Pepperstone has expanded its perpetual CFD lineup beyond digital assets, putting the broker among the early regulated firms applying perpetual market mechanics to traditional asset classes. After launching SPCX.US-PERP, a synthetic perpetual CFD linked to SpaceX, the company said it plans to add perpetual CFDs tied to gold, silver, Nasdaq, the S&P 500, WTI crude and Brent crude.
The move goes beyond a product rollout. It points to a broader shift in market structure, with one of crypto’s most successful derivatives models starting to influence regulated finance. Demand for continuous access, automated execution and markets that reflect nonstop information flows is pushing exchanges, brokers and regulators to revisit the logic of fixed trading sessions.
Perpetual market design is moving out of crypto
Perpetual futures first appeared in crypto in 2016. Their appeal was simple: traders could hold leveraged exposure without the expiry dates of standard futures, while funding payments kept prices aligned with the underlying market. That design quickly became the dominant format in crypto derivatives.
Industry estimates cited in the report place 2025 crypto perpetual futures volume at more than $90 trillion. In parallel, several industry forecasts put the tokenised asset market at roughly $2 trillion today, with projections reaching as much as $16 trillion by 2030. Those numbers help explain why investors increasingly expect to trade when news breaks rather than wait for an exchange opening bell.
Pepperstone keeps the product inside its existing CFD setup
Unlike perpetual futures on crypto exchanges, Pepperstone’s offering sits entirely within its existing CFD infrastructure. Clients do not need crypto wallets, separate exchange collateral or additional onboarding. They keep using their current trading accounts, familiar platforms and the broker’s regulated framework.
Group CEO Tamas Szabo said fixed market hours are becoming outdated as capital, information and risk move continuously, adding that Pepperstone sees perpetual markets becoming a standard feature of modern finance. Research head Chris Weston made a similar point, saying major market-moving developments no longer wait for opening bells and that traders increasingly want access at the moment opportunities appear.
24/7 trading is advancing, but regulators are moving carefully
Pepperstone is part of a wider industry push. Over the past year, several large exchanges have announced plans to extend trading hours or introduce products shaped by crypto market structure. CME Group recently launched Treasury Link, a platform designed to connect U.S. Treasury futures with the cash Treasury market while expanding its broader strategy around continuous market access.
Regulators, though, are not treating the transition as automatic. Last week, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission stopped CME’s attempt to self-certify a 24/7 crude oil futures contract just one day before launch. The agency said it was still evaluating whether continuous trading in energy futures meets statutory core principles, citing concerns tied to market integrity, surveillance and operational resilience.
That episode captures the central tension. Technology can keep markets open, but regulators still need to determine whether liquidity, price discovery, clearing systems and investor protection can operate at the same standard in a nonstop framework.
Broker competition is shifting toward market access
The pressure toward round-the-clock trading is not coming from crypto alone. AI systems generate trading signals at all hours. Geopolitical events often land outside regular sessions. Retail and institutional investors now manage exposure across multiple time zones. Tokenisation adds another layer, because digitally native assets and blockchain-based settlement reduce reliance on traditional exchange infrastructure and make market closures harder to justify.
For CFD brokers, perpetual products also solve a practical issue: clients do not need to roll expiring futures or wait for a market reopen to maintain exposure. Pepperstone says it serves more than 400,000 clients across 160-plus countries. In retail brokerage, competition has long centered on spreads, execution speed and platform tools. That balance is shifting, with access itself becoming a larger point of differentiation.