Forex introduction
A short history of the forex market
2 min
Understanding how today’s market came to be makes its mechanics far less mysterious.
From gold to floating rates
For much of modern history, currencies were pegged to gold or to another currency. After World War II, the Bretton Woods agreement (1944) tied major currencies to the US dollar, which was in turn convertible to gold.
That system ended in 1971, when the United States suspended dollar-to-gold convertibility. Currencies began to float — their values set by supply and demand in the open market rather than fixed by decree. The modern forex market was born.
The electronic era
For decades, forex was the exclusive playground of banks and large institutions. Two shifts changed that:
- The rise of electronic trading in the 1990s.
- The arrival of online retail brokers in the early 2000s, who gave individuals access to the same market through a screen.
Today a trader with a modest account can transact in the same market as multinational banks — a genuinely recent development, and the reason this education exists.
This content is for educational and informational purposes only and is not investment, financial, tax or legal advice. Trading and investing carry risk, including the possible loss of capital. Any performance shown by third-party tools is hypothetical and not a promise of future results. Do your own research and consider professional advice before making any decision.