Hyperliquid (HYPE) Co-founder Jeff Yan stated during Korea Blockchain Week that continuous trading hours do not represent the primary factor distinguishing decentralized platforms from conventional trading desks.
During a fireside conversation at Korea Blockchain Week 2026, Yan noted that digital assets never required standard market schedules because the ecosystem is globally distributed by nature, and furthermore, legacy stock exchanges have begun lengthening their operating hours.
Instead, Yan explained that the enduring benefits of decentralized finance stem from enabling participants to maintain possession of their own assets, which eliminates a frequent single point of failure.
“Onchain finance really, at its core, means that users have still retained control and custody of their funds. I think that’s the number one thing,” Yan remarked. “It does matter during critical moments when there are issues with counterparties, intermediaries, and custodians.”
An additional defining feature of decentralized exchange is radical openness, Yan added, even though it may lack broad mainstream appeal for everyday participants.
“It’s extremely important for users to be able to know in theory everything that is going on with the system,” Yan noted. “Because that level of trust and neutrality of the system that you just do not have with a system that is controlled by one private organization.”
Private markets
Yan maintained that these specific characteristics, rather than the duration of a trading window, constitute the true value proposition of decentralized markets. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that round-the-clock trading remains relevant for instruments lacking public valuations while traditional institutions are shut. As an illustration, he cited commodities, stocks, and pre-IPO assets that transacted on Hyperliquid while underlying reference markets remained inactive, demonstrating clear market demand.
When questioned about which asset classes lacking continuous pricing today might trade 24/7 in the future, Yan highlighted private sectors.
“Private markets, I think, are a big opportunity and you see a little bit of that on Hyperliquid already,” Yan stated. “Right now a lot of wealth is being created in a way that is really gate-kept.”
While the Hyperliquid executive specified that he does not believe such restrictive access is driven by malicious motives, he suggested there is significant room to disrupt that pattern.
“I think just allowing price discovery in the world globally on these assets that ultimately will be extremely valuable for society and will represent core parts of the economy as early as possible, and doing it in a way that is not confined to one jurisdiction, but rather just kind of a global financial system, I think, has a lot of promise,” Yan concluded.
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/defi/2026-09-30-hyperliquid-co-founder-jeff-yan-24-hour-clock-not-onchain-finances-true-differentiator-417286.
