ETFs

Currency ETFs

Currency ETFs are an easy unleveraged way to trade different country currencies without trading on the foreign exchange market. Most people don’t have the access, capital, or understanding to trade the real forex markets.
Forex – which is the currency markets, is very difficult to understand and all the variables that are required to know to trade currency. Currency ETFs really simplify the process.

Differences Between FOREX and Currency ETFs

Foreign Exchange is a worldwide over the counter market that is the most liquid market in the world. You must have a forex broker to trade foreign exchange pairs and other currencies on this market.
The most popular currencies in the world are the US dollar, the Euro, the Yen, the Canadian Dollar, and the Swiss Franc. Other currencies include the Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar, the Brazilian real, Mexican peso, and Chinese reminbi or yuan.

Currency ETFs are exchange traded funds that you invest in through your stock broker.
Currency ETFs are bought and sold on the New York Stock Exchange. For example the Euro etf is FXE.

Currency Liquidity

The FOREX market is extremely liquid, while currency ETFs do not always have high volume. Currencies are traded against each other and traders
make and lose money based on the spread between them. Forex trading requires margin as you are often buying currency with 10-1 or 100-1 leverage.

The most liquid currency etfs are the US Dollar ETF UUP and the Euro ETF FXE.

Full Currency ETF & ETN List

US Dollar ETFs/ETNs

UUP – Powershares US Dollar ETF
UDN – Powershares Bearish US Dollar ETF
FSU – FactorShares 2X: S&P500 Bull/USD Bear

EURO ETF & ETN List

Single Beta
FXE – CurrencyShares Euro Trust ETF
ERO – iPath EUR / USD Exchange Rate ETN
EU – WisdomTree Dreyfus Euro ETF
ERE – EUR/USD Currency Pair – ELEMENTS Euro / USD Exchange Rate ETN

Leveraged 2x or 3x Beta
ULE – Leveraged ProShares Ultra Euro ETF
EUO – Leveraged ProShares UltraShort Euro ETF

URR – Leveraged Market Vectors Double Long Euro ETN
DRR – Leveraged Market Vectors Double Short Euro ETN

Great Britain British Pound ETFs

FXB – CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling Trust
GBB – iPath GBP/USD Exchange Rate ETN
EGB – USD/GBP Currency Pair – ELEMENTS British Pound /USD Exchange Rate ETN

Japan Yen ETFs

FXY – CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust
JYN – USD/JPY Currency Pair – iPath JPY / USD Exchange Rate ETN
JYF – WisdomTree Dreyfus Japanese Yen ETF
YCL – ProShares Ultra Yen ETF
YCS – ProShares UltraShort Yen ETF

Aussie Dollar & New Zealand Dollar ETF/ETN

FXA – CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust
BNZ – WisdomTree Dreyfus New Zealand Dollar ETF
ADE – USD/AUD Currency Pair – ELEMENTS Australian Dollar / USD Exchange Rate ETN

Brazil ETF

BZF – WisdomTree Dreyfus Brazilian Real ETF

Canadian Dollar ETFs

FXC – Currency Shares Canadian Dollar Trust

CUD – USD/CAD Currency Pair – ELEMENTS USD / Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate ETN

China Currency ETFs

CNY – Market Vectors Chinese Renminbi / USD ETN
CYB – WisdomTree Dreyfus Chinese Yuan ETF

Indian Rupee ETF/ETN

INR – Market Vectors Indian Rupee – USD ETN
ICN – WisdomTree Dreyfus Indian Rupee ETF

Mexican Peso ETF

FXM – CurrencyShares Mexican Peso Trust

Russian Ruble ETF

XRU – CurrencyShares Russian Ruble Trust

Swedish Krona ETF

FXS – CurrencyShares Swedish Krona Trust

Swiss Franc ETF

FXF – CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust
SZE – USD/CHF Currency Pair – ELEMENTS USD / Swiss Franc Exchange Rate ETN

South African Rand ETFs

SZR – WisdomTree Dreyfus South African Rand ETF

Another way to trade currencies is with binary options. All binary option brokers have currency binary options available. Many brokers have binary options for some of the lesser traded forex pairs like USD/TRY.

Currency search terms:

  • Currency ETFs
  • currency etfs by volume
  • australia dollar yen etf