A new BitMEX research report argues that perpetual swaps, a derivatives structure born in crypto markets, are rapidly expanding into traditional financial assets. According to the report, weekly volume in so-called TradFi perpetual swaps rose from $525.8 million at the start of 2026 to $30.7 billion in the first quarter, with a late-February peak of $54.5 billion. BitMEX said these contracts now account for 1.72% of all exchange-traded crypto derivatives activity.
The report frames the shift as more than a short-lived trading fad. Instead, it describes a structural broadening of the perpetual swap model from crypto-native assets into markets such as gold, silver, crude oil, and U.S. equities. BitMEX, which introduced the XBTUSD perpetual contract in 2016, said exchanges are now adapting the same mechanism to asset classes historically tied to fixed trading hours and legacy market infrastructure.
Commodities drove the breakout in Q1
BitMEX identified two phases in the first-quarter expansion. In January and February, precious metals were the main catalyst. In March, crude oil became the dominant new growth engine. The report said commodity perpetuals as a whole surged by 65,463%, reaching $25.0 billion in weekly trading volume.
A major inflection point came after Binance launched gold and silver perpetual contracts in January 2026. BitMEX data shows Binance recorded the sharpest individual increase among tracked exchanges, with volume growth of 74,536.6%. By the time of publication, Binance held 62.7% of the total TradFi perpetual market, according to the report.
By the week of March 15, silver had become the largest segment of the commodity perpetual market, accounting for 34.8% of volume. Crude oil followed at 27.7%, while gold represented 27.5%. Smaller portions of the market were attributed to copper, platinum, and palladium contracts.
March brought a new layer of momentum as oil markets reacted to geopolitical developments linked to Iran. BitMEX said crude oil perpetual volume jumped from zero to $6.9 billion per week. The report also noted that broader media coverage highlighted one of the category’s most distinctive features: the ability to trade oil 24/7 through crypto derivatives venues, unlike traditional commodity markets with fixed hours.
Exchange competition intensified as volumes climbed
While Binance emerged as the dominant venue by market share, it was not the only platform posting sharp expansion. Hyperliquid grew 953.4% and reached 29.7% market share in TradFi perpetuals, based on BitMEX’s figures. BitMEX itself reported 1,322.6% volume growth, which the company described as the second-best growth rate among the major platforms it tracked, ahead of Hyperliquid and Aster.
The report also pointed to competitive shifts elsewhere in the market. Bitget enabled weekend trading for TradFi pairs in February 2026 after previously halting activity on Saturdays and Sundays. Lighter, which reportedly held 30.7% of TradFi perpetual volume in late 2025, lost ground during the first quarter and recorded a 30.4% contraction in volume, despite its December 2025 token generation event.
Equity perpetuals also expanded
Beyond commodities, equity perpetuals posted notable gains. BitMEX said weekly volume in this category rose 908% to $4.9 billion, with a peak of $5.7 billion in the week of March 8. The single largest equity perpetual by volume was Hyperliquid’s XYZ100 Nasdaq 100 index product, which made up 42.2% of all equity perpetual trading.
Other actively traded names included Nvidia, Strategy, Tesla, and Circle. Robinhood stock also ranked among the ten most-traded equity perpetual contracts, showing that trader interest was not limited to benchmark index exposure but had expanded to individual equities associated with technology, crypto, and retail trading themes.
How perpetual swaps are being adapted to traditional assets
The report revisited the basic mechanics of the perpetual swap model. Unlike dated futures, perpetuals do not expire. Instead, they rely on a funding rate system to keep the contract price aligned with an underlying spot index. When the perpetual trades above spot, long holders typically pay shorts at scheduled intervals, often every eight hours. When it trades below spot, shorts pay longs. This self-correcting structure removes the need for quarterly contract rollovers.
Applying that model to traditional assets, however, introduces complications. Commodities and equities do not trade continuously throughout the weekend in their underlying markets. As a result, exchanges have had to design their own methods for handling periods when the spot reference market is offline.
BitMEX said Binance freezes its index at Friday’s close and applies a smoothed exponential weighted moving average with a plus or minus 3% deviation constraint. Hyperliquid uses a similar framework, with crude oil capped at plus or minus 5%. BitMEX said its own system allows the internal order book to continue moving within a rolling 2% hourly limit, enabling ongoing weekend price discovery without a hard stop.
Weekend pricing differences created arbitrage opportunities
According to the report, those design differences became especially visible during the March oil market moves. When crude prices gapped higher over a weekend on geopolitical news, Hyperliquid’s WTIOIL contract reportedly hit its 5% ceiling and stopped tracking the move in full. BitMEX’s WTIUSDT contract, by contrast, continued trading.
BitMEX analysts said that discrepancy created an actionable spread until traditional markets reopened on Monday and other venues adjusted. The report also flagged a second source of opportunity: funding-rate divergence across exchanges. For example, BitMEX said its SPY contract ran at a negative 119.22% annualized funding rate on weekdays, meaning long holders were paid rather than charged.
In another case cited by the report, the Coinbase stock contract showed a negative 105.23% annualized funding rate on BitMEX versus a positive 1.04% rate on Hyperliquid. BitMEX calculated that a long-short position across the two venues could generate an annualized spread of roughly 106% with limited directional exposure. Similar opportunities were cited for MicroStrategy at 52.92% and Apple at 37.33%, based on the exchange’s 30-day average funding-rate analysis.
More asset classes may be next
Looking ahead, BitMEX said it plans to expand its TradFi perpetual lineup with Brent crude, natural gas, copper, and platinum contracts. The exchange is also developing forex pairs including EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, and USDJPY. In the report’s view, the perpetual swap format could eventually extend beyond metals, energy, and equities into bonds, agricultural commodities, and interest-rate products.
At the same time, the category may face closer regulatory attention. BitMEX noted that Hyperliquid’s index partnership with S&P Global is drawing scrutiny from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The report said platforms offering leveraged derivatives to U.S. users may need to register as a designated contract market or swap execution facility.
For now, BitMEX’s data presents a market that is still small relative to the broader crypto derivatives complex, but growing quickly enough to command attention from both traders and regulators. With total weekly TradFi perpetual volume standing at $30.7 billion at the time of publication, the report suggests that crypto-native market structures are beginning to reshape how a wider range of global assets can be traded.