Most Traded Currencies in 2016
4th January 2017
Have you ever wondered which currencies receive the most trading action? The data for the following chart comes from a survey done every three years by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS).
Note that trading volume adds up to 200%, because each currency trade has a pairing.
Chart courtesy of: Datashown
The Chinese yuan is now the 8th most traded currency in the world, for a total share of 4.0%.
That means its share has doubled since the 2013 BIS report:
| Rank | Symbol | Currency | 2013 Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USD | U.S. Dollar | 87.0% |
| 2 | EUR | Euro | 33.4% |
| 3 | JPY | Japanese Yen | 23.0% |
| 4 | GBP | British Pound | 11.8% |
| 5 | AUD | Australian Dollar | 8.6% |
| 6 | CHF | Swiss Franc | 5.2% |
| 7 | CAD | Canadian Dollar | 4.6% |
| 8 | MXN | Mexican Peso | 2.5% |
| 9 | CNY | Chinese Yuan | 2.2% |
| 10 | NZD | New Zealand Dollar | 2.0% |
WHAT ABOUT BITCOIN?
The BIS is an international financial institution that is owned by the world’s central banks. As a result, something like bitcoin isn’t considered in their triennial reports.
Bitcoin is ending 2016 on a tear, and it will likely finish as the top performing currency of 2016 – a title it would continue to hold from the previous year.
Chart courtesy of: BI Intelligence
But what is bitcoin’s trading volume like, relative to other currencies?
Bitcoin: In the last 30 days, about $3 billion of bitcoin has been traded, which averages out to $100 million per day.
Other Currencies: The total amount of forex transactions per day is $5.1 trillion. The estimated daily turnover of just the Chinese yuan is $202 billion per day.
That means that the yuan has approximately 2,000x the volume traded of bitcoin, while total forex is 51,000x the size. In other words, bitcoin has a way to go to become one of the world’s most traded currencies.
