Digital Assets Are Rewriting Wall Street’s Weekend Playbook

Digital assets are reshaping the way Wall Street invests, market participants say.

CoinDesk reported on July 27 that around-the-clock trading in digital assets and perpetual futures is eroding the traditional “weekend effect” in U.S. financial markets. The term refers to institutions cutting positions before Friday’s close to avoid being caught off guard by developments that unfold while markets are shut over the weekend.

CME Group Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy said risk does not adhere to the calendar. Taking those risks into account, he said, financial markets are headed toward 24-hour trading.

Mustafa Al-Nayema of Mysten Labs said Wall Street investors tend to focus more on reducing weekend risk than on returns by the time Friday arrives.

That long-standing habit is now facing a major turning point because of digital assets. Perpetual futures in the digital-asset market trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week. More recently, digital-asset exchanges have also seen active trading in perpetual futures tied to underlying assets such as crude oil and stocks.

A prominent example came during the war between the U.S. and Iran over a weekend. With traditional oil markets closed, investors piled into crude oil futures on Hyperliquid, sending trading volume on the exchange sharply higher.

Energy Aspects said the emergence of 24-hour perpetual futures has allowed investors to respond to moves in oil prices even on weekends. That, the energy research firm said, is reducing Friday volatility in the crude market. It added that if Wall Street adopts the model, institutions could make active use of it as a hedging tool.

Still, large Wall Street institutions remain limited in their participation in perpetual futures. Banks, clearinghouses and other parts of the traditional financial infrastructure do not operate on weekends.

Bitget Chief Executive Officer Gracy Chen said institutional interest is growing, but retail investors still appear to account for most of the current trading volume. The issue is less whether institutions can trade than whether they see enough profitability to invest in the necessary infrastructure.

Duffy said broader participation will remain difficult until the financial infrastructure that now operates from Monday to Friday is extended to weekends.