Geopolitical tensions, trade disputes and uneven monetary policy drove elevated volatility across global markets last year, with implications for liquidity provision and execution quality in 2026.
In its 2025 market overview, liquidity provider B2PRIME Group outlined how heightened volatility, technological change and evolving regulation shaped trading activity across asset classes, which altered investor behaviour and liquidity dynamics across metals, foreign exchange, cryptocurrencies and equities.
Looking ahead, the report identified platform consolidation, automation, institutional crypto participation, safe-haven assets as key areas to monitor in 2026.
It found that automation contributed to growing interest in all-in-one “super-app” platforms, in which trading, payments, lending, and crypto services were offered in a single interface.
“Banks have begun to open up more to collaborations with fintech, seeking to leverage their agility, in exchange for access to their large customer bases and established processes,” it noted.
It concludes that liquidity in 2025 increasingly concentrated around providers able to deliver stable, institutionally structured execution across multiple asset classes.
“The market leaders in 2025 were those who built their infrastructure on top of Prime-grade liquidity, with consistent pricing, low-latency routing and a multi-asset approach,” the report said.
The importance of liquidity conditions for FX and stocks
In foreign exchange, inflation trends and liquidity conditions drove price action.
The US dollar remained central to global FX trading, but its dominance in settlements continued to ease.
The DXY index fell from around 109 to the 97–98 range as rate cuts progressed more slowly than expected and debt concerns mounted.
The euro strengthened as eurozone inflation cooled more quickly, lifting EUR/USD from around 1.04 to highs near 1.17. Liquidity in euro pairs was generally stable, although the report notes that thinner conditions around weaker data releases allowed sharper moves.
The Japanese yen proved highly sensitive to shifts in risk sentiment, with carry trades dominating during calm periods and rapid reversals occurring when volatility rose and liquidity briefly dried up.
Equity markets showed marked regional divergence.
US indices posted solid gains, supported by strong earnings, enthusiasm for AI-related stocks and deep liquidity in ETFs and futures.
European indices such as the DAX and Euro Stoxx 50 also delivered double-digit returns, although thinner intraday liquidity at times increased sensitivity to headlines.
In Asia, gains in Japan contrasted with net foreign outflows elsewhere late in the year, which briefly drained local liquidity.
Automation, 24/7 markets and regulation
A central theme of the report was the continued expansion of algorithmic trading.
The global market for algorithmic strategies was estimated at $3.85bn in 2025, with AI and machine learning driving adoption across asset classes.
Algorithms accounted for more than 70% of crypto transactions, around 35% of FX trading and roughly 30% of orders on major equity exchanges.
While automation contributed to tighter spreads and deeper liquidity, B2PRIME highlighted associated risks, including execution failures and increased operational demands, particularly as markets move towards 24/7 trading models.
Regulatory developments were also significant. In Europe, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) came fully into force on 17 January 2025, introducing unified standards for ICT risk management and cybersecurity and allowing regulators to designate major technology vendors as “critical providers”.
Oversight of liquidity and execution quality increased, alongside continued rollout of MiCA for crypto assets.
