Why 24/7 Trading Has a Liquidity Problem Nobody Mentions

James Miller · 2026-10-15

Jason Hughes has a message for brokers racing to slap "24/7" on their gold and crypto offerings: slow down. The General Manager at IC took the stage at iFX EXPO Asia 2026 and basically said what a lot of people in the room were probably thinking. Round-the-clock trading sounds great. But the liquidity behind it isn't keeping up. ### The Tuesday vs. Sunday Night Problem Here's the scenario Hughes laid out. A client sees tight spreads on gold or Bitcoin on a Tuesday afternoon. Everything looks great. Then Sunday night rolls around, they place a trade, and the spread is suddenly wider than they expected. That gap? That's the difference between what brokers are marketing and what's actually happening behind the price. "The liquidity isn't there yet," Hughes said. "And selling 24/7 access as if it were the same product is how brokers lose their clients' trust." That's the core issue. When traditional liquidity providers go offline for the weekend, the market doesn't just pause. It gets thin. And thin markets mean wider spreads, which means clients who thought they were getting one thing are actually getting something else. ### Where the Gap Shows Up Most The problem is especially visible in Asia, where market-moving news often breaks outside US and European trading hours. Clients want to react immediately. But the depth just isn't there during those off-hours windows. Panellists at the event agreed: many retail clients only find this out when they place a trade and see the spread. Hughes thinks the fix isn't about launching more products. It's about infrastructure and honesty. > "We run every asset class on the same infrastructure and hold it to the same execution standard. What changes at the weekend is the liquidity behind the price. Clients deserve to know that before they trade, not after." That's a pretty straightforward ask. Tell people what they're actually getting. Don't sell weekend access as if it's identical to weekday trading when it isn't. ### Crypto Gets Clients in the Door, But Doesn't Keep Them The panel's big question was where brokers should invest. Hughes pushed back on the idea that any single asset class wins. Client activity moves with volatility. Today it's Bitcoin. Tomorrow it's gold. Next week it might be oil. - Clients aren't loyal to one market - They follow volatility wherever it goes - The broker that wins is the one whose execution holds up across all of them "Clients aren't loyal to an asset class," Hughes said. "They go wherever the volatility is, from Bitcoin to gold to oil." So the real competitive edge isn't about which product you push. It's about whether your execution stays solid no matter where clients decide to trade. ### What Comes Next Hughes did offer some optimism. As more liquidity providers enter out-of-hours markets, the gap between weekday and weekend conditions should narrow. But he was clear on one thing: brokers shouldn't market that future state before it actually arrives. That's the tension the industry is sitting in right now. The demand for 24/7 access is real. The infrastructure to support it consistently? Still catching up. And until it does, the brokers who win will be the ones honest enough to say so. Hughes also touched on IC's partnerships in motorsport and esports during a separate panel, noting that those deals build long-term relationships beyond just brand visibility. But the takeaway from the main stage was simpler: if you're selling round-the-clock trading, make sure clients understand what's actually behind the price when the rest of the world is asleep.