Crypto giant debuts oil trading, but it's a different model to Hyperliquid's perps

The Iran war has set oil on fire and crypto exchanges are racing to offer 24/7 trading to fill tradfi gaps, with most copying decentralized giant Hyperliquid's perpetual-futures play.

Crypto market-making giant Wintermute is taking 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 type of derivative that allows traders to speculate on the price movement of an asset without owning it. Similar to futures, CFDs track the asset’s price, but the key difference is that only the difference between the opening and closing prices is exchanged between the trader and the broker when the contract is closed.

CFDs are widely popular in traditional markets, particularly in Europe, Asia and Australia, where retail and institutional traders use them to access a broad range of assets from stocks, forex and commodities like oil and gold. These are typically traded over-the-counter and can be tailored in terms of size, duration and margin requirements.

This bespoke 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 U.S.–Israel coalition have left traders in a bind over weekends when traditional finance markets are closed, limiting their ability to adjust positions or manage risk effectively. This led to outsized trading activity on Hyperliquid's energy market perpetuals 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 that need much more immediate, as many investors were unable to act until traditional venues reopened,” said Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of Wintermute.

“A Wintermute counterparty could have traded the weekend move before the Monday gap or responded immediately to the reversal," Gaevoy added.

Note that Wintermute is a counterparty in the CFD. Traders aren’t matched with each other; they are trading directly against Wintermute, which is taking on the market risk. The firm is, therefore, leveraging its risk management systems and deep liquidity to monetize demand for 24/7 crude than simply supplying liquidity to perpetual futures.

Traders can access WTI CFDs with zero trading fees, using a variety 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 broadening Wintermute Asia’s suite of offerings beyond purely digital assets.