Phemex reported a surge in crude oil perpetual futures trading on its TradFi platform following the US‑Iran ceasefire announcement, with weekly volume rising more than 300% week‑over‑week. The move came amid the largest single‑day oil price swing since the 1991 Gulf War.
The exchange’s TradFi suite offers WTI (XTI) and Brent (XBR) perpetual futures settled in USDT, available 24/7 with no expiry, enabling traders to respond to geopolitical events outside traditional market hours. During the crisis week, weekly crude trading on Phemex TradFi exceeded $300 million, and crude’s portion of total TradFi volume climbed from roughly 3% to about 12%.
On April 7, daily crude volume hit an all‑time high of $85 million, a 4.6× increase compared with prior days, as WTI prices plunged more than 15% within hours of the ceasefire news. More than 8,000 unique traders participated in oil contracts over the week, and single‑day active users trading oil surpassed 2,000 for the first time.
Phemex CEO Federico Variola said the product went from niche to one of the platform’s fastest‑growing categories almost overnight. He noted that when WTI fell roughly $12 after the ceasefire announcement, traditional commodity exchanges were closed, while Phemex users were able to trade immediately and capture the move in real time.
Phemex interprets the spike in oil activity as evidence of growing demand for continuous market access as cross‑asset volatility increasingly mirrors real‑time geopolitical developments. The exchange plans to broaden its TradFi offerings so traders can react to global events with greater speed, flexibility and precision across asset classes.
About Phemex
Founded in 2019, Phemex is a user‑focused crypto exchange serving more than 10 million traders. The platform offers spot and derivatives trading, copy trading and wealth management products designed around usability, transparency and innovation. For more information, visit https://phemex.com/.