Crypto liquidity bridge
A crypto liquidity bridge brings crypto prices into the same platforms as your FX and metals, so clients can trade BTCUSD next to EURUSD. The connection is the easy part. Weekends, tiny prices, symbol names and markets that never close are where it gets hard.
Why crypto is harder to price than FX
Six things that catch brokers out when they add crypto to a platform built for currencies.
It never closes
Crypto trades every hour of every day. Your FX symbols close on Friday night while crypto keeps quoting, so trading hours, alerts and staff rotas must know the difference.
Tiny prices
A coin quoted at 0.00001234 needs every decimal. Get the digits wrong and the price rounds to zero on the platform.
Names everywhere
BTC/USD, BTC-USD, BTCUSDT and XBTUSD can all mean bitcoin. Platforms want one forex style name, such as BTCUSD.
Big moves, wide spreads
Crypto can move more in an hour than a major FX pair does in a week. Spreads need limits and a quick way to widen them.
Weekend liquidity
Quotes on the weekend can be thinner and gappier than on weekdays, which is when a stale feed is most likely to go unnoticed.
More symbols, more mapping
Brokers add dozens of coins at once. Typing each symbol by hand is where most crypto launch mistakes happen.
Where crypto prices come from
This guide is about pricing crypto on your trading platforms, usually as CFDs. Running a spot exchange with custody is a different business.
- 01
A crypto liquidity provider
A crypto LP or prime of prime over FIX. Needed if you hedge client positions, and the usual source for A-book crypto.
- 02
Market data
A market data plan streams crypto prices without an LP contract. Good for pricing and for B-book or demo servers; hedging still needs an LP or exchange account.
- 03
Both, with failover
An LP as the first choice and market data behind it, so a crypto symbol keeps quoting when one source stops.
In XiroLink
Forex, metals and crypto in one feed
XiroLink takes crypto from your own LP over FIX or TCP, or from a market data plan with one key, which streams forex, metals and crypto. Its symbol library has 624 crypto pairs with forex style names, and digits taken from live prices so small coins show every decimal.
Formula symbols build crosses your sources do not quote, such as ETHBTC from ETHUSD / BTCUSD. Brokers who want more to trade at weekends often add generated synthetic indices as well.
Adding crypto to your platforms
Five steps, in XiroLink terms. The same questions apply whatever bridge you use.
- 01
Connect a source
Add your crypto LP over FIX or TCP, or your market data plan, as a maker.
- 02
Pick the coins
Choose crypto pairs from the symbol library, with forex style names and digits taken from live prices.
- 03
Set the hours
Attach a 24/7 trading hours profile to your crypto security, while FX keeps its 24/5 profile.
- 04
Price each platform
Assign the symbols to your MT4, MT5, web or FIX takers, each with its own markup profile and spread limits.
- 05
Watch the weekend
Stale price alerts stay on for crypto while FX is closed, so a quiet feed on Saturday still reaches your team.
Pricing crypto from several sources? Read how aggregation and failover work, and how markup multipliers widen spreads in one click when the market runs.
Crypto pricing questions
What is a crypto liquidity bridge?
Software that brings crypto prices from LPs or market data into the same trading platforms as your FX and metals, so clients can trade BTCUSD next to EURUSD. It handles names, digits, trading hours and spreads for crypto alongside everything else.
Can I offer crypto on MT5 and MT4?
Yes, typically as CFDs. The bridge streams crypto prices into MetaTrader through its datafeed like any other symbol, with 24/7 trading hours on the crypto symbols.
Do I need a crypto LP?
For prices, no: market data can stream them. To hedge client positions you still need an LP or exchange account. Many brokers use both, with failover between them.
How are weekends handled?
With trading hours profiles: crypto symbols get a 24/7 profile and stay open, FX symbols close for the weekend, and alerts follow each symbol’s own hours.
How many crypto pairs can XiroLink price?
The XiroLink symbol library includes 624 crypto pairs, alongside 1,175 forex pairs and 31 metals, and any pair your own LP quotes can be mapped in.