At the time of its launch in December 2011, FXSpotStream disrupted the global currency trading space with a new model: disclosed pricing from multiple liquidity providers accessible via a single API, in a bid to cut costs for clients.
FXSpotStream continues to disrupt, showcasing double-digit revenue growth alongside ongoing client satisfaction, and earning this year’s title of world’s best FX pricing solution.
FXSpotStream is all about making it easy and cost-effective for users to trade foreign exchange with the most comprehensive product offering in the disclosed streaming space. Rather than having to build out physical connections to each and every LP client they want to receive prices from, FXSpotStream offers a single contact point for users, who are not charged for the service. This is a key selling point, which has allowed the platform to scale and expand faster than its peers.
Jeff Ward, CEO of FXSpotStream, tells Euromoney that some 20 new clients signed up to the service this year, after registering similar growth in 2024. On the LP side, Wells Fargo joined the list of providers last year, with NatWest following suit in 2025. Overall, 18 LPs have signed up so far. The last LP to go live was Deutsche Bank, while BNY Melon has also announced its intention to go live on the service.
With over 200 clients worldwide, FXSpotStream has cemented itself as an efficient global solution to the increased costs on alternative platforms
Jeff Ward
“Adding diversity has greatly helped with ongoing volume growth,” Ward says. The platform focused on growing its footprint in the systematic hedge fund space, asset management as well as the regional banks and institutional broker client segments.
“With over 200 clients worldwide, FXSpotStream has cemented itself as an efficient global solution to the increased costs on alternative platforms caused by the continued electronification of the FX market,” Ward adds.
On the product side, diversification is also the name of the game. Starting with just spot FX in 2011, today clients can access prices for non-deliverable forwards, forwards, swaps, precious metals and algos, which has further fuelled growth. The venue’s global coverage has also been a key factor in its growth story, with banks streaming prices from New York, London and Tokyo.
The original idea for FXSpotStream was to alleviate the pain of margin compression and rising costs associated with the electronification of currency markets. Throughout its history, the venue has stayed true to its foundational goal, developing cost-effective solutions for both price makers and takers. For its LPs, the venue offers a flat-fee model, which takes away the burden of rising costs when activity and volumes increase. This gives banks the security and certainty of knowing in advance how much their costs will be, regardless of how much they trade. It also allows efficiencies of scale to play a bigger role, as the more volumes providers transact the less their proportional costs will be.
We feel that rate cards that suit our LPs will ultimately be reflected in better pricing for our clients
Antony Brocksom
In 2023, FXSpotStream introduced a number of new pricing plans, a mixture of the subscription-fee model and a commission-based pricing model, to allow for new LPs to join the service and increase their volumes over time. “We feel that rate cards that suit our LPs will ultimately be reflected in better pricing for our clients as the LPs will want to do that business over FSS rather than a channel where they are being charged a higher per million fee,” says Antony Brocksom, global head of sales and new business at FXSpotStream.
As a vendor-agnostic provider, clients and banks can work with any technology firm and FXSpotStream takes care of the connectivity and integration work, minimising disruption to their operations. For clients, the venue normalised the offerings of all 18 LPs to make their prices accessible via a single API or graphical user interface, and it has rolled out its algo offering using the same model, meaning clients don’t get charged fees by the service when accessing these tools.
Going forward, FX swaps will be a priority. The venue plans to support streaming FX swap prices, which will be introduced first with early adopter LPs ahead of universal access.
“We feel that there is a growing opportunity for an alternative service in FX swaps and feel that our unique offering makes us an ideal candidate to fill this need,” Ward says.
