The Forex industry is currently the fastest-growing financial market in the world. While everything becomes online especially during the pandemic, Forex tools attract more and more traders by allowing them to make transactions at any time they want. However, it should be said that lots of people still have a fear of Forex trading, heavily because of the leverage system. You may also be one of those who think that the dark side of the Forex world dominates the light one. We bet your perception will change after reading these fun facts about the Forex industry.
- Forex trading is older than you think
Forex trading was not born yesterday, or twenty years ago, or thousand years ago. It dates back to ancient times and the first mention of a currency transaction was in Talmudic writings. There were money changers to make the transactions and they used to charge a commission for their services. Just like an FX broker, weren’t they?
- The modern age of Forex
After World War II, the Bretton Woods agreement has been signed by all the allied nations. When this agreement became invalid in 1973, the restrictions on exchange rates were removed and gave a start for Forex markets.
- The Cable
The GBP/USD pair is also known as “the cable”. The reason for it was that the London and New York Exchanges were connected to each other with huge steel cables going under the Atlantic. In that way, they can communicate with each other and synchronize the rate of two currencies.
- Bulls and Bears
Traders are generally divided into two categories – “bulls” and “bears”. These two names come from the attacking pattern of these animals. Bulls strike upward so the optimistic group thinking that the market will go up is called bulls. On the other hand, bears swipe downwards. Thus, the pessimistic group believing the market will go down represents “bears”.
- The US is not the biggest market in Forex
Unlike common sense, the US is not the center of the Forex industry. 41% of the transactions are made in the UK, while the US follows them by 19%.
- No crisis no cry
The forex market has never experienced a crisis. The economic downturns have also served as great opportunities for traders, so they were not considered as a crisis.
- The USD is the leading currency
The average daily trading volume is $6.6 trillion as of April 2019. Moreover, the USD is included in 80 percent of all trades worldwide.
- US banks had the right to print money
Before the Federal Reserve Bank was established in 1903, the US banks could print their own money, which sounds impossible these days.
- The biggest inflation in history
Usually, the inflation should follow a stable pattern. However, something strange happened in Zimbabwe in 2008. The country has faced an inflation rate of 89.7 sextillions percent in that year. As a note, one sextillion is equal to 1 followed by 21 zeros.
- Speculation again and again
90% of the Forex trades are speculative in nature. It shows that most people are just looking for hitting the jackpot.
SEE ALSO: Trading Robots: Do They Really Work?
