Binance Launches 24/7 Forex Perpetual Contracts, Starting with USD/BRL
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has officially entered the foreign exchange market, launching round-the-clock, 24/7 forex perpetual contracts. The initial offering features a perpetual contract for the U.S. Dollar against the Brazilian Real (USDBRL), with leverage up to 100x.
According to an official announcement released by Binance on PR Newswire on Friday, the USDBRLUSDT contract went live on September 21st, settled in USDT, and offers leverage of up to 100 times.
Unlike traditional forex markets which close on weekends, Binance’s contracts employ a dual-mode pricing system. During regular forex trading hours, prices track a weighted index provided by third-party data providers. On weekends and public holidays, the system switches to an order book pricing mechanism.
Binance explained that the weekend system utilizes an Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) to calculate order book prices, eliminating reliance on external data sources. This means weekend pricing is determined solely by market supply and demand, circumventing the issue of external price feeds becoming stagnant during market closures.
Shunyet Jan, Head of Trading at Binance, stated that the purpose of these contracts is to extend price discovery beyond traditional forex trading hours while providing traders with a 24/7 venue for hedging or holding positions.
While Binance is making a significant move, it is not the first exchange to introduce forex perpetual contracts. Less than two weeks ago, Bybit launched its own 24/7 forex perpetual contracts, tracking EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY, also settled in USDT and offering 100x leverage.
An earlier pioneer in this space is Kraken, which launched forex perpetual contracts for the Euro, British Pound, Australian Dollar, Japanese Yen, and Swiss Franc in April 2025, with leverage up to 50x. Kraken has been offering spot forex trading since 2020, with its forex spot trading volume reaching $5.7 billion in the first half of 2025.
The foreign exchange market is the largest financial market globally by trading volume. According to a report from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in April 2025, the global average daily turnover in the OTC foreign exchange market reached $960 billion. The introduction of perpetual contracts by crypto exchanges into this market holds immense potential.
The trading volume of the forex market is five times that of all other financial markets combined, presenting a direct path to mass adoption for crypto exchanges. Compared to stock perpetual contracts, which require navigating both CFTC and SEC regulations, forex is an over-the-counter (OTC) market with a relatively lower regulatory threshold.
The logic behind integrating forex into crypto trading is straightforward: crypto traders are accustomed to high leverage and 24/7 trading. The traditional forex market’s weekend closures and trading hour limitations create a gap that perpetual contracts are well-suited to fill. The appeal of 100x leverage for retail traders is also significant, though such high leverage inherently carries volatility risks, particularly for emerging market currencies like the Brazilian Real, which typically have thinner liquidity on weekends.
Key areas to watch moving forward include the number of currency pairs Binance will introduce, the funding rate structures for each pair, and whether actual trading volumes can keep pace with the leading positions held by Kraken and Bybit.
