{"id":94906,"date":"2026-03-04T12:32:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=94906"},"modified":"2026-03-04T12:35:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:35:29","slug":"weekend-halt-of-traditional-exchanges-sparks-global-on-chain-trading-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/weekend-halt-of-traditional-exchanges-sparks-global-on-chain-trading-surge\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Halt of Traditional Exchanges Sparks Global On-Chain Trading Surge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. strikes on Iranian territory have turned cryptocurrencies into the &#8220;world&#8217;s main trading platform.&#8221; This view was <a href=\"https:\/\/experts.bitwiseinvestments.com\/cio-memos\/the-weekend-that-changed-finance\">expressed<\/a> by Bitwise&#8217;s Chief Investment Officer, Matt Hougan.<\/p>\n<p>The military operation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/live-news\/israel-iran-attack-02-28-26-hnk-intl\">came to light<\/a> on the night of February 28, when traditional stock exchanges were closed. To swiftly respond to geopolitical events, investors flocked to 24\/7 on-chain systems.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;For almost the entire Sunday, the on-chain space was the center of the financial world. For the first time in my memory, crypto markets simply became the market, period,&#8221; wrote Hougan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The shift to decentralized environments led to a sharp increase in activity on specialized platforms:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>trading volumes of <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/the-price-of-popularity-and-a-lesson-for-all-hyperliquid\">oil and cryptocurrency futures<\/a> surged on the <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/traders-shift-to-hyperliquid-for-oil-and-gold-trading-amid-geopolitical-tensions\">Hyperliquid<\/a> exchange;<\/li>\n<li>the daily turnover of <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-tokenised-gold-and-why-are-billions-flowing-into-it\">tokenized gold<\/a> from Tether (XAUT) exceeded $300 million;<\/li>\n<li>prediction platforms Kalshi and Polymarket set new trading volume records;<\/li>\n<li>Bitcoin and Ethereum <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/analyst-predicts-bitcoin-surge-amid-flight-to-safety\">attracted<\/a> increased trader attention.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hougan acknowledged that the weekend&#8217;s events prompted him to revise his forecasts. Previously, he believed that on-chain markets would remain peripheral for the next 5-10 years. Now, he is convinced of their rapid integration into traditional finance.<\/p>\n<p>According to the expert, banks, hedge funds, and corporate traders no longer have a choice. To stay in the market, they will need to set up wallets for <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-stablecoins\">stablecoins<\/a>, master trading on <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-decentralised-exchange-dex\">DEX<\/a>, and explore <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-rwas-real-world-assets\">tokenized assets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;Even if you don&#8217;t do it, others will,&#8221; concluded the Bitwise director.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bitcoin&#8217;s Impact on Traditional Investment Portfolios<\/h2>\n<p>Hougan and quantitative analyst Mallika Kolar also updated their research on the role of the first cryptocurrency in a classic investment portfolio consisting of 60% stocks and 40% bonds. The experts analyzed market data from January 2014 to December 2025.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">New study update: Adding bitcoin to a 60\/40 portfolio has increased cumulative and risk-adjusted returns in 100% of three-year holding periods.<\/p>\n<p>The win rate over two years is 93%!<\/p>\n<p>Updated study from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Bitwise?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Bitwise<\/a> with data through year-end 2025. Link and details below. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ekkgiv5HQu\">pic.twitter.com\/ekkgiv5HQu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Matt_Hougan\/status\/2028867907703451764?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 3, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The specialists concluded that Bitcoin effectively enhances risk-adjusted investment returns. However, it requires strict adherence to three rules: long-term holding, regular rebalancing, and strict allocation limits.<\/p>\n<p>During the study period, the basic 60\/40 strategy showed a cumulative return of 127.9% (7.1% annually). Allocating just 2.5% to Bitcoin (with quarterly rebalancing) would have increased the result to 187.4%. A 5% allocation would have doubled the final return to 258.5%. Meanwhile, a 2.5% share minimally impacted the maximum drawdown: 23.7% compared to 22.1% for the classic strategy.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/img-cb55d37e8e32071a-7832942332533796.webp\" alt=\"Screenshot 2026-03-04 115850\" class=\"wp-image-276166\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/static.bitwiseinvestments.com\/Research\/Bitcoins-Role-in-a-Traditional-Portfolio-022026.pdf\">Bitwise<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Bitwise emphasized that the optimal investment horizon is three years or more. The longer the position is held, the more stable the result. Over a one-year period, cryptocurrency increased portfolio returns in 76% of cases, over two years the figure rose to 94%, and for any three-year periods, the success rate reached 100%.<\/p>\n<p>Due to the asset&#8217;s high volatility, failing to lock in profits sharply increases risks. A &#8220;buy and hold&#8221; strategy without rebalancing with a 2.5% Bitcoin share could yield 421.4% returns but would increase the portfolio&#8217;s maximum drawdown to 50.9%. Analysts recommend quarterly rebalancing as the optimal solution\u2014it maintains high profits while keeping volatility within normal limits.<\/p>\n<p>Analysts noted a nonlinear relationship between the volume of Bitcoin in the portfolio and risk metrics. A share from 0.5% to 4.5% has little effect on the maximum drawdown of investments. However, after surpassing the 5% threshold, potential losses begin to rise sharply, and the increase in the Sharpe ratio (return per unit of risk) slows down.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, company representatives emphasized that past successes do not guarantee future results. However, statistics from the past decade confirm that a moderate addition of the first cryptocurrency (up to 5%) structurally improves the performance of any diversified portfolio.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, on March 2, analysts from the London Crypto Club <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/analysts-assess-impact-of-iran-conflict-on-bitcoin-price\">stated<\/a> that the U.S. and Israeli military operation against Iran would positively affect the first cryptocurrency&#8217;s prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. strikes on Iranian territory have turned cryptocurrencies into the &#8220;world&#8217;s main trading platform,&#8221; according to Bitwise&#8217;s Matt Hougan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"U.S. strikes on Iran turned cryptocurrencies into the \"world's main trading platform,\" says Bitwise's Hougan.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18,949,1269,1138,842],"class_list":["post-94906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-bitcoin","tag-bitwise","tag-cryptocurrencies","tag-opinions","tag-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"110","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"U.S. strikes on Iran turned cryptocurrencies into the \"world's main trading platform,\" says Bitwise's Hougan.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94906"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94908,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94906\/revisions\/94908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}