Real-time Data
Real-time data is market information delivered with minimal delay, typically within milliseconds of occurring. It includes live prices, trades, and orderbook updates.
Understanding the Concept
In trading, stale data is dangerous data. Prices move fast. A quote from 5 seconds ago might be 1% different from current price. For execution, that's the difference between profit and loss.
Real-time data comes via WebSocket connections or very fast polling. True real-time means sub-second latency from exchange to your system. "Near real-time" usually means 1-15 second delays, which is fine for monitoring but risky for execution.
The infrastructure cost for real-time data is significant. That's why it's often a premium feature. Maintaining connections to 50+ exchanges, normalizing data instantly, and pushing to thousands of clients simultaneously requires serious engineering.
Real-World Example
You're running an arbitrage bot. Real-time feeds show BTC at $50,000.00 on Binance and $50,050.00 on Kraken simultaneously. With real-time data, you can capture this $50 spread. With delayed data, the opportunity's gone before you see it.
How PRISM Handles This
PRISM WebSocket feeds deliver market data in under 100ms from source. We maintain persistent connections to all major exchanges so you don't have to. One connection to PRISM replaces managing 50+ exchange connections yourself.
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