The traditional Friday afternoon mindset on commodity trading desks is shifting. Instead of focusing on risk management until markets reopen on Sunday, traders are now considering the potential of continuous trading. According to Mustafa Al Niama, former head of digital assets at Goldman Sachs, 'The desk basically stops thinking about making money and starts thinking about what they can live with for roughly forty-eight hours until the Sunday evening reopen.' The rise of perpetual futures contracts, which are traded around the clock, is changing the dynamics of trading. Traders can now hedge their positions over the weekend, potentially creating new opportunities for profit.
However, institutional traders are still cautious due to lack of liquidity and infrastructure issues. The growth of perpetual futures trading may influence traditional markets, providing an additional source of price discovery and potentially reshaping the way traders behave.
As Terry Duffy, chairman and CEO of CME Group, noted, 'Risk, geopolitical or not, does not know what day of the week it is.' The emergence of crypto markets is challenging traditional trading practices and may ultimately lead to a 24/7 trading environment.