On-chain perpetual futures tied to real-world commodities, including oil and precious metals, have surged in trading volume, signaling a shift from altcoins to commodity-linked digital assets, according to a Thursday report by the digital asset bank Sygnum. Trading activity on Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 perpetual futures—oil and precious metals—now accounts for more than 67% of HIP-3 contracts in Q1 2026, the report shows. This marks a departure from earlier dynamics when indexes dominated HIP-3 trading.
Previously, indexes accounted for about 90% of HIP-3 trading activity, but their share has fallen to around 17%, according to Sygnum. The report notes that HIP-3 trading activity has surged roughly ninefold since January 2026, likely reflecting crypto-native traders rotating into traditional assets as the broader altcoin market underperforms.
Analysts say the increased momentum toward on-chain RWAs is supported by a 250% year-over-year surge in the market capitalization of tokenized real-world assets. There are about $23 billion in tokenized RWAs traded on permissionless blockchain networks, according to the report. Traders are viewing altcoins as leveraged BTC proxies, a shift that pushes capital toward traditional asset perps tradable in the same wallet with the same margin.
The surge in on-chain perps comes as the Middle East conflict drives energy prices higher; oil has spiked to around $120 per barrel, posing broader inflation risks. In the same macro backdrop, many altcoins have fallen 80-90% from their all-time highs, underscoring the rotation toward asset-backed digital instruments.
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