LMAX Group has added gold to its perpetual futures platform, giving institutional clients continuous exposure to XAU/USD around the clock and across weekends, a time window when traditional gold markets go dark but price risk very much does not.
The London-based cross-asset marketplace announced the expansion via LinkedIn on Tuesday, framing it as a response to growing institutional appetite for gold derivatives beyond standard trading hours. Gold has been on a remarkable run, trading near $4,900 per ounce this week after briefly touching all-time highs above $4,893 earlier this month.
Weekend Risk Takes Centre Stage
The specific problem LMAX is trying to solve is well understood by anyone running a gold book through a weekend. Spot and standard futures positions sit frozen while geopolitical headlines, macro data from Asian markets, and central bank commentary keep moving. When markets reopen Monday, the resulting gap can be damaging for both hedgers and leveraged traders.
LMAX's gold perpetual futures are margin-based and have no expiry date, meaning a fund or broker can hold a position through a Sunday without having to roll or close it. The product is designed to hedge existing spot or CFD gold exposure in a capital-efficient way, according to the company.
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"Access to gold exposure should not stop when the underlying market closes,” Jenna Wright, Managing Director of Digital Assets at LMAX Group, put it plainly. “For institutions managing exposure across spot and derivatives, continuity is key... As market infrastructure evolves, the priority remains consistency of access."
From Crypto to Commodities
LMAX first entered the perpetual futures space in September 2025, launching BTC/USD and ETH/USD contracts with leverage of up to 100x, positioning itself as a regulated, institutional-grade alternative to the offshore offshore crypto exchanges that have dominated the perpetuals market for years. That market has seen annual trading volumes hit $60 trillion, making it one of the largest derivatives segments globally.
The gold product follows the same structural model: USD-settled, no expiry, margin-based. It also extends the same execution and liquidity standards LMAX has built its reputation on in FX and digital assets, where it handles over $40 billion in average daily spot volume.
The product range then expanded its distribution reach in December 2025 through an integration with Gold-i's technology network, connecting LMAX's perpetuals to a wider pool of institutional buy-side clients. Adding gold now extends the same infrastructure to a new asset class entirely.
Infrastructure That Can Handle It
Execution quality for a perpetual futures product is not trivial. Funding rates reset every eight hours, positions need to be managed in real time, and any lag in order processing creates real costs.
LMAX addressed that on the technology side in early February, adopting MetaQuotes' Ultency matching engine for its MT5-connected institutional clients, which routes orders through a low-latency aggregation layer without relying on third-party middleware.
That infrastructure push sits alongside the launch of Omnia Exchange, LMAX's cross-asset settlement platform that allows real-time conversion across FX, crypto, and stablecoins via a single API. The gold perpetual does not operate in isolation - it plugs into an architecture that LMAX has been building out aggressively over the past six months.
Gold's Macro Backdrop Adds Urgency
The timing is not accidental. Gold's volatility in 2025 and into early 2026 has been one of the dominant themes across financial markets, driven by central bank buying, geopolitical risk, and expectations around US rate policy.
The metal gained roughly 65% through 2025 and continued climbing into the new year. Institutions that missed that move or want to hedge outsized exposure now need the tools to manage it, and traditional market hours are not always enough.
LMAX is not alone in spotting the opportunity. GCEX recently launched gold futures products aimed at institutional CFD activity, while BingX reported that record gold prices drove roughly half of its $1 billion surge in traditional finance trading volumes. The demand signal is clear, and multiple platforms are racing to meet it.
