Financial markets are starting to move beyond the traditional opening bell.
While stock exchanges still operate within fixed trading hours, crypto markets operate continuously: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That shift is changing the way exchanges, trading infrastructure and investors think about market access.
In an interview with Alp Gasimov of TheStreet Roundtable, Brylee Whatley of the Decibel Foundation explained why decentralized perpetual exchanges, also known as rogue DEXs, could become an important part of that evolution.
“What we are seeing is evolution across the board as more and more exchanges, and even more ATSs, look toward extended market hours,” Whatley said.
For many traditional investors, perpetual futures may seem like just another trading product. But according to Whatley, the most important change is the infrastructure behind them: markets designed to trade continuously, settle instantly and function without traditional intermediaries.
Why the markets no longer sleep
Traditional financial markets have always relied on downtime.
When markets close, institutions reconcile trades, review books, settle transactions and manage operational risk before reopening the next day. Crypto markets changed that model completely.
“You need to make sure your systems are running 24/7/365 and never have problems,” Whatley said.
That operational change has created a demand for business systems that are more resilient and capable of handling continuous global activity.
“It’s about having more resilient systems,” Whatley said. “There is no market closing period.”
This is where decentralized finance, or DeFi, comes into the picture. DeFi refers to blockchain-based financial systems that eliminate traditional intermediaries such as brokers and clearinghouses.
According to Whatley, perpetual DEXs are designed specifically for this always-on market environment.
What exactly is a perpetual DEX?
In essence, a decentralized perpetual exchange allows traders to buy and sell perpetual futures contracts directly on-chain. Unlike traditional futures contracts, perpetual futures do not expire.
“The perpetual future is a common and widely used contract and the largest volume of activity within the crypto space,” Whatley said.
Instead of relying on expiration dates and renewals, perpetual contracts use funding rates to keep prices aligned with the underlying market.
“When the longs push harder than the shorts, the funding rate increases to encourage the shorts to move to the other side and provide liquidity,” Whatley explained.
Unlike traditional financial systems that involve brokers, custodians and clearinghouses, Whatley said Decibel consolidates trading, settlement and custody into a single smart contract system.