#TradingPairs101

When I first entered the trading world, I thought that all currencies were bought only with dollars. I didn't know that there was something called trading pairs, nor did I understand the difference between BTC/USDT and ETH/BTC, for example. After some time learning and experimenting, I began to understand that choosing the right trading pair has a significant impact on the trade. Sometimes the currency itself is good, but the pair you are trading may not have enough liquidity or may move strangely.

One of the things I learned is that some pairs are more stable and easier to predict their movement, like pairs against USDT, because they are tied to the dollar and their price is clear. On the other hand, pairs against currencies like BTC or ETH tend to be more complex in their movement, as you are monitoring two currencies at the same time, not just one.

I always started asking myself before any trade: What pair will give me the best price and execution? Do I need to return my profits to dollars or invest them in another asset? Many times I use pairs against BNB or BTC because I don’t want to go back to cash; I just want to trade between projects. I learned that choosing the pair depends on my goal for the trade and on the overall market condition.

Choosing the pair has become part of my decision; I no longer trade just because I see a currency rising; I need to see which currency I am trading against and how this pair has moved over the past days. I learned to monitor the volume, liquidity, and spread before opening the trade. This is a big difference from the old days when I would just click buy and that was it.