$BTC

Trading pairs” or “cryptocurrency pairs” are assets that can be traded for each other on an exchange. Two specific examples of trading pairs are bitcoin/litecoin (BTC/LTC) and ether/bitcoin cash (ETH/BCH). There are two main reasons for investors to understand trading pairs: Some cryptocurrencies can only be bought with other cryptocurrencies, so knowledge of cryptocurrency pairs is necessary to expand your crypto holdings beyond the most common coins. And, knowledge of crypto trading pairs gives savvy crypto investors the chance to exploit arbitrage opportunities — i.e., to profit from differences in asset prices between markets.

The most versatile cryptocurrency pairs to trade are usually BTC and ETH, as they’re offered by most exchanges. Many crypto exchanges offer pairings for cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar (USD), while some do not.