🧱 Basics·intermediate

Cross Pair

Also called: cross, currency cross

A pair that doesn't include the US dollar — used to trade one non-USD currency directly against another.

A cross pair is any forex pair where the USD is not on either side. EUR/GBP, AUD/NZD, CHF/JPY, GBP/CAD — all crosses. The name comes from the fact that, historically, banks would have to convert through USD to make these trades. Today brokers quote them directly, but the name stuck. Crosses are how you isolate a view on two specific currencies. If you think the European Central Bank is going to be more hawkish than the Bank of England, the cleanest expression is long EUR/GBP — you avoid any USD noise. Trading EUR/USD instead would mix your ECB view with whatever the Fed is doing. Crosses tend to move with the relative strength of each side. AUD/NZD, for example, moves on commodity prices vs dairy prices and the relative stance of the RBA vs RBNZ. Knowing the macro driver of a cross is half the edge in trading it.

Real trade example

EUR/GBP in late 2024 traded the ECB-vs-BoE divergence cleanly: as the BoE turned more dovish than the ECB, the cross rallied from 0.83 to 0.86 over six weeks, with no USD noise to muddy the trade.

Related terms

Minor Pair

intermediate

A forex pair made up of two major currencies that does NOT include the US dollar — like EUR/GBP or AUD/JPY.

Major Pair

beginner

Any forex pair that includes the US dollar and one other top-tier global currency — the most liquid pairs in the world.

Exotic Pair

advanced

A forex pair that includes one major currency and one currency from a smaller or emerging-market economy — like USD/TRY or USD/ZAR.

Currency Pair

beginner

Two currencies quoted together — you're always buying one and selling the other at the same time.

Carry Trade

advanced

A trade where you borrow a low-interest currency to buy a high-interest currency, profiting from the rate differential.

P&L (Profit and Loss)

beginner

The total profit or loss on your trades — the scorecard for your trading performance.

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