Trading Technologies recently announced an expansion of TT FX functionality and liquidity. The aim is to extend the firm’s FX product coverage from spot FX to also include forwards, non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) and swaps, and add liquidity from bank and non-bank liquidity providers alongside previously supported primary FX venues and electronic communication networks (ECNs).
Traders Magazine caught up with Tomo Tokuyama, EVP and Managing Director, FX at TT, to learn more.
What’s important about these upgrades?
The biggest drivers for us are platform consolidation, consistent workflows, and true multi-asset trading in a single UI. That’s where we’re seeing the most traction.
From there, it’s about enabling real cross-asset strategies – like trading EFPs [Exchange for Physical], cash versus futures, and using our Autospreader. That’s been a particularly strong use case for us.
Having FX on the platform opens up a lot more possibilities for our clients. While some trade FX as an alpha-generating asset class, for much of the market it’s more of a functional requirement or nuisance – whether that’s funding, hedging, or supporting M&A activity. Our focus is making that part of the workflow as seamless as possible, rather than something that sits off to the side.
We have alpha-generating clients – typically macro hedge funds, CTAs [Commodity Trading Advisors], systematic funds, and props – and expanding functionality is important for them. A common use case is someone logging into TT to trade futures, but then having to go to a separate FX platform to execute FX. Bringing that into a single system is a meaningful improvement.
Consistency on the back end is critical. Operations teams already know our futures and options workflows – from execution through post-trade – and FX follows that same lifecycle.
It’s not adding complexity or risk; it’s extending a process they already trust.
FX bank algos have become a core part of the workflow for many desks. The challenge has always been fragmentation – trading futures in one system and launching FX algos in another.
Bringing futures, options, and FX bank algos into a single dropdown is a real workflow differentiator.
Another key development is direct access to bank liquidity. Many firms prefer to trade bilaterally under their prime broker rather than through a venue. We now support that directly on TT, giving them access to bank liquidity within the same workflow.
When did the expansion go live?
We incubated the product with a small group of strategic clients to make sure it was truly fit for the market. It’s been live – we’ve just been deliberate about when to scale it.
At this point, it’s been shaped by real client usage and feedback, and we’re confident it’s ready for broader rollout.
What has been user feedback?
So far, the feedback has been very strong, particularly around post trade. Clients consistently tell us the drop copy and lifecycle we support in futures are more robust than what they see in standalone FX platforms. Bringing everything into a single, consistent post-trade workflow makes a meaningful difference.
On the API [Application Program Interface] side, the impact has been immediate. Clients already trading futures and options on TT can access FX through the exact same API – no additional development required. In fact, one of our anchor clients made that a requirement. Once they realized they could pull FX pricing through their existing integration, it became a clear advantage.
The third area is algos. Being able to launch futures, options, and FX bank algos from the same dropdown has resonated, particularly with centralized execution desks and cross-asset traders. We’re seeing strong interest from clients running EFP strategies in precious metals – trading cash versus futures – as a result.
What might be the next iteration of expanded functionality and liquidity?
The future of FX will be increasingly data-driven. It’s traditionally been an opaque market—OTC, bilateral, and without a centralized tape.
We’re seeing a shift toward analytics-driven execution, from pre-trade cost analysis driving automated algo selection. Some firms have already built algo wheels based on performance across different market conditions.
The next evolution is turning those insights into fully automated workflows, where data directly informs execution in real time.
