Multi-asset trading: managing FX, crypto, and indices together
Portfolio-level risk management when your funded account spans multiple asset classes with very different volatility profiles.
Most funded traders we see are single-asset specialists — FX or crypto, rarely both. The traders who survive the longest are multi-asset, but only because they handle correlation and sizing as a portfolio problem instead of a series of single-instrument bets.
The volatility problem
The first issue with mixing asset classes is that "1% risk per trade" means very different things in different markets. A 1% move in EUR/USD takes a typical week. A 1% move in BTC/USD can happen between two cups of coffee.
If you size every trade as "0.5% of account", you're systematically over-risking your crypto trades relative to your FX trades. The volatility envelopes are an order of magnitude apart.
| Asset | Typical daily range | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 0.4 - 0.6% | Largest size, tight stops viable |
| GBP/JPY | 0.7 - 1.0% | Mid-size, wider stops |
| XAU/USD | 1.2 - 1.8% | Smaller size, give it room |
| SPX500 | 0.8 - 1.2% | Mid-size, news-sensitive |
| BTC/USD | 2.5 - 5% | Smallest size, widest stops |
| ETH/USD | 3 - 6% | Smaller again, more whippy |
The right approach is to size by stop distance, not by notional. A trade with a 1.5% stop should risk the same dollar amount regardless of whether the instrument is EUR/USD or BTC/USD. Most platforms can do this automatically with a position size calculator — use one.
Correlation traps
The second issue is that asset classes don't move independently. Some pairs are economically connected; some are connected by macro sentiment.
If you're long SPX, long BTC, short USD/JPY, and long EUR/USD all at once, you essentially have a single big "risk-on" bet, even though it looks diversified on paper. A risk-off shock — Fed pivot scare, geopolitical event, regulatory news — will hurt all four positions simultaneously.
Practical rule: aggregate your effective risk by macro theme, not by individual position. Two long crypto + one long SPX = three risk-on positions sized as one. If your per-trade risk is 1%, your total themed exposure should not exceed about 2.5%.
Leverage differences and what they imply
Coinhub Funded uses different max leverage by asset class for a reason: max leverage approximates how much intra-day volatility you can absorb without blowing your stop.
- FX majors: 1:50 (2-Step) or 1:30 (1-Step) — low volatility, tight stops, can run high leverage safely
- Indices, metals, commodities: 1:20 — mid volatility, mid leverage
- Crypto: 1:2 — high volatility, low leverage by design
The crypto leverage cap looks low until you understand that a 1:2 leveraged BTC position can experience equivalent intraday P&L swings to a 1:25 leveraged EUR/USD position. The leverage isn't restricting you; it's protecting you from yourself.
Multi-asset traders frequently make the mistake of "using the full leverage" on each instrument. Don't. Treat leverage as an upper bound, not a target. Size by stop distance and dollar risk, and let the leverage take care of itself.
Time zone discipline
The third practical challenge: different asset classes have different active hours. FX is most liquid during London and New York overlap. Indices follow their home exchange hours. Crypto trades 24/7 but is most active during US hours.
If you're trading multiple asset classes, your trade window stretches across most of the day. This creates two risks:
- Decision fatigue. Twelve hours of screen time leads to lower-quality decisions. Pick a primary session and treat other hours as supplementary.
- Position management during inactive hours. A crypto position you opened during the US session is exposed during the Asia session when you're asleep. Always set stops, not just price alerts.
The funded traders we see do best with multi-asset accounts are the ones who specialize: FX during one session, crypto during another, with clear rules about not switching mid-stream.
Flatten Friday and the asset mix
One more consideration unique to Coinhub Funded: Flatten Friday applies to FX, indices, metals, and commodities — but not crypto. Crypto positions can stay open through the weekend.
This has real strategy implications. If you're holding a thematic position (say, long risk-on assets), the FX/indices/metals legs all close on Friday but the crypto leg keeps running. Your portfolio composition changes Friday at close, and you'll need to decide whether to re-establish the closed legs on Monday or treat the crypto leg as a standalone bet over the weekend.
Most experienced traders flatten everything on Friday — even the crypto positions — to start fresh Monday. The optionality of holding crypto through the weekend rarely outweighs the variance of waking up to a weekend liquidation cascade.
