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What is Forex? Forex is an abbreviation of Foreign Exchange (also referred to as FX) and it is the largest financial market in the world.

The Forex market is the place where currencies are traded (currencies are money that is used as an exchange medium). In other words, it is the place where currencies are being sold and bought. In the Forex market all currencies are traded in real time.

Trading with currencies always means that there are two simultaneous transactions taking place. If a currency is being bought, it is also being sold. To better understand this notion, think of currencies as both the goods you are buying AND the method with which you're paying for the goods.

Since the Forex market is the place where currencies are traded in real time, people may trade one currency for another and make a profit off of this transaction. Profits are made when one is able to determine which currency's value will increase by the end of a pre-determined time period (such time periods may be short or long). The Forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week and it is based in four major cities: New York, London, Sydney, and Tokyo. The Forex market is open to individuals over the age of eighteen.

While Forex trading may sound daunting, it really isn't. It can be easily comprehended and understood without prior experience in finance or economy. It is challenging and exciting, thought provoking and manageable, stimulating and filled with opportunities.

Some Forex Basics:

• The first currency listed in a currency pair is called the "base currency".
• The "base currency" is usually the U.S. Dollar. Traders will generally trade the U.S. Dollar against another currency, which is called the "counter currency".
• Currencies are quoted in pairs. For example: The pair U.S. Dollar and JPY will be quoted in the following way: USD/JPY equals to 2.5 (This means that 1 U.S. Dollar can buy 2.5 JPY).
• When a quote increases, it means that the "base currency" has risen in value and the "counter currency" has weakened in value. For example: If the USD/JPY quote used to be equal to 2.5 but is now equal to 2.6, then this means that the dollar has strengthened (because 1 U.S. Dollar can now buy 2.6 JPY as opposed to the mere 2.5 JPY it could buy beforehand.)

Now that you know a thing or two about the Foreign Exchange market, we invite you to explore eToro-the Revolutionary Forex Trading Platform. You too can make your mark in the Foreign Exchange market. Use eToro as your gateway to the ever-growing world of Forex trading.

Join eToro's real challenge and compete for $15,000 each week!

Want to join in? Then simply log in to your eToro's real trading account and start trading.

The traders with the highest weekly profit will be announced winners, winning the prizes below.

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For practice trading challenge leader board click here.

Challenge per Week

• Place 1 gets $3000
• Place 2 gets $1000
• Place 3 gets $500
• Places 4 to 6 get $300 each!
• Places 7 to 10 get $200 each!
• Places 11 to 100 get $100 each!

To participate in the trading challenge, click the “Join” button on the trading challenge tab.

Please note that participation in the weekly challenges is open only to traders who've agreed to share their trading activity with the OpenBook community.

* eToro’s Real Trading Challenge is subjected to terms and conditions.

Please note that the challenge bonus will only be given once (per account, person, household and/or any environment where computers are shared).

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