How Often Market Data Actually Updates

In short: Crypto and US equities can genuinely stream second by second. Forex, commodities, bonds and indices cannot, because their sources do not publish that fast — no product can buy you speed that does not exist upstream.

"Real-time" is used loosely, and it matters

Most market tools describe themselves as real-time, and most of them mean "we ask a data provider for a new number every so often". That is polling, not streaming, and the gap between the two is the difference between a price that is current and one that is up to two minutes old.

For someone glancing at a market to see what is moving, minute-old data is completely fine. For someone acting on a move as it happens, it is not. The problem is not that products poll — it is that the word used for both is the same, so you cannot tell which one you are looking at.

BubbleMarkets states the rate on the board itself. The indicator above the chart reads Live only when prices are genuinely streaming; otherwise it shows the actual interval, such as Every 90s.

Why the rate differs by market

Cryptocurrency trades continuously on exchanges that publish a public per-trade stream, so a genuine second-by-second feed exists and costs little. US stocks and ETFs have per-second data too, though it is licensed and considerably more expensive.

Foreign exchange, commodities, government bonds and world indices are different. Their public data sources publish on intervals measured in minutes, and no amount of paying changes that at the consumer level. A product promising second-by-second bond yields is either using a private institutional feed or overstating what it has.

This is why our forex and bond boards refresh more slowly than crypto on every plan including the most expensive one. Charging more for speed that does not exist upstream would be selling nothing.

What refresh rate you actually need

If you are surveying a market — which is what a bubble map is for — a one-to-two minute refresh shows you the same picture a streaming feed would. Prices move, but the shape of the board does not change meaningfully in ninety seconds.

If you are watching a specific asset during a fast move, streaming matters, and it matters most in crypto where a minute can be a large percentage.

If you are making decisions where seconds count, no browser-based bubble chart is the right instrument — you want your broker's own feed. A bubble map is for seeing the whole market at once, which is a different job.

Common questions

How often do prices update on a free BubbleMarkets account?

Every one to two minutes: crypto about every 60 seconds, US stocks and ETFs about every 90 seconds, and forex, commodities, bonds and indices about every two minutes.

What actually streams second by second?

Crypto and US stocks and ETFs, on the Professional and Enterprise plans. Other markets refresh on an interval on every plan, because their data sources do not publish faster.

Does paying more make forex data faster?

Only up to a point. Paid plans shorten the polling interval, but forex, commodities, bonds and indices never stream, because the underlying sources do not publish per-second data.