According to Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management, the recent escalation of geopolitical conflict has accelerated the adoption of on-chain finance. Following the US-Israel attack on Iran, traders flocked to decentralized platforms like Hyperliquid, which handled over $11.5 billion in volume across the weekend of the initial Saturday attack. Hougan noted that Hyperliquid became the primary venue for trading tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) like crude oil and gold, as traditional exchanges were closed.
"On-chain finance could take off faster," Hougan stated, revising his previous projection of 5-10 years for traditional markets to move on-chain. He attributes this acceleration to blockchain's 24/7 trading rails, which proved critical during the crisis and make traditional methods seem outdated.
The conflict also triggered volatility in geopolitical narrative tokens. The War crypto coin (WAR), a Solana-based asset, spiked above $0.02 on March 3 before quickly deflating to $0.018, reflecting a 7% loss within hours. It currently holds an $18 million market cap. Similarly, the Peace coin (PEACE) declined 17% on the same day to approximately $0.00003359, with a market cap of $44,000. Analysts note these tokens lack roadmaps and react purely to sentiment and global headlines, making them highly volatile.
In contrast, the AI analytics project DeepSnitch AI (DSNT) is highlighted as a utility-focused alternative. The project has raised $1.84 million and its token price has surged roughly 180% to $0.04228. Its platform, featuring a live dashboard powered by five AI agents for risk assessment and market analytics, is already operational. The project is advancing through its presale stages, with stage five sold out and stage six underway.
Meanwhile, traditional finance continues to integrate crypto. Visa, in partnership with Stripe's infrastructure arm Bridge, is expanding its stablecoin-linked card program to over 100 countries by year-end, adding 18 new markets. This move strengthens the long-term case for cross-border payment projects like Ripple's XRP, though XRP's price faced pressure, trading near $1.35 amid broader risk-off sentiment. Cardano (ADA) also declined, trading below $0.28 as data from Santiment indicated whale wallets offloaded roughly 260 million tokens since late February.
