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The first beginnings of currency trading go back to ancient Greece. There, traders from the surrounding Europe and the Middle East met to exchange various currencies among themselves. In the port city of Piraeus, for example, the money changers of the time exchanged the coins of different countries and cities by comparing their gold ratio to their weight. It was also possible at that time to exchange raw materials, such as silver or gold, for a corresponding amount of coins (i.e. money).

In the 16th century, the then powerful Florentine Medici family produced a book in the shape of a nostro account. Among other things, it contained a corresponding list of local and foreign currencies and their exchange values.

In 1880 the actual international foreign exchange trading began. At that time it was possible for the first time that foreign payments could be received in a bank account abroad that belonged to one, in the form of a credit there.

The establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank has resulted in fixed exchange rates. The Bretton Woods Agreement (July 22, 1944) also contributed to this. The fluctuation margins of this agreement were then internationally established. At that time, the central banks were also obliged to intervene in the markets if the so-called intervention points for the respective currencies were not reached or exceeded, in order to restore the current situation.

In September 1969 these fixed exchange rates were then relaxed and in March 1973 the European Community (EC) started block floating. Block floating means that the monetary authorities of at least two, but often more countries, undertake to keep the central rates of their currencies stable in relation to each other or within a certain range with corresponding intervention points. However, the exchange rates of their currencies vis-à-vis third countries fluctuate freely against the US dollar. As a result, the previously fixed exchange rates were replaced by freely fluctuating exchange rates. The floating exchange rates increased the risks of the market participants. As a result, the interest rate, stock and foreign exchange markets experienced greater exchange rate fluctuations.

Particularly in times of crisis, there have been strong fluctuations in the past century (as an example, the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the resulting oil crisis). In 1982, Mexico also closed its foreign exchange market, which led to the debt crisis in developing countries and Latin America. Further crises (such as the Tiger State Crisis in 1997) followed and this caused strong fluctuations on the foreign exchange markets. Thus, these few examples show that the foreign exchange markets, unlike the money and securities markets, are strongly influenced by government policies and thus a currency affected by this is in crisis. For this reason, it is now possible for a country's central bank or an association of states (such as the EU with the ECB - European Central Bank) to intervene directly in the events.

In the last century until the 80s, all foreign exchange transactions were handled over the telephone. This meant that the person trading in foreign exchange was able to follow the ups and downs of the currencies in real time over the telephone, in order to be able to react directly.

With the introduction of the PC in the 80's of the last century the possibility was then created for the dealers also to conclude a fast trade over the Internet. This procedure then became more and more accepted.