# Forex and Crypto Trading on One Account in 2026 Cross-Asset Desk Research. Edition of 24 September 2026; terms read 18 September 2026. Weights: What one account reaches 32 · Cost of getting in and out 28 · Custody of the margin 18 · How the venue has held up 12 · The book behind the quote 10, on a scale of 100. Version 1.1, fixed 23 September 2026. Method: https://gerhardandlinger.net/method ## In brief Forex and crypto trading on one account is now ordinary: all six order-book venues ranked here list currency pairs beside crypto perpetuals. Lighter leads our 24 September 2026 scoring at 90 of 100 on breadth and zero default fees. Aster carries the longest list of the six, at 578 markets. ## Multi-asset perpetual venues ranked, September 2026 Ordered by the overall score out of 100. Coverage carries the most weight because the question here is how much of a book can sit on one venue; the depth column is measured on BTC, the market all of them share. This is the register in full: the six order-book venues whose own documentation lists four or more asset classes outside crypto. Three that were ranked here before — edgeX, ApeX Omni and Paradex — document three classes each, and dYdX one, so none of them holds a place on this site any longer. | # | Venue | Score of 100 | Perp markets | Maker / taker | Venue type | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Lighter | 90 | 214 | 0% / 0% | Hybrid, ZK-proven | | 2 | Extended | 85 | 325 | 0% / 0.025% | Hybrid | | 3 | Aster | 82 | 578 | 0% / 0.040% | Own layer 1, operator-run | | 4 | Hyperliquid | 76 | 324 | 0.015% / 0.045% | On-chain order book | | 5 | EVEDEX | 67 | 52 | 0.015% / 0.045% | Hybrid | | 6 | Aevo | 58 | 102 | 0.050% / 0.080% | Hybrid | Figures read on 18 September 2026; fees are the entry tier on the BTC perpetual. Access differs by country. ## What the ranking turns on 1. Widest list: Aster at 578 perpetual markets across six asset classes. 2. Cheapest entry tier: Lighter at 0% maker / 0% taker on its default account. 3. Open at any hour: EVEDEX states all 52 of its markets trade 24/7, currencies and shares included. 4. Books measured rather than reported: the six ran from $3.8 million to $19.1 million of BTC within 10 bps. ## The order-book readings BTC order books read on a timer, ten minutes apart, closing 17:58 UTC on 20 September 2026; medians of the snapshots behind each row. | Venue | Median spread | Median depth within 10 bps | Median impact, $100,000 order | $10,000 round trip, taker fees | Snapshots | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Lighter | 0.27 bps | $16.5 million | 0.45 bps | $0.00 | 17 | | Extended | 0.12 bps | $7.4 million | 0.06 bps | $5.00 | 17 | | Aster | 0.01 bps | $13.8 million | 0.39 bps | $8.00 | 27 | | Hyperliquid | 0.12 bps | $10.1 million | 0.06 bps | $9.00 | 28 | | EVEDEX | 4.12 bps | $19.1 million | 2.06 bps | $9.00 | 28 | | Aevo | 1.61 bps | $3.8 million | 2.87 bps | $16.00 | 28 | ## 1. [Lighter](https://docs.lighter.xyz) — for breadth at zero default cost Score 90 of 100. Lighter lists 214 perpetual markets across six asset classes, bond exposure included ([Lighter docs](https://docs.lighter.xyz/trading/real-world-assets-rwas.md), checked 18 September 2026), and its default account trades at 0% maker / 0% taker with 300 ms of added taker latency. Batches are proven on Ethereum and critical exits can be submitted on-chain. - In favour: 214 markets across six asset classes; 0% maker and taker on the default account. - Against it: 300 ms taker delay on the free tier; Hours stated for its real-world-asset markets but not venue-wide. - Wrong fit for: traders who need guaranteed instant fills at no cost. ## 2. [Extended](https://docs.extended.exchange/) — for the widest equity and pre-IPO list Score 85 of 100. Extended lists 325 perpetual markets across five classes including pre-IPO contracts ([Extended docs](https://docs.extended.exchange/extended-resources/trading/rwa-markets), checked 18 September 2026), at 0% maker / 0.025% taker for every account. Its audits and bug bounty put its standing mark at 10.0 of ten, level with Aster and ahead of every other venue in this group. - In favour: 325 markets, pre-IPO included; Public bug bounty of up to $500,000. - Against it: No documented forced withdrawal; Prime real-world-asset markets halt outside their sessions. - Wrong fit for: traders who want an operator-independent exit. ## 3. [Aster](https://docs.asterdex.com) — for the longest market list of any venue here Score 82 of 100. Six asset classes and 578 perpetual markets ([Aster docs](https://docs.asterdex.com/overview/what-is-aster.md), checked 18 September 2026), priced at 0% maker / 