FX fact: how cable got its name

MARKET NEWS

Many currency pairs have slang names in the markets, such as ‘loony’ for the Canadian dollar, and the more explainable ‘Aussie’ and ‘Swissie’ for the Australian dollar and Swiss franc. The sterling/US dollar pair gained its slang term ‘cable’ in 1866. This followed the completion of the new telegraphic cable laid across the Atlantic Ocean between London
and New York in that year, which permitted the first spot FX transactions.

The completion of the cable began an era of communication

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