Index Price ｜ Gate

What Is the Index Price?

The index price is designed to reflect the market price of the underlying asset of a contract. It is typically calculated based on multiple price sources and weighted according to their configured weights.

Index Price Components

Index Components

Classic Contracts

Gate's index components are selected from multiple mainstream exchanges, including but not limited to Gate, Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, Coinbase, KuCoin, MEXC, Gate Alpha, and PancakeSwap. The quote data collected for the index may cover different sources, such as spot USDT and USD quotes from various exchanges. Users can view the index price, components, and weights on the Index Information page.

Gate selects appropriate index components for each trading pair based on market conditions and adjusts weight ratios from time to time. Gate reserves the right to change index components and weights at any time without prior notice.

Traditional Financial Asset Contracts

For traditional financial asset contracts, Gate introduces price data from stock exchanges, authorized market data sources, foreign exchange markets, commodity markets, index quote sources, or related trading networks as index component prices, depending on the underlying asset type and its market.

Traditional financial asset contracts can cover different types of underlying assets, including but not limited to stocks, ETFs, stock indices, foreign exchange, precious metals, and commodities. Trading hours, market closure schedules, quote mechanisms, and external data availability may vary across different types of underlying assets.

Stocks, ETFs, and stock indices are generally subject to the trading rules of their respective securities or index markets. For example, US stock trading hours are typically based on Eastern Time (ET), Hong Kong stock trading hours are typically based on Hong Kong Time (HKT), and Korean stock trading hours are typically based on Korea Standard Time (KST). Foreign exchange, precious metals, and commodities may reference the quote schedules of the corresponding FX markets, commodity markets, major exchanges, or mainstream data sources. Please refer to the contract page and the actual platform index components for details.

The following shows common trading sessions for some stock markets. Actual trading sessions may vary due to daylight saving time, half-day sessions, statutory holidays, special market closures, or temporary exchange arrangements. Please refer to the rules of the underlying asset's market and the actual display on the Gate page.

Extended Trading and Market Closure Quote Explanation

To provide a more continuous trading experience, Gate adopts corresponding index quote logic based on the availability of external market data for different traditional financial assets:

• Assets that support extended trading sessions or continuous quotes:
  For assets with public extended trading data, overnight market quotes, or continuous external quote support, Gate may continue to collect real-time dynamic quotes from external data sources during the corresponding periods.
• Assets that do not support extended trading sessions or continuous quotes:
  For assets without public extended trading data, or when external real-time dynamic quotes are unavailable during market closures, the platform may carry forward the last valid quote as a static price until the underlying asset's market enters the next trading session when valid quotes become available.

Risk Warning:

Market liquidity during pre-market, after-hours, overnight, extended trading sessions, and around market closures may be lower than during regular trading hours. Order books may be relatively thin, and bid-ask spreads may widen. This may lead to larger short-term price fluctuations and affect the contract index price.

In addition, when the market reopens after a closure, prices may gap due to market news, earnings reports, corporate actions, macroeconomic events, or concentrated trading after holidays. Please manage your position risk accordingly.

Index Price Calculation Details

Classic Contract Index Calculation

The index price is calculated using a weighted average method based on the price and weight of each component.

The index price formula is as follows:

Index Price = Spot latest price of trading pair on Exchange A × Weight of A + Spot latest price of trading pair on Exchange B × Weight of B + Spot latest price of trading pair on Exchange C × Weight of C + ··· + Spot latest price of trading pair on Exchange F × Weight of F

Example:

Using BTCUSDT as an example, assume that at a certain moment its index components, component prices, and weights are as follows:

Then the BTCUSDT index price = 100,000 × 20% + 100,100 × 20% + 100,200 × 20% + 100,100 × 20% + 99,900 × 20% = 100,060 USDT

Traditional Financial Asset Contract Index Calculation

The index price of traditional financial asset contracts is typically calculated using a weighted average method based on the reference price and weight of each index component. Index components can include external market quotes from the underlying asset's market, authorized market data source quotes, related index quotes, foreign exchange market quotes, commodity market quotes, or other price sources recognized by the platform.

