Maybe we were wrong about blockchain, Bloomberg suggests, as perps go mainstream

Bloomberg is floating a different idea about blockchain in traditional finance. The reason is perpetual futures, or “perps,” a crypto-native trading product that is moving into markets for stocks, metals, and oil. The product that crypto built A traditional futures contract is a bet on a future price with a fixed end date. A perpetual future drops the end date. Traders can hold a leveraged position for as long as they like. BitMEX popularized the product in 2016. Since then, perps have become the dominant form of crypto derivatives trading, making up the majority of the sector’s volume. Open interest across crypto perps sits at approximately $67–81 billion. Open interest is the total value of positions still open, so it measures how much money is actually riding on these contracts. Open interest across non-crypto perps has reached around $9 billion. Bloomberg’s reporting links the perp boom to a $62 trillion market spanning stocks, metals, and oil. Hyperliquid and Ripple move in Much of the momentum traces back to Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange built around perpetual futures, where trades settle on a blockchain rather than through a traditional clearing intermediary. Hyperli...