Odaily Planet Daily reports that Variational has launched its first Swap markets, XAU and US100, with execution costs reducible to as low as one-eighth of those on-chain TradFi perpetual contracts. Its trading mechanism aligns with traditional financial markets, enabling direct access to TradFi dealer liquidity for deeper market depth and more predictable holding costs.
Swaps provide exposure to underlying assets, similar to perpetual contracts. The key differences lie in liquidity sources and funding costs: Swaps are priced based on TradFi liquidity quotes and use a stable funding rate, primarily tied to USD borrowing costs, instead of volatile funding fees. Like all markets on Variational, Swaps carry no trading fees. Swaps will trade alongside existing TradFi perpetual contracts, and over the coming months, Variational will continue launching new Swap markets at a pace similar to that of the perpetual markets.