A crypto desk takes orders on Saturday night. The client's fiat sits in a bank that opens on Monday. The gap between those two clocks is where brokers carry price risk, pre-fund accounts, or tell the client to wait. The gap is not the same in every currency, so it helps to look at each rail.
Four rails, four calendars
| Currency | Local rail | What the operator says |
|---|---|---|
| EUR | Instant credit transfers under the EU Instant Payments Regulation | Euro-area payment service providers had to receive instant payments from 9 January 2025 and send them from 9 October 2025. Payment and e-money institutions receive from 9 April 2027 and, in the euro area, send from the same date. Outside the euro area the dates are 9 January 2027 (receive) and 9 July 2027 (send). |
| TRY | FAST, run by the central bank | In effect since 8 January 2021 and operating 24/7. |
| AED | Aani, run by Al Etihad Payments | Launched 16 October 2023 as a platform that processes payments 24 hours a day, seven days a week. |
| USD | Fedwire Funds Service | Open on weekdays, 22 hours per day. The Federal Reserve announced on 9 October 2025 that Sundays and weekday holidays will be added, no earlier than 2028. |
Two of the four local rails, TRY and AED, run around the clock. The euro rail is phasing in instant payments on a published timetable. The dollar wire has a daily and a weekly close.
Why the dollar leg matters most
A EUR to TRY payment that routes through USD inherits the USD calendar for one of its two legs. It does not matter that the euro side and the lira side are open. A direct pair removes the leg that closes. Every leg you add is another schedule you inherit.
The domestic rails also do not connect themselves. AGBI reported in October 2025 that the UAE's Aani could be integrated with Türkiye's FAST. That is a possibility the report describes, not a live link. Between two countries, the cross-border step is still the part with office hours.
Three ways a desk handles the weekend
- Pre-fund and wait. Keep balances at the far end so Saturday orders can pay out. The cost is working capital tied up in each corridor. See the pre-funding tax.
- Quote now, settle Monday. The desk takes price risk across the weekend, or widens the quote to cover it.
- Settle on a layer that runs 24/7. Hold balances in the currencies you trade and convert on demand. Modality settles 24/7 and holds balances in 36 account currencies, with 630 direct pairs between them. The fiat leg of a payment still depends on the partner institution and the local rail at each end, so ask which rail a given corridor uses.
A ten-minute test for your own desk
List every client request you received between Friday 18:00 and Monday 08:00 last month. For each one, write down which leg stopped it: the bank's cut-off, the dollar leg, a pre-funded balance that was empty, or a manual approval. The most frequent stopper is the one worth fixing first.
For the treasury side, see multi-currency treasury without nostro accounts. For one record across fiat and digital assets, see one book for fiat and digital assets. The desk view is on the crypto brokers page.
Frequently asked questions
Does 24/7 settlement mean every fiat payout is instant?
No. Settlement on the layer runs 24/7. The payout depends on the rail at the receiving end and on the partner institution that provides it.
Which currencies can a desk hold balances in?
Modality holds balances in 36 account currencies, including EUR, TRY, AED and USD, subject to onboarding, eligibility and review.
Does a direct pair help on weekends?
It removes one leg, and with it the calendar of that leg. A EUR to TRY direct pair no longer depends on the dollar wire being open.
Sources
- European Central Bank, Instant Payments Regulation page (dates for euro-area and non-euro-area payment service providers), read 26 October 2026 ecb.europa.eu
- Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye, 2023 Annual Report, section 2.5 (FAST) www3.tcmb.gov.tr
- Al Etihad Payments, Aani launch announcement, 16 October 2023 centralbank.ae
- Federal Reserve Financial Services, Fedwire Funds Service and NSS expanded operating days, announced 9 October 2025 frbservices.org
- AGBI, "UAE and Turkish central banks sign currency swap deal", October 2025 agbi.com
Bring the Saturday-night pair that stops your desk to a call: .
Get a quoteRelated: Which payment rails run on weekends? A calendar by currency.