Liquidity bridge glossary

Software that connects liquidity providers to trading platforms. A bridge keeps the connection to each side, translates between protocols such as FIX, TCP and WebSocket, normalises symbol names and decides which price each client sees. Some bridges also route orders. XiroLink focuses on price distribution.

A liquidity provider (LP) that supplies prices to the bridge. In XiroLink, makers connect over FIX 4.4 or TCP, and each maker has its own session, heartbeat and reconnect interval.

A trading platform or client that receives prices from the bridge. In XiroLink, takers connect over FIX, TCP or WebSocket, and MetaTrader 4 and 5 connect through the XiroLink datafeed plugins. Each taker has its own credentials, allowed IP ranges, symbol mapping and markup profile.

Financial Information eXchange, the standard messaging protocol for electronic trading. FIX carries market data, orders and execution reports between firms, and it is the most common way liquidity providers stream prices.

The FIX version most widely used for forex and CFD liquidity. XiroLink connects to makers over FIX 4.4 or TCP and manages the session and heartbeats for you.

Combining prices for the same instrument from several liquidity providers. In best price mode, the bridge takes the highest bid and the lowest ask across fresh feeds. Other modes use a single LP, or a priority order with failover.

Translating instrument names between systems. LPs and platforms often name the same instrument differently, such as "EUR/USD", "EURUSD" or "EURUSD.r". Symbol mapping makes sure a price from any source reaches the right symbol on every platform.

The internal symbol that sits between maker and taker symbols. In XiroLink, each maker symbol maps to a universal symbol (an LP's "EUR/USD" becomes "EURUSD"), and each universal symbol maps to the name every taker expects.

A named set of per-symbol markup rules, in points or percent, assigned to one or more takers. Different platforms get different pricing from the same feed. A Standard profile might add 10 points to EURUSD, while a VIP profile adds 3.

The amount added to raw LP prices before they reach a taker, and a main source of broker revenue. In XiroLink it can apply to the bid, the ask or both, in points or percent, per symbol within a markup profile.

Changing makers, takers, symbol mappings or markups while the bridge keeps running. XiroLink also lets you restart a single connection without touching the others.

How old a price can be before the bridge stops treating it as fresh. A stale price is never sent as a new one, and in priority mode the bridge moves to the next LP until the first recovers.

A quote where the bid is at or above the ask. A large markup can cause one. XiroLink's crossed-price guard sends the raw price instead whenever a markup would cross the quote.

A symbol the bridge prices itself. It can be a formula built from symbols you already receive, such as a cross or a basket, or a generated index that needs no LP at all.

A fixed-size circular queue. Trading systems use ring buffers to pass messages between stages, such as price intake and distribution, with constant-time reads and writes and predictable memory use.

Transmission Control Protocol, a connection-oriented protocol that delivers data in order and checks it for errors. In XiroLink, both makers and takers can connect over TCP.

A two-way protocol over a single TCP connection, well suited to streaming prices to web terminals and custom front ends. XiroLink takers can connect over WebSocket, each on its own port.

Electronic Communication Network, an execution model where client orders meet prices from several liquidity providers. ECN brokers usually show clients aggregated prices with the best bid and ask across their LPs, and charge a commission.

Straight-Through Processing, an execution model where client orders pass to liquidity providers without dealer intervention. The broker usually earns from a spread markup or a commission.

A bank, prime broker, non-bank market maker or aggregator that supplies bid and ask prices. In a bridge, LPs connect as makers and stream prices for the symbols you subscribe to.

An execution model where the broker passes client trades on to liquidity providers and earns from markup or commission, without taking the other side. XiroLink does not route orders, but its risk accounts can keep books for your coverage accounts at each LP.

An execution model where the broker keeps client trades in house and takes the other side, carrying the market risk. XiroLink risk accounts can keep a house book ledger and show how much of it your coverage offsets.

Software that sits between liquidity providers and trading platforms and handles connectivity, aggregation, symbol mapping, markups and distribution. XiroLink runs all of this from one dashboard.

Short for company ID. SenderCompID and TargetCompID identify the two sides of a FIX session. Your liquidity provider assigns them during onboarding.

How often, in seconds, the bridge and the liquidity provider exchange FIX heartbeat messages. If nothing arrives within the expected interval, the connection is treated as down and the bridge reconnects.

Switching automatically from one liquidity provider to the next when the first stops quoting. In XiroLink's priority mode, makers are listed in order for each symbol. When the first goes stale the bridge uses the next, and switches back when the first recovers.

The highest bid and the lowest ask across several liquidity providers at a given moment. Combining them gives a spread equal to or tighter than any single LP's.