Many people think the foreign exchange market is just about exchanging money. That's a big misconception.

Out of the daily $7.5 trillion trading volume, only 28% is actually used for "currency exchange." What about the remaining 51%? FX swaps—which are essentially the lifeblood of global dollar financing. Even crazier, this system hides over $80 trillion in off-balance-sheet debt, completely outside the scope of regulatory oversight.

This explains why AMMs (Automated Market Makers) struggle to fit into the forex scenario. What institutions need isn’t "exchange," but "borrowing dollars." And the current design of DeFi liquidity pools simply can't meet this kind of demand. Projects touting "on-chain forex markets" may not even understand the real needs of the counterparties.

Retail currency exchange? That tiny volume isn’t even enough to make a dent.