The war in Iran has set oil on fire and crypto exchanges are rushing to offer 24/7 trading to fill trading gaps, with most copying decentralized giant Hyperliquid’s perpetual futures game.
Crypto market giant Wintermute is taking a different approach. On Tuesday, its derivatives unit, Wintermute Asia, launched over-the-counter (OTC) trading of contracts for difference (CFDs) in WTI crude oil.
CFDs are a type of derivative product that allows traders to speculate on the price movement of an asset without owning it. Similar to futures contracts, CFDs track the price of the asset, but the main difference is that only the difference between the opening and closing prices is exchanged between the trader and broker when closing the contract.
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 across stocks, forex and commodities like oil and gold. These are usually 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 universal derivatives products such as Hyperliquid’s perpetual oil futures contracts.
The launch of Wintermute CFDs comes amid weeks of intense geopolitical volatility in the Middle East. Escalating tensions between Iran and the U.S.-Israeli coalition have left traders in a bind on weekends, when traditional financial markets are closed, limiting their ability to adjust positions or effectively manage risks. This led to inordinate trading activity on Hyperliquide’s perpetual energy market and prompted WIntermute to offer CFDs.
“We are seeing strong demand from counterparties looking to use digital asset infrastructure to trade traditional commodities like oil. Recent price action has made this need much more immediate, as many investors have been unable to act until traditional venues reopen,” said Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of Wintermute.
“A Wintermute counterparty could have traded the weekend move before Monday’s interval or reacted immediately to the reversal,” Gaevoy added.
Note that Wintermute is a CFD counterparty. Traders are not put in contact with each other; they trade directly against Wintermute, which assumes market risk. The company therefore relies on its risk management systems and significant liquidity to monetize demand for crude 24/7, rather than simply providing liquidity to perpetual futures contracts.
Traders can access WTI CFDs without trading fees, using a variety of fiat and crypto assets as margin, the official announcement states. 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.
