Expiry-less futures are spreading from bitcoin into gold, equities and FX. Institutions are watching, not buying
“Hyperliquid, for example, traded billions in volume in a very short time when the war started, which included oil contracts, gold and silver at the beginning of the year,” says David Olsson, chief operating officer at crypto exchange EDX Markets. “Meaningful volumes in traditional assets have already started in perps.”
Singapore-based EDXM International itself listed a Korean won FX perp in March, just in time to catch the surge in interest in Korean equities as prices for the Kospi index, SK Hynix and Samsung spiked before falling back later in the summer.
Olsson says the contract allows users to avoid the technical challenges of trading won, given it’s a restricted currency with convertibility issues. A centrally traded and cleared perp cuts out bank intermediaries, and he says that for short-horizon trades it costs less than an over-the-counter forward contract from a dealer.
“Access to Korean won markets can be limited for international market participants due to the country’s regulatory framework,” Olsson says. “For firms looking to hedge Korean won exposure or speculate on it, it’s important to have tools that operate within the applicable regulatory requirements.”