Crypto commodity perps reach $25B weekly amid oil spike

Crypto commodity perpetual swaps recorded weekly volume of $25.0 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 65,463% from $38.1 million, BitMEX reported. Silver, crude oil and gold accounted for the bulk of the growth.

BitMEX said tokenized commodity perpetuals were the fastest-growing segment of TradFi-style perpetual swaps in Q1 2026. By the week of March 15, market share among tokenized commodity contracts stood at about 34.8% for silver (XAG), 27.7% for crude oil (CL), 27.5% for gold (XAU) and roughly 6% for silver on Hyperliquid.

The exchange linked the March listing of crude oil contracts to Iran-related geopolitical tensions and to demand for round-the-clock commodity exposure on crypto-native venues. Traders increased use of onchain perpetuals to react to volatile events outside regular market hours, including weekends.

Stephan Lutz, BitMEX chief executive officer, said:

Onchain TradFi perps are driving traders to speculate and hedge against weekend geopolitical events like the recent Iran conflict, in real time. While the perpetual swaps model will continue to capture significant market share in commodities trading due to its 24/7 nature, we are highly skeptical about tokenizing spot assets.

Brent crude provided a price backdrop for the surge. Market data show Brent rose about 44% after initial strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, moving from roughly $69 to above $99 at the time of the report and peaking near $114 on Tuesday.

Despite the volume increase in derivatives, the total market capitalization of onchain commodities declined 2.7% over the prior 30 days to $7.34 billion, according to data from RWA.xyz. BitMEX noted it now offers more than 20 TradFi-style contracts and that it launched the first perpetual swap in 2016.

Other exchanges expanded commodity offerings in Q1. Binance introduced gold and silver perpetuals in January; BitMEX reported Binance’s silver (XAG) contract averaged $1.31 billion in daily volume during the quarter. To compare real fees, spreads, and usability across different platforms, see our review of the best crypto exchange.

BitMEX warned that onchain derivatives could continue to gain trading share from traditional venues until established exchanges offer 24/7 commodity trading, and that legal and operational rules make tokenizing physical commodities difficult to scale.