Hallycon Academy

Course 11 · Going deeper

Currencies and forex

How exchange rates work, why they move, what they do to your money abroad and to your investments, and the plain numbers behind forex trading.

  • 7 lessons
  • 49 min
  • Free
  • A certificate when you finish

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Who it is for

For anyone who travels, works across a border or holds foreign investments, and for anyone tempted by forex trading who wants the honest numbers first.

The lessons

Each lesson has a short video, a quiz and links to learn more. The full lessons open after a free sign-in.

  1. Lesson 1: Exchange rates in plain words

    7 min

    A currency's price in another currency. How to read EUR/USD and EUR/CHF, and why every rate is a pair.

    Key points

    • An exchange rate tells you how much of one currency buys one unit of another.
    • Rates come in pairs: EUR/USD 1.11 means one euro buys 1.11 US dollars.
    • When one currency in the pair rises, the other falls.

  2. Lesson 2: The biggest market in the world

    7 min

    Currency trading is mostly banks, funds and companies, around the clock. About 9.6 trillion US dollars a day in April 2025.

    Key points

    • Currency trading averaged 9.6 trillion US dollars a day in April 2025 (BIS Triennial Survey).
    • Most of it is between banks, other financial firms and companies; private traders are a small slice.
    • The US dollar is on one side of almost nine in ten trades; the euro is second.

  3. Lesson 3: Why currencies move

    7 min

    Interest rates, inflation, trade and fear. Why the franc rises in a crisis, and why nobody predicts exchange rates well.

    Key points

    • Higher interest rates tend to attract money and lift a currency, other things equal.
    • Over long periods, lower-inflation currencies have tended to gain: the franc against the euro is the textbook case.
    • In a crisis money runs to safe havens such as the franc; short-term moves are close to unpredictable.

  4. Lesson 4: Central banks and currencies: the 2015 franc shock

    7 min

    Central banks can hold a currency down, or let it go. What happened when the Swiss National Bank dropped its euro floor on 15 January 2015.

    Key points

    • From September 2011 to January 2015, the Swiss National Bank kept the franc no stronger than 1.20 per euro.
    • When it stopped on 15 January 2015, the euro fell to its lowest level ever against the franc within minutes.
    • Some currencies are tied to the euro, such as Denmark's krone, but a peg is a policy, and policies can change.

  5. Lesson 5: Currencies in daily life: travel, cards and loans

    7 min

    Holidays, online shopping, work across a border and loans in a foreign currency. Where the hidden mark-up sits, and why foreign-currency loans hurt so many families.

    Key points

    • Abroad, pay in the local currency: "pay in euros" at the terminal often hides a worse rate, and EU rules require the mark-up to be shown.
    • Your card's foreign-currency fee and the exchange margin add up; check them before a big trip.
    • A loan in another currency grows when that currency rises, as households with Swiss-franc mortgages learned after 2008.

  6. Lesson 6: Currency risk in your investments

    7 min

    A US share bought with euros or francs carries two risks: the company and the dollar. How currency moves add to your result or eat it, and what "hedged" means.

    Key points

    • If the dollar falls against your currency, your US investments lose value in euros or francs, and the reverse.
    • In a world share fund, currency is one more source of swings; in a foreign bond fund, it can be the biggest one.
    • "Hedged" share classes reduce currency swings at a cost; Swiss savers feel currency risk most, because the franc rose over decades.

  7. Lesson 7: Forex trading and leverage: the plain numbers

    7 min

    Private forex trading is almost always done with leverage, through CFDs. How leverage multiplies losses, what EU rules require, and what regulators' own numbers show.

    Key points

    • At 30:1, the EU maximum for major currency pairs, a 3.3% move against you equals your whole stake.
    • EU rules cap leverage, close positions at 50% of the required margin, cap losses at your deposit, and make providers show what share of their retail accounts lose money.
    • Studies cited by ESMA in 2018 found 74–89% of retail CFD accounts lost money; read a provider's own figure before anything else.

What’s inside

  • Short videos: About two minutes for each lesson
  • Quizzes: Three questions after each lesson
  • Calculators: Inflation, compound interest, an emergency fund and fees
  • Certificate: For every course you complete

The full lessons, videos and quizzes open after a free sign-in: your name, email, mobile number and a PIN. No card, no obligation.

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General financial education. Hallycon Academy does not manage money, sell investment products or give personal advice. Examples in the lessons promise no return.

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