Complete Trading Pairs Guide

What are Crypto Trading Pairs?

A cryptocurrency trading pair represents the exchange rate between two digital assets, showing how much of one crypto you can trade for another.

💡 Trading Pair Notation

BTC/USDT = $95,000

Means: 1 Bitcoin (BTC) can be exchanged for 95,000 USDT

Understanding Rules:

First currency is the "Base"
Second currency is the "Quote"
Price means: 1 Base = X Quote

Major Trading Pair Categories

₿BTC Pairs (Bitcoin-Denominated)

Trading pairs quoted in Bitcoin, used to measure altcoin strength relative to BTC.

ETH/BTC

Ethereum to Bitcoin. Measures ETH strength vs BTC.

BNB/BTC

Binance Coin to Bitcoin. Key pair in Binance ecosystem.

SOL/BTC

Solana to Bitcoin. Emerging blockchain representative.

ADA/BTC

Cardano to Bitcoin. Academic blockchain project.

Trading Strategy Tip: When COIN/BTC rises, it means the coin outperforms BTC; vice versa means underperformance. Useful for identifying capital rotation.

💵USDT Pairs (Stablecoin-Denominated) ⭐

Most common trading pair type, quoted in USDT (USD-pegged stablecoin). Prices are intuitive, equivalent to USD value.

BTC/USDT ⭐⭐⭐

Bitcoin to USDT. World's largest crypto trading pair by volume.

Daily Volume: ~$30B | Liquidity: Ultra High

ETH/USDT ⭐⭐⭐

Ethereum to USDT. Second largest pair, core of DeFi ecosystem.

Daily Volume: ~$15B | Liquidity: Ultra High

BNB/USDT

BNB to USDT. Exchange token representative.

Daily Volume: ~$2B | Liquidity: High

SOL/USDT

Solana to USDT. High-performance blockchain star.

Daily Volume: ~$1.5B | Liquidity: High

💰 Beginner Recommendation: Beginners should prioritize USDT pairs - intuitive pricing, good liquidity, low slippage.

ΞETH Pairs (Ethereum-Denominated)

Quoted in Ethereum, mainly used for ERC-20 tokens and DeFi protocols.

UNI/ETH

Uniswap governance token to Ethereum

LINK/ETH

Chainlink oracle token to Ethereum

How to Choose Trading Pairs?

1. Based on Trading Goals

Short-term Trading (Day/Scalping): Choose high-liquidity major coins like BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT. Features: high volatility, low slippage, low fees.

Medium to Long-term Investment: Consider promising altcoins like SOL/USDT, AVAX/USDT. Note: lower liquidity, set reasonable stop losses.

Arbitrage Trading: Monitor price differences in BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT across exchanges. Requires fast execution and low fees.

2. Based on Market Phase

Bull Market (Uptrend): Altcoins perform actively, consider mid-small cap coins like DOGE/USDT, SHIB/USDT.

Bear Market (Downtrend): Focus on major coins BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, or move to stablecoins for safety.

Sideways Market (Range-bound): Suitable for high-frequency short-term trading, choose stable volatility pairs like BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT.

3. Key Evaluation Metrics

Metric	Ideal Value	Description
24h Volume	> $500M	Higher volume = better liquidity
Bid-Ask Spread	< 0.1%	Smaller spread = lower trading costs
Market Depth	Thick Order Book	Large orders won't cause significant slippage
Volatility	Strategy-dependent	Short-term needs high, long-term avoid excessive

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌Mistake 1: Chasing Small Coins

Many beginners chase small coins with big gains, but these have poor liquidity and are easily manipulated.

Advice: First 6 months trade only BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT

❌Mistake 2: Ignoring Liquidity

In low-liquidity pairs, large orders cause severe slippage with huge bid-ask spreads.

Advice: Choose pairs with 24h volume > $100M

❌Mistake 3: Over-Diversification

Trading 10+ pairs simultaneously spreads attention too thin, unable to research each coin deeply.

Advice: Focus on 2-3 major pairs, master them deeply

❌Mistake 4: Ignoring Fees

Frequent trading of small orders accumulates fees that may eat most profits.

Advice: Calculate total cost per trade (fees + slippage)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Which trading pair should beginners start with?▼

Strongly recommend starting with BTC/USDT. BTC/USDT has the highest global liquidity, smallest fee (0.5-1 point), most stable movement, best technical analysis effectiveness, ideal for beginners to learn and gain experience. Next consider ETH/USDT and BNB/USDT. Avoid exotic pairs (like USD/TRY) - they have large fees, extreme volatility, difficult to predict.

Q2: Why is BTC/USDT fee so much smaller than GBP/JPY?▼

Fee depends on liquidity and trading volume. BTC/USDT accounts for 30% of global cryptocurrency daily volume, extremely many buyers and sellers, fast supply-demand matching, naturally small fee (0.5-1 point). GBP/JPY is a cross pair, needs synthetic calculation through ETH/USDT and BNB/USDT, lower liquidity, typically 2-4 points fee. Higher liquidity = smaller fee = lower trading costs.

Q3: How to calculate point value for different trading pairs?▼

Formula: Point Value = (0.01 / Current Rate) × Lot Size × Contract Size. BTC/USDT trading 1 standard lot (100,000 units), current price 1.1000, point value = (0.01 / 1.1000) × 1 × 100,000 = $9.09. BNB/USDT quoted in yen, 1 standard lot point value fixed ~$9.09 (at 145 rate). Use BiKiller position calculator to automatically calculate point values and positions.

Q4: What is currency correlation and why should I care?▼

Correlation indicates the relationship between two trading pairs' price movements. Positive correlation (e.g., BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT, coefficient +0.8) means they move together; negative correlation (e.g., BTC/USDT and USD/CHF, coefficient -0.9) means opposite movements. Longing two highly positive correlated pairs (BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT) is actually double risk - if wrong, double loss. Should diversify to low or negative correlated pairs to reduce risk.

Q5: What are the best trading sessions for each trading pair?▼

BTC/USDT best sessions: European open (15:00-18:00 Beijing) and EU-US overlap (20:00-24:00), daily range 80-100 points. ETH/USDT: London open (15:00-19:00), most volatile, daily range 120-150 points. BNB/USDT: Tokyo open (08:00-10:00) and New York open (20:00-24:00), daily range 70-90 points. SOL/USDT: Sydney/Tokyo open (06:00-12:00). Trade during the currency's home country session for best liquidity.