0.040% taker. The matching sits on a chain Aster built; its core contracts have not been published for reading, and phase one keeps the validator set shut. - In favour: 578 perpetual markets; 0% maker fee. - Against it: Chain contracts are not open-sourced; No trading-hours policy in the documentation we read. - Wrong fit for: a desk that needs the chain under its positions publicly validated. ## 4. [Hyperliquid](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs) — for the largest venue by open interest Score 76 of 100. Four asset classes and 324 markets, a good many of them put up by builders rather than by the venue ([Hyperliquid docs](https://api.hyperliquid.xyz/info), checked 18 September 2026). Open interest stood at $8.7 billion in CoinMarketCap's 22 September 2026 figures. The entry tier reads 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker. - In favour: Open interest of $8.7 billion on CoinMarketCap; Median BTC depth of $10.1 million. - Against it: Builder-deployed markets are not reviewed by the interface operator; No documented forced withdrawal. - Wrong fit for: traders who want every listing vetted by one operator. ## 5. EVEDEX — for every class quoted around the clock Score 67 of 100. EVEDEX runs 52 contracts — 39 crypto pairs, five US stocks, one index, gold through XAUT, silver, crude oil, EUR/USD, USD/JPY, two pre-IPO names — and its trading terms put every one of them on a 24/7 clock (18 September 2026, EVEDEX documentation). Matching happens off the chain and Arbitrum does the settling. One cross-margined USDT balance stands behind the lot, at 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker ahead of any cashback. - In favour: All 52 markets open 24/7, shares and commodities included; Six asset classes on one USDT balance. - Against it: 52 markets against hundreds on the widest venues; Positions written to Arbitrum in batches rather than trade by trade. - Wrong fit for: UK retail clients. ## 6. [Aevo](https://www.aevo.xyz/docs) — for five asset classes behind one margin pool Score 58 of 100. 102 perpetuals — crypto, equities, commodities, currencies and two pre-IPO names — all draw on a single cross-margin account ([Aevo margin framework](https://www.aevo.xyz/docs/aevo-products/aevo-exchange/technical-architecture/margin-framework), checked 18 September 2026). Orders are matched off the chain and matched trades settle in contracts on a rollup Aevo runs, with batches posted to Ethereum hourly. The rate is 0.050% maker / 0.080% taker. - In favour: 102 markets in five classes, pre-IPO contracts included; One margin pool standing behind every position. - Against it: 0.080% taker, the dearest entry tier in this ranking; Legacy vaults from the team's earlier protocol were drained in December 2025. - Wrong fit for: traders who take size often. ## What forex and crypto trading looks like on one venue A currency pair on these venues is a perpetual contract, not a spot trade through a broker. EUR/USD is quoted against USDT collateral, the position pays or receives funding rather than rolling over, and it closes in the same stablecoin it opened in. There is no separate account, no base-currency conversion and no settlement in euros. The practical consequence is that a trader's whole book — BTC, gold, EUR/USD, a share — sits in one margin balance. On most venues that balance is cross-margined, so a loss on one position eats the collateral behind the others. It is efficient and unforgiving in equal measure. The margin behind a leveraged position is all it has, and a market that gaps can take the lot. ## Where the oracle-priced venues fit Ostium and gTrade also list currencies, metals and shares, and they are often the first names a trader meets. Both price against an oracle and fill from a pool rather than a resting book, so our liquidity criterion has nothing to measure on them and they carry no score here. They are compared on [Ostium alternatives](/ostium-alternatives), with the market hours each of them documents. ## How the comparison was made Every column here but one is read rather than measured. On 18 September 2026 the desk read each venue's terms and documentation for what it lists, when those markets are open, what it charges, who can move the collateral. Depth nobody publishes, so the desk took it: each BTC perpetual book read on a timer, ten minutes apart, closing 17:58 UTC on 20 September 2026. The desk keeps an account at none of them. The same five criteria, settled on 23 September 2026 and set out on the [method](/method) page, order the 6 venues scored here. The hours are the softest column here, and one page is ordered by them — a line in a venue's own document