Synthetic instruments

Synthetic instruments are symbols the bridge prices itself. Formula symbols are built from symbols you already receive, such as crosses and indices. Generated instruments need no LP at all: volatility, boom and crash style indices with their own price series.

Both are mapped to takers like any other symbol, and markups apply. Synthetics are included from the Professional plan, or as an add-on to Standard.

Formula symbols

On Synthetics, choose New formula symbol. Write the Formula, and a live preview shows each leg's bid and ask and the result. Then set the Symbol, Display name, Security, Trading hours and Digits, and choose Create symbol.

Write	Meaning
EURUSD * USDNOK	Multiply: EURNOK
XAUUSD / EURUSD	Divide: gold in euro
EURUSD - GBPUSD	Subtract: a spread between two symbols
1 / USDJPY	An inverse
XAUUSD ^ 0.5	A power. The exponent must be a number.
avg(EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD)	Average of 1 to 20 values
min(...), max(...), abs(...)	Lowest and highest of 2 to 20 values, absolute value

Use symbol names, numbers, + - * / (or × ÷), ^ and brackets. Press Tab to complete a symbol name. Templates fill in common shapes: Cross, Ratio, Inverse, Spread, Offset, Scale, Average and Power, plus the US Dollar Index when all six of its legs exist.

A formula can use another synthetic, up to five levels deep, but never itself. A symbol used in a formula cannot be renamed or deleted.

Bid and ask

The bid and ask come from the legs' bids and asks, so the result is never tighter than the legs allow. For two positive prices:

Formula	Bid	Ask
A × B	A bid × B bid	A ask × B ask
A ÷ B	A bid ÷ B ask	A ask ÷ B bid
A + B	A bid + B bid	A ask + B ask
A − B	A bid − B ask	A ask − B bid

The bid rounds down and the ask rounds up to the symbol's digits.

Spread

Spread	What it does
From legs	The spread that falls out of the legs
Fixed	A spread in points, centred on the mid of the legs
Min / max	The spread from the legs, kept between a minimum and a maximum

A formula symbol is published only while every leg has a fresh price. If one leg goes stale, it waits rather than sending a frozen price.

Find crosses

Find crosses lists every cross you can build from the pairs you already have, for FX, metals and crypto, with the formula and the price it would have now. Tick the ones you want and choose Create symbols.

Generated instruments

Choose New generated instrument and pick a family. Each family has its own settings, and every one has a Start price, Tick every (milliseconds), Spread (points) and Timing jitter.

Family	Behaviour
Volatility	A steady random walk at a set yearly volatility
Boom	Small drift down, with sudden spikes up
Crash	Small drift up, with sudden spikes down
Step	Moves exactly one step up or down every tick
Jump	A random walk with occasional large jumps
Range Break	Holds inside a band, then breaks out after enough touches
Mean Reversion	Pulled back towards its average
Volatility Clustering	Calm and busy periods that follow each other
Regime Switch	Alternates between trending and ranging
Daily Trend	A steady daily drift, optionally reset at midnight UTC
Hybrid	A random walk with spikes up, down or both ways

The form draws a sample path, shows the typical move per tick and suggests a minimum spread. Generated instruments go into the Synthetic Indices security, which is always open by default.

Stats shows ticks, realised volatility, up and down moves, big moves, high and low, and spread checks over the last hour, day or week. You can Pause, Resume, Edit settings or Reset to start price at any time.

Seeds and replay

Every generated instrument has a random Seed, visible to admins only. The seed and the run number replay the exact same series, for testing or to settle a dispute. Each restart or reset starts a new run. Changes to settings, pauses and resets are recorded in the audit log.

Trading hours

Formula symbols are not recalculated, and generated instruments pause, while their market is closed.