In general, the index price formula for traditional financial asset contracts is as follows:

Index Price = Reference price of Component A × Weight of A + Reference price of Component B × Weight of B + Reference price of Component C × Weight of C + ··· + Reference price of Component N × Weight of N

For contracts that directly collect external market quotes of the underlying asset, the index calculation is typically based directly on weighted calculations of external market data sources or related market quotes, without involving a token multiplier.

Corporate Action Adjustments for Traditional Financial Assets

Stocks and ETFs may undergo corporate actions such as stock splits and reverse stock splits, which can lead to price adjustments of the underlying asset. To ensure the index price of relevant contracts can accurately track the underlying asset price, the platform may process index components, reference prices, index multipliers, weights, or other adjustment factors accordingly based on the outcome of the corporate action. Please refer to platform announcements, contract page displays, and actual index components for details.

For contracts that directly collect external stock or ETF market quotes, if external market data sources have already adjusted prices for corporate actions such as stock splits or reverse stock splits, the index price will typically continue to be calculated based on the adjusted external market quotes, without introducing an additional stock token multiplier.

For certain special markets (such as index components that include stock tokens, mapped assets, or other components that cannot directly track underlying asset price changes), the platform may use stock token multipliers or similar adjustment factors to convert relevant component quotes into reference prices consistent with the underlying asset price.

The formula under special circumstances is as follows:

Stock and ETF contract index price = (Stock token component quote ÷ Stock token multiplier × Weight) + (External underlying asset quote × Weight) + Other component reference price × Weight

Example:

Assume Index A has two components: an external stock quote and a Gate stock token quote, each with a weight of 0.5.

Company A decides to execute a 1-for-10 stock split. Since the external stock quote has already been adjusted for the split, while the stock token quote has not been adjusted accordingly, a stock token multiplier is needed for conversion.

Before the split:

Index A price = (1000 ÷ 1 × 0.5) + (1000 × 0.5) = 500 + 500 = 1000

After the split:

Index A price = (1000 ÷ 10 × 0.5) + (100 × 0.5) = 50 + 50 = 100

Therefore, in special scenarios involving stock tokens or similar components, after conversion using multipliers or adjustment factors, the relevant component quotes can remain consistent with the underlying asset price, thereby more accurately reflecting the true market price.

Price Protection Mechanism

To stabilize the index price during market volatility, we have introduced the following price protection mechanisms:

• When the number of components is ≥ 3:

  • If any component price deviates from the median price of all price sources by more than 8%, the system will exclude the deviating exchange until its price returns to within 8% of the median.
  • If any component price deviates from the median price of all price sources within the range of [2%, 8%], the price of that component will be set at 98% or 102% of the median, depending on whether its price is too high or too low.

• When the number of components is 2, the system will exclude the abnormal component based on the volatility of the two components until it returns to normal.

• When the number of components is 1, the component price will be used as the spot index price.

• If the price of a component cannot be obtained for 20 consecutive seconds, its weight will be temporarily adjusted to 0 until its quote returns to normal.

• Under extreme market conditions or abnormal price fluctuations of trading pairs, Gate reserves the right to adjust index components or weights without prior notice.

For certain markets, due to more abundant price sources and smaller normal price fluctuations, the system adopts stricter thresholds to improve the accuracy and manipulation resistance of the index price. Details are as follows:

In addition, we also reserve the right to adjust the above thresholds at any time based on market conditions without prior notice.

Disclaimer

The content provided herein is for reference and educational purposes only and does not constitute any financial, investment, trading, or legal advice, nor does it constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any digital assets. Gate makes no express or implied representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information contained herein. Product features, interfaces, rules, and fee structures may be updated or adjusted at any time. Please refer to the latest announcements and the actual information displayed on the Gate platform for the most accurate details.
Digital asset investments involve significant risk, and prices may fluctuate substantially. You may lose the entire amount of your investment. Please make decisions cautiously based on your own financial situation and risk tolerance after fully understanding the associated risks. If necessary, you are advised to consult an independent professional financial or legal advisor.
For more information about potential risks, please refer to Gate's Risk Disclosure and User Agreement.