Why is the GBP/USD Currency Pair Called Cable?
QUESTION:
Why is the GBP USD Forex Currency Pair Called Cable?
ANSWER:
Speedy transatlantic communication only became possible in 1867, when transatlantic cables were laid along the ocean floor to connect North America and Europe, in particular the U.S.A. and the U.K. Although speculative trading between the GBP and the USD wouldn’t get going until more than a century later when the USA allowed its currency to float freely rather than being pegged to gold, the history stuck and so the colloquialism “trading the cable” was born. There are a few other currency pairs that also carry nicknames:
EUR/USD is called “Fiber”, an ironic play on “cable” with a modern fiber-optic twist.
GBP/JPY is known as the “Geppy” which is just a play on the lettering.
EUR/GBP is called “Chunnel” after the common English nickname for the undersea train tunnel linking the U.K. with continental Europe, which is formally called the “Channel Tunnel”. “The Channel” is the English name for the short stretch of sea separating England from France.
There is no doubt though that the most famous Forex currency pair nickname is "cable", and that is the GBP USD Forex currency pair.
