The "Fast Money" traders debated which securities were best for padding portfolios with some near-term protection ahead of the vote in the U.K. on whether or not to leave the European Union. The CBOE volatility index hit a high of 21.19 on Wednesday, ahead of the referendum vote.

Trader Steve Grasso said that the utilities, consumer staples, gold and dividend yielding securities will likely be repurchased after the decision.

Gold is a good play, according to trader Guy Adami. Overall, he believes that global slowdown and deflationary pressure are playing a bigger role in international markets than Brexit.

Trader Dan Nathan said that he is watching the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) because of past price action during catalytic events.

"When you think back to August, when we really saw risk asset volatility go berserk, we had this spike to new all-time highs or multi-year highs in the TLT and then that came off, and it came off really hard once things calmed down," he said. "The same thing happened in February."

Trader Brian Kelly said that the European banks are at risk of selling off because of the recent rally in those names. Deutsche Banke, Credit Suisse and UBS are all up double digits in the last week. Kelly said he may be looking to increase his short positions in those stocks.

Disclosures:

Guy Adami

Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC. Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.

Steve Grasso

Steve Grasso is long BA, CC, EVGN, GDX, KBH, MJNA, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, UA. Steve Grasso's Kids are long EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Stuart Frankel & Co Inc. and some of its Partners are long AAPL, AMZN, AVP, CUBA, CVX, DAL, FCX, HSPO, IBM, ICE, KDUS, KO, LDP, LUV, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, NXTD, OLN, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TEX, TITXF, UAL, URI, VALE, WDR, WYNN, ZNGA.

Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, GLD, SFK, SLV, TLT, US Dollar UUP. He is short CS, DB, UBS

Dan Nathan

Dan Nathan is BABA June/Aug put spread, JD Call spread Long PFE, Long TWTR, IWM long Sept put, XLF long Sept Put spread, XLK long Sept Put spread, FXI long Aug put spread, SMH long Aug put spread, long PYPL call calendar, long TLT Sept risk reversal, XLV July calls, long C Sept puts, VZ July August put spread.