With a blurred economic outlook in the corner and the ravaging COVID-19 onslaught hitting record highs, financial traders, including forex traders around the globe are repositioning for opportunities. 

It should be noted that the currency market is by far the largest financial market in terms of liquidity, value, and turnover. It looks to be on the rise, as remote trading takes shape. 

In 2016, the currency industry was valued at $1.934 quadrillion dollars, with forex trading turning over $5.1 trillion daily. In 2019, it was estimated to be worth a staggering $2.409 quadrillion dollars, with a daily turnover of $6.6 trillion. 

According to the Bank for International Settlements, and buttressed by data from Bloomberg News, currency trading volume in the global foreign-exchange market has jumped to the highest-ever level at $6.6 trillion. 

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to disrupt economic activities at unprecedented levels for traders and banks;  Nairametrics considers it pertinent to empower its readers on the best way to position, and take advantage of the volatility, as it is bound to trigger potential opportunities. 

Uche Paragon, Head of Education, CCI Trading Africa, in a recent interactive session, witnessed by Nairametrics, spoke on the critical steps a forex trader must take to become successful.  

He said, “There are no universal rules in trading forex per se, what is really important is that you define the strategy, and the platform you use in trading,” 

On strategy, He highlighted on traders sticking to a particular strategy, for example, focusing on a tested indicator on a currency pair in a given market, coupled with avoiding platforms exposed to high slippage and trading manipulation by certain forex brokers, especially most of the non-ECN brokers.  

Also, Prince Uche gave the importance of the use in Research trading tool, study techniques and how they can be implemented in your strategy. Study how the market behaves and learn how the trading industry works 

In a detailed explanatory note, Adegbotolu Kehinde Erastus, Research and Market Analyst, Scope Markets, gave detailed insights on the endless opportunities of the forex market saying; 

“With Nigeria’s population presently standing at over 200 million, comprising of vibrant youths who are mostly unemployed, forex trading has become a legitimate way for them to earn money at their fingertips, and also it has become a way to earn passive income for the employed populace. Brokers now support their clients with lots of educational material on Forex trading 

“So, one doesn’t necessarily need to have an educational background about the financial markets, everything from the basics to the advanced, trading strategies are all available with the broker any client wishes to register with. One of the advantages of forex trading is that a trader can profit under any market condition.  

“Even when the market is rising or falling with very good trading strategies, you can make very good profits, and because the financial market is available for 24 hours from Monday to Friday, with different market sessions, profitable trading opportunities do not cease. Even when COVID–19 put all commercial activities to a halt, the Forex market was still very active with traders making profits.” 

Finally, it’s critical to observe that though currency trading often brings substantial profits, it is important to note that the leverage offered to forex traders, comes with a high risk of losing your capital. 

The U.S dollar surges past fresh two-month highs at the last trading day of the week.

In addition to the impressive run, the safe-haven currency is set to finish this month with its biggest weekly increase since March as traders flock to the greenback for refuge amid rising COVID-19 caseloads and lingering passage of the U.S stimulus bill.

• The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of major currencies, rose by 0.25%, to trade at 94.627. The last time it traded at that level was 19th of July 2020.
• Elsewhere, the greenback was also supported by weaknesses in the euro and Brtish pound as the second wave of Covid-19 onslaughts rattled the mind of investors

Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at AxiCorp in a note to Nairametrics gave keynotes on the strength of the world’s most favored safe haven at the moment, by saying;

“US dollar demand resurfaced as the New York session got underway, with virtually all currencies, local and G-10, slipping again as another wave of de-risking perhaps ensued.

“Any dollar pulls back in Asia were faded, suggesting we’re still on the path of least resistance higher of the Greenback. The market remains completely downcast by the drip-feed of unflattering events.”

Quick fact:

• The U.S. Dollar Index tracks the greenback against a basket of major global currencies such as the Japanese yen, British pound sterling, Swedish Krona, Euro, etc.
• Individuals hoping to meet foreign exchange payment obligations via dollar transactions to countries like Europe, and Japan, would need to pay fewer dollars in fulfilling such payment obligations.

DeFi cryptos are now a force to reckon with, especially since the era of the worst pandemic known to man came to play.

It’s important to note that DeFi-related assets are gaining traction, as data feeds from Defipulse revealed that Defi based crypto market value had risen from $1 billion in June to  $10.71 billion, at the time this report was written, showing an astronomical gain of 1071%.

Why investors are flocking to DeFI cryptos

Several DeFi crypto assets have had their share of the spotlight in recent times, with cryptos such as Chainlink, Compound, YAM, UniSwap, Cream finance, and Melon gaining investors’ capital inflows.

• Using “Defi” technology, one can build smart contracts with codes that facilitate the actions of intermediaries, including managing and accepting deposits, handling collateralized loans, and liquidating collateral assets as per the terms of the contracts, should their values fluctuate.
• Although DeFi assets, about few days back, had experienced some price corrections due to the rebound of the dollar and overbought indicators, the market seems to show a bullish bias relatively in the midterm, as Defi based investors increase their asset purchases momentarily.
• DeFi crypto owners in some cases can typically receive better interest rates than they would from traditional banks on the basis that lower operating costs is enabled by operating on an automated decentralized network

As a credit to blockchain technology, the contract codes cannot be terminated or manipulated by any entity, and are executed with specific conditions.

What DeFi means: Defi means “decentralized finance.” By definition, it’s a crypto ecosystem made up of financial apps designed on leading blockchain platforms.

• Defi, in short, is the use of blockchain technologies (including smart contracts, decentralized asset custody, etc.) to replace all “intermediaries” with program codes, therefore maximizing the efficiency of financial services and minimizing costs.
• These digital assets are designed on Ethereum codes, and usually exhibit characteristics that include having protocols and financial smart contracts.