Trading volumes for perpetual futures on oil and silver at the Hyperliquid exchange exceeded $1.3 billion in a single day, outpacing leading altcoins.

The trading volume for derivatives linked to precious metals reached $685 million. The WTI fuel figure stood at $335 million, while Brent was at $334 million. The total open interest in these markets is estimated at $730 million.

Source: Hyperliquid.

For comparison, the trading volume for Solana was $181 million, and XRP was $30 million. Both coins are in the top 10 by market capitalization, valued at $83 billion and $49 billion, respectively.

The popularity of non-cryptocurrency instruments on Hyperliquid surged sharply following the onset of the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran. Perpetual contracts for oil, gold, silver, stocks, and indices are available around the clock, attracting a new audience to the platform.

Oil Rally and Macroeconomics

The spike in activity on DEX is largely driven by geopolitics. Over the past weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum: Tehran must unblock the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, or U.S. forces will strike Iranian power plants.

Against this backdrop, the price of Brent crude jumped 2.4% to $109. WTI rose by 1% to $99.

Goldman Sachs analysts have raised their forecasts for the energy market, according to Reuters. They expect Brent to trade at an average of $100 per barrel in March-April, while WTI is projected at $79.

“At the peak of uncertainty, prices could reach $135 per barrel. This level would be necessary if the market prices in a risk premium that leads to a preemptive reduction in demand sufficient to offset supply losses. The scenario includes 10 weeks of minimal supply and a sustained decline in production of 2 million barrels per day over six months,” analysts noted.

IEA head Fatih Birol described the current energy crisis as more severe than the oil shocks of the 1970s. Investors ruled out a cut in the Fed's key rate this year.

Meanwhile, silver has dropped 6.2% in the last 24 hours, trading at $63.4 per ounce at the time of writing.

Bitcoin's Position

The first cryptocurrency remains the most popular asset on Hyperliquid, with a trading volume of $2.1 billion. Open interest is estimated at $1.7 billion.

In the past 24 hours, digital gold has lost 1%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $68,100.

Hourly BTC/USDT chart from Binance. Source: TradingView.

According to MN Trading founder Michaël van de Poppe, the asset is finding support in the current range. He compared the cryptocurrency's dynamics to traditional assets: gold (-25% over two months) and silver (-50%).

Again, a state of boredom in the #Crypto markets. #Bitcoin remains stuck in the range, and is looking like we'll find some support here.

Lower bounds of the range = the area to get interested in.

On the other hand:
— Gold down 25% in 2 months (holy moly)
— Silver down 50% in… pic.twitter.com/c2iGsVV8Fv

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) March 23, 2026

“I’m quite satisfied that Bitcoin isn’t dropping further and is holding,” noted van de Poppe.

The expert anticipates that digital gold will soon bounce back to around $70,000. However, investor Ted Pillows sees a risk of the coin dropping to $50,000.

$BTC continues to form lower highs and lower lows.

The next dump towards the $50,000 level is just a matter of time. pic.twitter.com/nkMqhQIC17

— Ted (@TedPillows) March 22, 2026

Recall that in March, an analyst under the pseudonym Darkfost identified the oil rally as an unfavorable factor for the crypto market.