Trump tweets after market close, pushing on-chain perpetual contracts into the mainstream
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Trump tweets after market close, pushing on-chain perpetual contracts into the mainstream
The growth environment for perpetual contracts is becoming increasingly favorable.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: FintechFrank
Translated and edited by TechFlow
TechFlow Intro: This article captures an unfolding structural shift: Trump’s habit of issuing market-moving statements after market hours coincides precisely with the rise of 24/7 trading infrastructure. Over the same weekend, Hyperliquid’s S&P 500 proxy product experienced three sharp, Trump-tweet-driven price swings—not a coincidence, but a preview of a new normal.
Full text below:
Trump calls himself the “Crypto President,” but in many ways, he is also the “Perpetual Contract President.”
It’s well known that Trump doesn’t sleep—and he unhesitatingly issues market-shaking remarks outside traditional trading hours. It’s a strange yet fitting backdrop: markets are evolving toward round-the-clock trading, and we happen to have a president best described as “spontaneous—and sometimes chaotic.”
This dynamic played out in full over the weekend.
Just days after S&P Global announced it would license S&P 500 trading for Hyperliquid, Trump stated on Friday afternoon—after U.S. markets had closed—that the U.S. was “very close to achieving our goals.” Hyperliquid’s S&P 500 proxy product immediately rose.
Then, at 7:44 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, Trump escalated his threat, declaring he would strike Iranian power facilities if the Strait of Hormuz remained closed. The reaction was instantaneous: Hyperliquid’s S&P 500 proxy plunged.
That wasn’t the end. On Monday morning, Trump claimed the U.S. and Iran had held talks toward a “comprehensive and complete resolution of hostile relations.” S&P 500 futures surged more than 3.5%. Then Iran denied Trump’s claim.
Trump’s presidency may not be driving the arrival of 24/7 markets—but it has made ignoring them impossible.
It remains unclear which perpetual contract product will dominate—or whether perpetual contracts will become the primary structure for 24/7 markets. Historically, futures have been far less familiar to U.S. retail investors than options, and whether traditional brokers can successfully introduce these products to their client base remains an open question. I’m skeptical. What works in crypto markets doesn’t necessarily translate cleanly to traditional finance users.
Still, growth is undeniable.
Open interest on perpetual contract DEX platforms has surged dramatically. In January 2026, perpetual contract DEX trading volume reached $739 billion—accounting for 10.2% of total crypto perpetual contract volume, up from just 2.0% two years earlier.
As illustrated in the chart by Carlos Guzman and Slater Santer of GSR Research, news flow across both centralized and decentralized perpetual contract markets has accelerated since the HYPE token generation event (TGE):
This morning brought fresh momentum within the GSR ecosystem:
Katana acquired early decentralized exchange IDEX and launched Katana Perps—a platform designed to unify spot and derivatives trading on-chain. This is CEO Matthew Fisher’s first major move since taking the helm, reflecting a strategic push to control more of the trading stack and capture greater economic value.
The move also highlights a broader shift: the environment for perpetual contracts is becoming increasingly favorable. Here’s how Katana puts it:
“This announcement comes as U.S. regulators send clear signals permitting crypto perpetual contracts—marking a potential inflection point for on-chain derivatives. At the same time, trading activity continues migrating toward 24/7 markets, with price discovery happening increasingly in real time rather than within fixed trading hours. As global markets adapt to this new reality—where macro risks no longer wait for market hours—the importance of a continuous, 24/7 trading environment is reinforced.”
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@fintechfrank
