#TradingPairs101
✅ What Is a Trading Pair?
A trading pair on Binance (or any exchange) shows two assets that can be traded against each other. For example:
BTC/USDT means you're trading Bitcoin against Tether (a stablecoin).
It tells you:
What asset you're buying (the first one).
What asset you're using to pay (the second one).
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📘 How to Read a Trading Pair
Let’s take ETH/BTC as an example:
ETH (Ethereum) is the base currency (the one you're buying or selling).
BTC (Bitcoin) is the quote currency (the one you're using to pay or receive).
So:
Buy ETH/BTC = Spend BTC to buy ETH.
Sell ETH/BTC = Sell ETH to receive BTC.
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💡 Common Quote Currencies on Binance
These are the currencies often used to quote prices:
Symbol Name What it means
USDT Tether (stablecoin) 1 USDT ≈ 1 USD; widely used for pricing
BUSD Binance USD Another USD stablecoin (phased out in 2024)
BTC Bitcoin Trade against BTC
ETH Ethereum Trade against ETH
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🧠 Why Do Trading Pairs Matter?
1. Determine what you can trade: You can only trade between certain coins. If there's no pair like DOGE/ADA, you may need to go from DOGE → USDT → ADA.
2. Price differences: Same coin may have slightly different prices in different pairs due to demand/supply.
3. Strategy: Choosing the right pair impacts fees, slippage, and ease of conversion.