TradFi trading kept up the pace in August, with a new focus on memory stocks and semiconductor companies. On-chain trading keeps shifting toward equities and metals, as pure crypto trades remain slow.
Contracts for tradfi assets like equities and metals are still attracting more active traders. Multiple platforms try to expand the representation of equities, metals, commodities, and securities, as token and pure crypto trades lose their appeal.
Crypto exchanges and decentralized platforms are now starting to reshape the way equities are traded, reaching a new audience of decentralized traders. As Cryptopolitan reported earlier, HIP-3 is already reflecting the shift, recently breaking above $4B in open interest.
Recent on-chain trading retains the overall trend from July. MEXC noted the shift to AI storage and semiconductor stocks, which remain some of the most active contracts.
Decentralized perpetual futures volumes also expanded. CoinGecko research shows volumes for TradFi assets grew 117 times over the past 18 months, becoming one of the major trends for 2026.
TradFi conviction shifts to semiconductor stocks
Semiconductor stocks are almost perfect for crypto traders. For the year to date, the sector gained 42.6%, outperforming the S&P 500 by 300%. At the same time, the semiconductor trade was extremely volatile, with periods of sharp corrections.
After a turbulent period on the South Korean market, the country’s sector got another boost from a state-backed $3.5B fund to build a more resilient semiconductor supply chain.
As a result, semiconductors and memory stocks drew in conviction bets from HIP-3 traders. South Korea’s Hynix (TradeXYZ: SKHX) was the most actively traded asset in the sector, with $515.6M in open interest. The stock traded at $1,172, tracking the price on South Korean exchanges.
Whales have placed multiple high-conviction bets on both the short and long sides, leading to the past day’s 68% rally. Since HIP-3 has no limitations, SKHX and other stocks trade with no interventions and a different price discovery mechanism compared to centralized markets.
The SKHY contract, reflecting the SK Hynix American Depository Receipts, was also among the most active futures, with $224.59M in open interest. SKHY traded around $165, reflecting the US price range of the stock. The shares invited a balanced mix of high-conviction positions, split equally across short and long bets.
Sandisk (Nasdaq:SNDK), Nvidia (NVDA), and Micron Technology (Nasdaq:MU) were also among the top 15 contracts on HIP-3.
TradFi trading promises a boost to centralized exchanges
Centralized exchanges lagged behind Hyperliquid but started offering more aggressive tokenization and perpetual futures. In the past quarter, Binance led an aggressive expansion in offering equities, metals, and other TradFi assets.
Recently, Gate also marked a shift in trading activity, with new records in trading equities and precious metals. In the past week alone, TradFi trading on Gate jumped by 55%, according to recent analysis. On Gate, SK Hynix also served as a proxy for the semiconductor narrative, contributing the bulk of recent volumes, or $4.2B for the week of August 3-10.
Based on CoinGecko research, TradFi volumes reached $1.45T in the first half of 2026, with a significant boost from US equities.
The recent spikes in activity show that on-chain traders manage to react quickly and pivot in their strategies. Even with volatility, trading TradFi assets offers significant short-term gains, with improved liquidity compared to digital tokens or altcoins.