After a fantastic 1520% growth since its launch in 2019, GOFX is now launching 9 new products for the forex category. These nine new forex pairs open new doors for people to seize greater opportunities in the cross pair forex market.

What is 'Cross Pairs'?

Currency pairs in the forex market are categorized into major pairs and cross pairs. What distinguishes the two? Of course a very strong and influential currency in the global economy: the US Dollar. Briefly, major pairs refer to currency pairs that use the USD, while cross pairs are the opposite.

Advantages of Trading Cross Pairs

Generally, the cross pair market is more volatile (high volatility) than the major pairs. However, this is not absolute. Cross pairs can actually provide a more 'stable' alternative in some economic conditions. Check out the following illustration to see how cross pairs can provide traders with a more positive alternative.

Market Sentiment on USD

There are times when sentiments are strong in which the USD value is highly uncertain or fluctuates drastically in a short period of time. This condition reduces the value of USD, so that automatically the main pair (which is determined by USD) also fluctuates in value. In this case, cross pairs will offer a more pleasant (stable) way of trading and an alternative for those of you who want to avoid extreme volatility in the USD pair.

Gaining opportunities from other sentiments

Let us understand first on how to read a forex pair. A forex pair consists of two currencies: a base currency and a quote currency (or the "counter currency"). The most popular base currencies include EUR (Euros), GBP (British pounds) AUD (Australian Dollars) and USD (US Dollars). While the quote currency may be any currency. For example: 

        EUR/USD = 1.3600 

EUR is the base currency and USD is the quote currency. This translates to "One Euro is worth 1.36 US Dollars." No matter which currency is the base currency, the base currency always equals 1. The quoted amount (in this case 1.3600) is the amount of the quote currency.

If we look at the product symbols for EUR/USD, CAD/USD, JPY/USD, and so on, we can conclude that: we need to see how the value of EUR, CAD, and JPY strengthens or weakens against the USD. For example, a trader has a buy position for the EUR/USD pair.

At that time, European countries tended to hold back the stimulus. Meanwhile in the United States, there is still the issue of economic stimulus from their central bank, the Fed. In this case, the EUR weakens against the USD, thus endangering the traders who place the 'buy' position for this pair.

It's different—assuming that the trader places a 'buy' position—for the EUR/AUD cross pair, where the EUR is still the base currency. We can see another sentiment influencing the value of EUR: lockdown. Countries in Europe have started to loosen up their lockdowns, indicating that activities in the region is starting to return to normal.

Meanwhile, Australia tightens their lockdown, giving rise to indications that the economy in the region will weakens, pushing AUD downwards. In this case, the EUR is strengthening against AUD. If you look at the chart, EUR/AUD tends to move upwards.

GOFX Cross Pairs: Diverse Products Opens Wider Opportunities

The forex products in GOFX itself have recorded quite a significant growth, which is 136% during the January-July 2021 period. The growth of multilateral forex transactions at ICDX also contributed to the overall growth of multilateral transactions at ICDX during the 1st semester of 2021, namely by 57.9 percent.

Regardless of major pair or cross pair, product diversity certainly opens wider profit opportunities. Through cross pairs, we can get opportunities from other sentiments in certain currencies that actually 'profit' that currency. The existence of these 9 new GOFX forex products will certainly open wider opportunities for Indonesian forex traders, especially with the availability of products in micro sizes that are more affordable for novice traders.

If we look at the product symbols for EUR/USD, CAD/USD, JPY/USD, and so on, we can conclude that: we need to see how the value of EUR, CAD, and JPY strengthens or weakens against the USD. For example, a trader has a buy position for the EUR/USD pair.

At that time, the trend in European countries tended to hold back the stimulus. Meanwhile in the United States, there is still the issue of economic stimulus from the central bank, the Fed. In this case, the EUR becomes weak against the USD, thus potentially detrimental to the trader who has placed the 'buy' position.

It's different—assuming that the trader places a 'buy' position—for the EUR/AUD cross pair, where the EUR is both the base currency. We can see another sentiment influencing the value of the EUR: lockdown. Countries in Europe have started easing lockdown rules, indicating that the region is starting to return to normal.

Meanwhile, Australia has begun to tighten the lockdown rules, giving rise to indications that the economy in the region is weakening and the AUD value is also being affected. In this case, the EUR is strengthening against the AUD. If you look at the chart, EUR/AUD tends to move upwards

More Variety, Larger Opportunities with GOFX Cross Pairs

Forex products in GOFX itself have recorded a significant growth, namely 136% during the January-July 2021 period. The growth in multilateral forex transactions at ICDX also contributed to the overall growth of multilateral transactions at ICDX during the 1st semester of 2021, which is 57.9 percent.

Regardless of major pair or cross pair, product diversity certainly opens wider profit opportunities. Through cross pairs, we can get opportunities from other sentiments in certain currencies that actually 'profit' that currency. The existence of these 9 new GOFX forex products will certainly open up wider opportunities for Indonesian forex traders, especially with the availability of products in micro sizes that are more affordable for beginner traders.