If derivatives trading were designed today, it likely wouldn’t follow the fragmented structure of traditional markets. Layers of intermediaries—brokers, exchanges, clearinghouses—all add complexity and costs, which can create challenges for traders navigating these systems. Joshua Barraclough, CEO of One Trading, leads us through the journey of overcoming market inefficiencies and introducing groundbreaking solutions.

The Hidden Costs of Traditional Products: Breaking Down the Value Chain

In traditional markets, derivatives trading involves multiple intermediaries, each performing a specific function—but also adding layers of costs and complexity that ultimately reduce capital efficiency for traders.

Brokers – Distribution & Broker Fees

Brokers act as the first point of contact for clients, handling distribution and providing market access. For this, they charge broker fees on each transaction—an additional cost that traders must absorb.

Issuers / Product Providers – Product Creation & Risk Management

Issuers, such as CFD providers or ETF issuers, are responsible for creating the product and managing product-level risk. Their role introduces several hidden fees, often not fully visible to the end-user:

• Issuance Premium – The cost of creating and offering the product

• Financing Costs – Ongoing charges for leverage or holding positions over time

• Illiquidity Premium – Compensation for taking on the risk of less liquid markets or assets

Exchanges – Institutional Distribution & Order Matching

The exchange manages institutional distribution and order matching—executing trades between market participants. They apply trading fees on every transaction processed through their platform.

Clearing Houses – Clearing, Margining, Risk Management & Settlement

Clearing houses sit at the center of traditional market infrastructure, ensuring that trades settle and risks are managed. Their role adds another layer of complexity and fees:

• Initial Margin – Funds posted upfront to secure trades

• Variation Margin – Daily or intraday margin adjustments as market prices move

• Membership Fees – Charged to clearing members for access to the clearing system

Solving the Inefficiencies: The One Trading Way

At One Trading, solving inefficiencies meant more than improving one piece of the puzzle—it required rethinking the entire trading stack from the ground up. Instead of relying on the traditional fragmented model—where brokers, issuers, exchanges, and clearing houses each handle separate functions—we rebuilt the entire system under one technical and regulatory roof, specifically designed to support the unique requirements of perpetual futures.

For the first time, product creation, order matching, distribution, custody, execution, and integrated risk management—across market, product, and counterparty risk—operate seamlessly within a single, regulated venue. Real-time settlement is no longer an afterthought; it is built directly into the core of our platform.

By removing external clearing houses, intermediaries, and their layers of cost and delay, One Trading simplifies what has historically been a complex, costly process. Everything happens within one unified system—resulting in faster execution, lower fees, and direct market access.

The impact is significant: traders gain greater control, better pricing, and reduced counterparty risk—all while operating within a MiFID II-regulated framework. This isn’t just an improvement—it's a fundamental shift toward a more transparent, capital-efficient, and fair market structure, accessible to both institutional and eligible retail clients.

Innovation in Every Layer

Beyond rethinking the structure, we take pride in how we deliver it.

We are the first to offer real-time settlement of all derivatives positions, 24/7 operating on the fastest and most scalable trading venue in the world. As the first regulated perpetual futures venue in the EU, we’ve also introduced a vertically integrated real-time risk management system. With our unique system we realise PnL between counterparts every 60 seconds, which not only reduces counterparty risk to 60 seconds, but also allows regulatory capital to be priced at 60 seconds of maturity vastly reducing the margin requirements of larger trading venues. We have supplemented this with real time active risk management with a state of the art risk management waterfall of liquidations, backstop liquidity providers, insurance fund and auto de-leveraging which introduces three real-time steps that take place before any fallback actions like those used in traditional clearing processes become necessary. This is all geared towards offering our clients a market leading product experience. 

Additionally, we are the first in Europe to offer cash-settled perpetual futures within a fully regulated environment. Users can take long or short positions, with the maximum position size determined by the available margin and permitted leverage. All trading occurs on a central limit order book, ensuring full transparency of prices and available liquidity. When exiting a position, clients simply close it by executing a trade. There is no need to manage any operational or pricing complexity. Unlike CFDs — where statistics show that with some providers over 80% of clients incur losses {link to: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-highlights-continuing-concerns-about-problem-firms-cfd-sector} — this model reflects a more balanced market outcome. Before fees, outcomes tend to distribute more evenly, with roughly half of participants on each side of the trade.

This combination doesn’t just redefine how derivatives are traded—it enhances market stability, protects participants, and delivers unmatched speed, efficiency, and execution for traders. 

What’s Next

With institutional trading launching imminently, we will soon expand access to eligible retail clients as well. We will be allowing institutional clients to access up to 10x leverage on day one and will be looking to observe and adjust based on market behaviour. Our mission is to provide a transparent, regulated, and cost-effective alternative to traditional derivatives—purpose-built to serve clients’ interests. At One Trading, we believe the future of derivatives trading is onshore, efficient, and accessible. And this is just the beginning.