Dual Currency Service

A dual currency service is a forex trading service that allows an investor to speculate on exchange rate movement between two specific currencies through a fund or instrument.

A dual currency service typically requires the investor to make directional speculations between the currencies, such as speculating that the U.S. dollar will rise against the yen.

Dual currency service instruments typically involve currency pairs of major, liquid currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, pound, Swiss franc, euro and yen. In a currency pair, the value of two currencies, the base currency and the quote currency, are compared to each other. It looks at how much of the quote currency is required to buy one unit of the base currency. Currency pairs are traded in the foreign exchange market, or the forex market. The most traded currency pair in the world, and the most liquid one as well, is the euro against the U.S. dollar, which is noted as EUR/USD.

Because a dual currency service is a directional service, investors are able to make generalized price bets as opposed to bets on the specific exchange rate spot price.

The foreign exchange market, or forex, is the market where currencies are bought, sold, exchanged and the subject of speculation. It’s the largest and most liquid financial market in the world.

When traders buy or sell currencies in the foreign exchange market, they are not trading actual physical currencies, but instead making a bet on the strength of the currency. If they’re buying a currency, they’re hoping its value will strengthen so they make a profit, whereas when they sell currencies, they hope for the opposite.

All forex trades involve buying and selling of currency pairs, where one currency is sold and another is bought. Often, currency pairs are thought of as single units that can be bought or sold. The number of currency pairs that exist varies as currencies come in and out of circulation and existence.

Generally, currencies that are traded in exchange for the U.S. dollar (USD) are called major currencies, while those currencies that are not associated with the USD are referred to as minor currencies. They are not as liquid as major currencies. Some examples include EUR/GBP and EUR/CHF. When currency pairs include the currencies of emerging markets, they are referred to as exotic currencies pairs, an example of which would be USD/SD. These currency pairs are not as liquid and have wider spreads.