Converters
Jun 24, 2026
The $7.5 Trillion FX Market — How Exchange Rates Are Priced and Why You're Always at the Worst End of It
The FX market trades $7.5 trillion daily but individuals always participate at the least favourable end — paying 3-5% at banks vs 0.3-1% at specialist services, with costs hidden in the spread rather than explicit commissions. Here's how the interbank rate is formed, the three components of exchange cost (spread, commission, transfer fee), how to calculate the true all-in cost percentage against mid-market, and why unusual currency pairs are cheaper to exchange via two USD legs than directly.