The Iran war has set oil on fire, and crypto exchanges are racing to offer 24/7 trading to fill trading gaps, with most copying decentralized giant Hyperliquid’s perpetual futures play.
Crypto market-making giant Wintermute takes a different approach. On Tuesday, its derivatives unit, Wintermute Asia, launched over-the-counter (OTC) trading in WTI crude oil contracts for difference (CFDs).
CFD is a type of derivative that allows traders to speculate on the price movement of an asset without owning it. Similar to futures, CFDs track the price of the asset, but the key difference is that only the difference between the opening and closing price is exchanged between the trader and the broker when the contract is closed.
CFDs are very popular in traditional markets, particularly in Europe, Asia and Australia, where retail and institutional traders use them to access a wide range of assets from shares, forex and commodities such as oil and gold. These are typically traded over the counter and can be tailored in terms of size, duration and margin requirements.
This tailored flexibility allows professional traders and institutions to design strategies that match specific risk-return objectives, rather than conforming to one-size-fits-all derivatives such as Hyperliquid’s oil perpetual futures.
Wintermute’s CFD launch comes amid weeks of intense geopolitical volatility in the Middle East. Escalating tensions between Iran and the US-Israeli coalition have left traders stranded on weekends when traditional financial markets are closed, limiting their ability to adjust positions or manage risk effectively. This led to overall trading activity in Hyperliquid’s energy markets and prompted WIntermute to offer CFDs.
“We are seeing strong demand from counterparties looking to use digital asset infrastructure to trade traditional products like oil. The recent price action made the need much more immediate as many investors were unable to trade until the traditional venues reopened,” said Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of Wintermute.
“A Wintermute counterparty could have traded the weekend move before the Monday gap or reacted immediately to the reversal,” Gaevoy added.
Note that Wintermute is a counterparty in the CFD. Traders are not matched with each other; they trade directly against Wintermute, which assumes the market risk. The firm therefore leverages its risk management systems and deep liquidity to monetize the demand for 24/7 crude oil rather than simply providing liquidity for perpetual futures.
Traders can access WTI CFDs with zero trading fees using a range of fiat and crypto assets as margin, the official announcement said. Contracts can be executed via chat, Wintermute’s electronic OTC platform or API. The rollout builds on the recent introduction of tokenized gold, further expanding Wintermute Asia’s range of offerings beyond purely digital assets.