about when a market is open, not something anyone watched. Custody is read the same way. Depth is measured, but only on BTC, the one contract all of these venues run; thickness there says nothing about the XAUT book beside it. Fees are the day-one rate, nothing a trader earns back taken off. ## In their own words > "Stocks: Monday-Friday, 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM ET. Crypto: 24/7, 365 days." — Ostium documentation, Markets reference, 21 September 2026. https://docs.ostium.com/traders/reference/markets > "Unlike crypto markets, forex markets are not always open." — gTrade documentation, Forex, 21 September 2026. https://docs.gains.trade/gtrade-leveraged-trading/asset-classes/forex > "You can trade on Hyperliquid with a normal defi wallet or by logging in with your email address." — Hyperliquid documentation, how to start trading, 18 September 2026. https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/onboarding/how-to-start-trading.md ## FAQ ### what is forex and crypto trading On these venues it is one activity rather than two: a perpetual contract on EUR/USD sits in the same account as one on BTC, with USDT as collateral for both. All six order-book venues on the register list a currency pair, and the margin, the funding and the settlement work the same way across them. ### forex and crypto trading platform Among venues that also list crypto, Lighter scores 90 of 100 here on breadth and zero default fees. If the FX position needs to be closable at any hour, EVEDEX is the venue stating that its markets, currencies included, trade around the clock. ### is forex and crypto trading the same Not in the underlying, and identical in the plumbing. A currency pair moves in fractions of a percent where BTC moves in whole ones, so the leverage ladders differ sharply. On these venues both are perpetual contracts, both post USDT as margin, and both settle into the same balance. ### what is forex and crypto market Two markets that these venues put behind one interface. Foreign exchange is the market in currencies, quoted continuously on weekdays and shut at the weekend; crypto never closes. Here both arrive as perpetual contracts margined in USDT, so one balance and one order book style covers the pair. ### is forex trading cryptocurrency No. Foreign exchange is the market in currencies; cryptocurrency is a separate asset class. What these venues do is quote both as perpetual contracts settled in USDT, which makes the trading interface identical while leaving the two underlyings as different as they were before. ### is forex or crypto trading better Better for what is the question the tables here try to answer. Currency pairs give small, frequent moves and crypto gives large ones; the venue decides which is tradable at three in the morning on a Sunday. Both carry the same liquidation arithmetic once leverage is applied. ### how to start forex and crypto trading Not to open a position. A wallet signature is the usual way in, and a few venues will take an email instead, creating a managed wallet behind it. What the terms of use still carve out are sanctioned persons and a roster of jurisdictions, which is a separate question from identity documents. ### What leverage is available on forex pairs? It varies by venue and pair, and it is generally lower than the headline crypto figure. Because currency moves are small, venues allow more leverage on FX than on equities but apply notional caps; read each venue's own ladder before sizing a position. ### Are these markets open on weekends? Crypto always is. For currencies, metals and shares it depends on the venue: EVEDEX states that all of its markets trade 24/7, while oracle-priced venues such as Ostium and gTrade follow the underlying sessions and queue orders until those markets reopen. ### What happens if the underlying market gaps? A position can reopen far from where it closed. gTrade's documentation warns that stop losses cannot be guaranteed across a closed market for exactly this reason, and Ostium notes that queued orders fill at the first available price after a gap. ### Which venue lists the most markets? Aster at 578 perpetual markets, then Extended at 325 and Hyperliquid at 324. Breadth is not depth: the BTC books behind them ranged from $3.8 million to $19.1 million within 10 basis points in the readings. A venue can list hundreds of pairs and still leave a large order nowhere to fill. ## About this sheet One published formula; every figure dated. Corrections: desk@gerhardandlinger.net. — Cross-Asset Desk Research. Edition of 24 September 2026. This desk is paid to publish, and a venue covered here may be the party that paid.