Obscure Currency Crosses: The Hipsters of Forex 🧢
While euro and yen crosses are the most liquid and widely traded currency crosses, there’s a whole other group of pairs out there that don’t include the U.S. dollar, euro, or yen at all.
We like to call these the “Obscure Currency Crosses.”
If forex pairs were high school students:
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The major pairs would be the popular jocks.
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The obscure crosses? They’d be the edgy hipsters or emo kids — marching to the beat of their own drum, quietly hanging out in the corner of the trading room.
What Makes Them Obscure?
These crosses involve less common currency combinations like:
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AUD/CHF
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AUD/NZD
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CAD/CHF
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GBP/CHF
Most traders avoid these pairs, which is why they’re labeled “obscure.” They’re not part of the mainstream crowd and tend to get less attention.
What You Should Know Before Trading Them
Trading these lesser-known crosses can be more difficult and riskier compared to euro or yen crosses. Here's why:
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Lower Liquidity:
Fewer traders = smaller trading volume = reduced liquidity. -
Higher Volatility:
Thin markets mean prices can swing wildly. It’s easy to get caught in a whipsaw — a sudden move that hits your stop loss before reversing again. -
Choppy Price Action:
These pairs often don’t move in clean trends. You’ll see more random, erratic movements that are hard to read or predict. -
Wider Spreads:
Because they’re not traded as much, brokers typically charge higher spreads, which increases your cost to enter and exit trades.
Check out a chart of pairs like AUD/CHF or GBP/CHF, and you’ll likely see:
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Spikes everywhere 📈📉
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Noisy movement with no clear direction
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And a much harder time managing risk
Trade with Caution
If you do decide to trade obscure crosses, be prepared for:
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Wider stop losses to survive those sharp price spikes
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Higher transaction costs due to big spreads
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A tougher time finding solid trade setups
In short: these pairs aren’t untradeable… just not for the faint of heart.