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DATA · AGGREGATED TRADES TIMING

Crypto Aggregated Trades: Event Time vs Retrieval Time

Each aggregated trade carries its trade time. Streams add an event time when the message was sent — useful for measuring your own delay.

By ChartsPod Editorial Team · Reviewed by ChartsPod Research
Published · Updated · 5 min read

Short answer

Binance aggTrades return T (trade time) per record with aggregate and underlying trade IDs. WebSocket messages also carry an event time (E) — when the message was produced — which is typically slightly after T. Your receipt time comes later still. Use T for analysis, E − T and receipt − E to measure delays, and aggregate-ID continuity to detect gaps.

Which times the data carries

TimePresent?Meaning
T (trade time)YesEvent time
E (event time, stream)YesMessage time
Receipt timeNoRecord it
Aggregate IDYesGap detection

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What to record yourself

Field to storeWhy
TAnalysis time
EExchange message time
received_atYour clock
aContinuity
mSide
Aggregated Trades: a stored recordAggregated Trades: a stored record: T — Analysis time; E — Exchange message time; received_at — Your clock; a — Continuity; m — Side.TAnalysis timeEExchange message timereceived_atYour clockaContinuitymSide
Every aggregated trades row carries its own clock. Original ChartsPod editorial graphic.

Example

Aggregated Trades: event vs retrieval (illustrative)Aggregated Trades: event vs retrieval (illustrative): T: 12:00:00.120 trade; E: 12:00:00.135 message; RECEIVED: 12:00:00.310; DELAY: ≈ 190 ms total.T12:00:00.120 tradeE12:00:00.135 messageRECEIVED12:00:00.310DELAY≈ 190 ms total
Two clocks, one record. Original ChartsPod editorial graphic.

Illustrative: during a volatile minute, receipt minus E grew to over a second. Analyses using receipt time misplaced trades relative to price.

Related: Crypto Aggregated Trades: Null vs Zero - Handle Missing Fields Correctly, Crypto Order-Book Snapshots: Event Time vs Retrieval Time.

Use T for analysis, E − T and receipt − E to measure delays, and aggregate-ID continuity to detect gaps.

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Questions readers ask

Which time should I analyse aggregated trades by?

Trade time T.

What is E?

The stream's event (message) time.

How do I measure delay?

Receipt time minus E.

Sources and methodology

Field definitions come from DEX Screener's API reference and CoinGecko's onchain API documentation, read 17 October 2026. Where a schema doesn't document a timestamp, this guide says so and recommends recording retrieval time yourself.

  1. Binance: USD-M Futures market data API — trades, depth, funding and open interest.

This article explains research tools and workflows. It is not financial advice, does not recommend buying or selling any asset and does not predict prices. Crypto derivatives carry a risk of rapid and total loss of margin.

CHARTSPOD EDITORIAL EDITION · RESEARCH AND EDUCATION ONLY · NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.