The daily trading volume of perpetual oil contracts (CL-USDC) on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid surged from $21 million to $1.2 billion, pushing Ethereum from its second place in popularity on the platform.
Open interest in the asset reached $183 million. The trading spike occurred amid sharp price changes and high volatility in commodity markets. As a result, the platform forcibly closed traders’ short positions totaling approximately $75 million in just one day.
Despite mass liquidations, some major players continue to bet on a decline. According to Lookonchain, within five hours, one whale transferred 9.5 million USDC to Hyperliquid to short oil with 20x leverage.
Whale 0x985f deposited 9.5M $USDC into HyperLiquid in the past 5 hours to short #oil with 20x leverage.
Positions:
94,512 xyz:CL($8.17M)
68,974 xyz:BRENTOIL($6.15M)He also shorted multiple tokens, including $HYPE, $PUMP, $XPL, $APT, and $ASTER.https://t.co/5uPPCRKVOl pic.twitter.com/Zuptrv07se
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 10, 2026
His bets include 94,512 xyz:CL contracts worth $8.17 million and 68,974 xyz:BRENTOIL contracts worth $6.15 million. Besides commodities, this trader also opened short positions on several crypto assets, including HYPE, PUMP, XPL, APT, and ASTER tokens.
The perpetual derivative CL-USDC tracks the price of a barrel of WTI crude oil. The platform uses the stablecoin USDC as margin and settlement currency.
The decentralized platform provided traders with round-the-clock access to the commodity market. Users were able to open positions over the weekend while traditional global exchanges were closed. Previously, similar popularity growth on Hyperliquid was demonstrated by gold and silver contracts.
According to Bloomberg, an improvement in global risk appetite contributed to a sharp shift in market sentiment. WTI crude oil fell below $86 per barrel after trading above $119 earlier in the day. Simultaneously, the S&P 500 stock index rose by 1% after a decline of more than 1.5%.
The cryptocurrency market also responded with growth. At the time of writing, digital gold returned to the $70,000 mark, and Ethereum held above the $2,000 level.
Analysts at SignalPlus noted the impact of macroeconomic factors. Experts believe that during periods of high commodity volatility, Bitcoin will continue to serve as a store of value.
Specialists at Bitrue anticipate a return of investor interest in risk assets, provided oil prices stabilize.
Earlier, on March 9, an analyst known as Darkfost described the rise in oil prices as an unfavorable factor for the leading cryptocurrency.