Bitwise CIO: US-Iran Strikes Prove Onchain Finance Is No Longer Optional
The coordinated U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran announced early Sunday, February 28, 2026 — which reportedly killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — created a rare moment when traditional financial markets were largely closed while crypto markets operated 24/7.
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan described this weekend as “the weekend that changed finance” in a memo published March 3, 2026. With U.S. stock & futures markets, FX, European exchanges, and most Asian markets offline, investors turned to crypto-native systems for immediate price discovery and risk management.
Onchain Markets Became “The Market” on Sunday
Hougan highlighted several venues that saw outsized activity:
- Hyperliquid perpetual futures → significant volume spikes, especially in crypto and real-world asset (RWA) contracts (oil, metals)
- Tether’s tokenized gold (XAUT) → over $300 million in 24-hour trading volume
- Prediction markets (Kalshi, Polymarket) → record volume highs
- Bitcoin and Ethereum → heightened attention and trading
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.”
“No Longer a Choice” – Professional Traders Must Adapt
Hougan argued the event dramatically accelerated the shift toward onchain finance:
“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. This weekend proved me wrong. Now I’m convinced it’s going to happen much faster than that.”
He concluded that hedge funds, banks, and competitive traders “no longer have a choice” but to engage with onchain tools:
- Set up stablecoin wallets
- Learn to trade on decentralized perpetuals (e.g., Hyperliquid)
- Understand tokenized RWAs (e.g., XAUT, tokenized equities)
“Because even if you don’t, everyone else will.”
Broader Implications for 2026
The incident reinforces crypto’s role as a global, always-on risk market during geopolitical crises when legacy infrastructure sleeps. Analysts expect:
- Increased institutional onboarding to onchain venues
- Faster adoption of tokenized real-world assets
- Greater regulatory focus on prediction markets and tokenized products
Bitcoin held near $66,772 (down ~1%) and Ethereum at $1,971 (down 2.2%) during Asian trading Monday, showing relative resilience compared with sharper equity declines and oil’s surge.
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