Minor Pair

Minor pairs (sometimes called "crosses") are pairs between two major currencies where neither one is the USD. EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY, AUD/JPY, EUR/AUD, GBP/CHF — these are all minors. They're called "crosses" because historically, to trade them you'd have to cross through USD (sell EUR for USD, then buy GBP with USD). Modern brokers quote them directly. Minors are still very liquid — spreads are typically 1-2 pips on most of them — but they tend to be more volatile than majors. GBP/JPY is famous for moving 150+ pips a day, sometimes 300+. The volatility makes them attractive to swing traders and dangerous to scalpers who don't size down. Minors are also where you find pure plays on currency strength. Trade EUR/GBP and you're trading euro vs pound directly, with no USD interference. That makes them useful when the USD is in a weird sideways regime.