Optencis

EN
Sign in

Which trade duration to choose in binary options?

From 30 seconds to a few hours: what each duration means for chance, analysis and the number of trades you take, and how to match the duration to your method.

The Optencis team22 Oct 20263 min read
Paper-cut trading desk with two charts and a clock, showing how to choose a trade duration in binary options

The duration of a binary option, or expiry, is the time between opening the trade and the moment the result is decided. Platforms offer anything from a few seconds to several hours. The right choice is not the fastest one: it is the duration that matches the reason you have to expect a move. The shorter the trade, the more chance decides the result.

Pocket Option trade panel: 10-minute duration, $100 amount, 92% payout showing a $192 return, Buy and Sell buttons
The trade panel: the duration (here 10 minutes), the amount, and the payout, which shows what a win returns ($192 for $100 at 92%).

What changes with the duration

DurationWhat drives the priceCan your analysis make a difference?Trades per session
Under 1 minuteSmall random moves, the spread, single ordersVery littleMany, often too many
1 to 5 minutesShort-term momentum, the minutes around a releaseA little, with a precise methodMany
15 to 60 minutesThe trend of the session, supports and resistancesYesA few
1 to 4 hoursNews, central bank decisions, economic dataYes, especially on newsOne or two

Why very short durations are a trap for beginners

  • Chance dominates. Over a few seconds, prices move almost at random. Without a real edge, your win rate tends towards 50%, below your break-even win rate.
  • You trade too much. Short trades invite dozens of decisions an hour, each one a new chance to lose.
  • Emotions take over. A loss is followed by another trade within seconds, often to win it back. This is how accounts empty in an afternoon.

How to choose your duration

  1. Start from your method. If you read the trend on a 5-minute chart, an expiry of 3 to 5 candles (15 to 25 minutes) gives the move time to happen. If you trade news, 1 to 4 hours lets the market digest the figure.
  2. Check the time of day. In quiet hours, even a 15-minute trade can end where it started. See our market hours tool and the busiest sessions.
  3. Check the payout for each duration. It can differ from one duration to another: a lower payout raises your break-even.
  4. Keep one duration while you test. Measure your results over at least 100 trades with the same duration before changing it, in your trading journal.
Pocket Option trade panel with the expiry set to a fixed clock time instead of a duration
Instead of a duration, you can also choose a fixed expiry time: the trade then closes at that exact time.

Our advice for beginners

Avoid durations under one minute while you learn. Start with expiries of 15 minutes to 1 hour on real-market assets, during the most active sessions, and give each trade a written reason. Our lesson on choosing your asset and expiry goes into detail.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best expiry time for binary options?

There is no best duration in general: the right one is the duration that matches your method and gives your reason time to play out. For beginners, 15 minutes to 1 hour is a sensible range.

Are 60-second trades profitable?

For most traders, no: over such a short time, price moves are largely random, and the payout below 100% makes the break-even higher than 50%.

Should I change duration after a loss?

No. Changing duration, amount or asset after a loss is a way of chasing it. Change your method only on the basis of your journal, over enough trades.

Binary options are high-risk products: you can lose all the money you invest. Read our binary options guide before trading.

Latest articles

All news →