More and more people around me have been asking whether you can make money by trading forex. I’ve been doing it myself for a few years, and honestly, this really depends on how you play it. In simple terms, there are three ways: exchanging currency through banks is the most conservative option, but it also has the least upside; bank foreign-currency accounts are suitable for long-term holding; and if you truly want to make money from forex, you still need to trade on margin, using leverage to move large amounts of capital. However, leverage is a double-edged sword—you can profit quickly, but losses can come just as fast. At the very beginning, I used 100x leverage out of greed, and then a single adverse move wiped me out, resulting in an absolutely terrible loss.

Later, I finally understood that the most important thing when trading forex is choosing the right platform and controlling risk. The platform must be regulated by the government—licenses recognized internationally, such as the UK FCA or Australia’s ASIC, are reliable. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, there may not even be a complaint channel. My current approach is to keep the margin for each individual trade within 5-10% of total funds, and also reduce leverage to no more than 10x. That way, even if I lose, I won’t lose too much. I recommend that beginners practice with a demo account first, get familiar with how to operate the platform and how the market moves, and then place small real-money trades. Whatever you do, don’t go All-in from the start.

When choosing currency pairs, I prioritize major currencies. Combinations like those in Europe and the U.S., or those like Europe and Japan, tend to have higher liquidity, making them easier to predict and with relatively steadier volatility. Most important of all is to get the mindset right: don’t treat forex trading like gambling. Use spare money for investing, and if market volatility becomes too high, step back and observe instead of letting the market lead you to keep changing your strategy. My takeaway from trading forex is: staying alive matters more than making quick money, and slowly accumulating experience is far more reliable than trying to double your capital in a hurry.