Forex Is Becoming More Like Crypto Without Moving Onto a Blockchain

Foreign exchange and cryptocurrency have long existed in different aspects of the financial world. The Forex market is focused on the national currencies, central banks and established financial institutions. Crypto was built on the concepts of decentralized networks, digital wallets, and markets that never close.

That division is becoming less clear. In the case of currency trading, longer trading hours, faster execution, app-based access and crypto-style derivatives are all making inroads with no intention of core trading infrastructure stepping onto a public blockchain. Forex can still be bank-based and traded on regulated exchanges, but the trading experience is becoming increasingly familiar to digital-asset users. It has been particularly apparent during periods of dollar, interest-rate expectations and global risk appetite fluctuations in tandem with changes in the bitcoin price. Many of the same economic indicators are followed by crypto traders and forex traders.

Always-Open Markets Are Becoming the New Expectation

Crypto has revolutionized retail traders’ expectations of financial markets. Bitcoin trading is are available 24/7, including on weekends and public holidays. Traders don’t have to sit around waiting for a regional exchange to open before reacting to a breaking news story.