Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has emerged as a key platform for around-the-clock trading of gold and silver. This conclusion was reached by analysts at DL Research in a report examining the convergence of traditional and cryptocurrency markets.

Historically, traditional finance and cryptocurrencies operated as two isolated systems. Now, both sectors are merging: stock exchanges are extending trading hours, while crypto exchanges are adding traditional finance functionalities.

“Among traditional assets, commodities provide one of the clearest examples of this shift. The broader commodities market is valued at over $135 trillion in nominal terms and includes energy resources, precious and industrial metals, as well as agricultural products. In practice, most participants do not seek physical delivery but gain exposure through instruments such as ETFs, futures, options, and perpetual contracts,” the report states.

The gap between the systems creates a structural problem: macroeconomic events occur around the clock, while traditional exchanges are closed for several hours each day. According to DL Research, from 2020 to 2025, the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) generated a +47% return during off-hours and +29% during regular trading hours. For the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ), the figures were +53% versus +30%.

Exchange-Traded Commodities Move On-Chain

According to DeFiLlama, the market capitalization of tokenized real-world assets (RWA) has grown from $4.3 billion to $22 billion over the past year. Tokenized exchange-traded commodities increased from $1.1 billion to $6.4 billion during the same period, making it one of the largest categories of RWA after tokenized U.S. Treasury securities.

Approximately 95% of the tokenized commodities market is represented by gold — with tokens XAUT ($3.7 billion) and PAXG ($2.4 billion). Over the year, the number of XAUT holders rose from 3,000 to 30,000, while PAXG holders increased from 48,000 to 98,000. The cumulative volume of DEX trading of tokenized gold surged from $1.4 billion to $8.4 billion, and the share of PAXG transactions through decentralized exchanges climbed from 5% to 20%.

Perpetual contracts for commodities have become the primary tool for continuous pricing on Binance. Unlike traditional futures, they trade without an expiration date, with leverage and continuous funding rate recalculations.

According to CryptoQuant, on March 6, the total trading volume of perpetual contracts for traditional assets on Binance exceeded $130 billion with 90 million trades just two months after the product's launch in early January.

Gold accounts for 25% to 65% of the total volume of TradFi futures on Binance, while silver takes the remaining share and occasionally exceeds 70% on certain days. Other metals (palladium, platinum) and stocks (AMZN, COIN, CIRCL, HOOD, INTC, MSTR, PLTR, TSLA) generate significantly lower volumes — $45 million and $16 million, respectively.

DL Research estimates that this trading density and continuous global participation create conditions for real-time price formation — without the gaps typical of traditional exchanges with fixed schedules.

In March, the New York Stock Exchange announced a partnership with RWA platform Securitize. Together, they will develop infrastructure for around-the-clock trading of tokenized assets.

Previously, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved Nasdaq's proposal to trade tokenized stocks.