#TradingPairs101 Why Trading Pairs Matter

1. Liquidity & Spreads

Major forex pairs and popular crypto pairs like BTC/USDT have high liquidity—easier to enter/exit trades with tighter spreads .

2. Market Access

In crypto, some altcoins only trade against BTC or ETH. So you might buy BTC first, then trade BTC/ADA .

3. Strategy & Risk Management

Using cross pairs allows diversification away from USD.

Pairs trading (statistical arbitrage) involves simultaneously taking opposite positions in two correlated assets, such as Coke vs. Pepsi or two currency pairs, to profit from divergence and convergence .

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💬 Insights from Traders

On Reddit, many traders emphasize keeping it simple and sticking to just 1–3 pairs:

> “If you are beginners, then you should focus on 2‑3 pairs. Less pairs = more focus, quality trade, less losses.”

> “One of the reasons most traders fail is because they try to trade everything … Trade one pair … now I only trade GBP/USD.”

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📌 Quick Summary

Market Pair Example Base / Quote Notes

Forex EUR/USD EUR (base) / USD (quote) Base currency is bought; popular pairs = majors, minors, exotics

Crypto BTC/USDT BTC (base) / USDT (quote) High liquidity, USD-stable reference

Crypto ADA/BTC ADA / BTC Altcoin trading via crypto