next 5-10 years, they would mostly serve crypto natives and others who don't fit cleanly into the traditional financial system," Hougan said. "This weekend proved me wrong. Now I'm convinced it's going to happen much faster than that."

Hougan said that hedge funds, banks, or any other competitive traders now "no longer have a choice" but to join onchain finance — from setting up stablecoin wallets, to learning how to trade on Hyperliquid and understanding assets such as XAUT and tokenized stocks.

"Because even if you don't, everyone else will," Hougan added.