Currensee
Encyclopedia
Currensee is a financial services company based in Boston to serve as a social network for foreign exchange
(FX, Forex or currency) traders. The impetus to let traders collaborate on trading strategies, styles, and techniques stemmed from the fundamental chaos of the retail forex market, where regulations vary from country to country and the were a high number of solo "Day trader
s".
From this initial social networking foray emerged Currensee's "Trade Leaders Investment Program," in which Currensee uses a proprietary algorithm to identify top-performing traders from within the social network, invites them to participate in the program, and then allows other investors to follow and execute their trades in their own brokerage account. Something that was akin to the mutual fund system based in stock indexes.
The company is currently led by CEO Dave Lemont, and is headquartered in Boston's North End neighborhood. Currensee is funded by North Bridge Venture Partners, Egan-Managed Capital and Vernon & Park Capital. They are a member of the National Futures Association
and registered with the Financial Services Authority
.
Traders link their live brokerage accounts to Currensee, so when they participate in discussions and on trading teams, fellow traders can look at their trading performance and make an informed decision about their next trade. This form of social trading, or trading together, allows Forex traders to collaborate and share their Forex best practices, trading strategies, preferred pairs and economic indicators, and so on. This is a key differentiator, as there is a wide discrepancy between user performance in "demo accounts
" and live brokerage accounts.
As at 2010 the social network was made up of members from over 80 countries connecting with other traders to form online trading teams, share trading ideas, market insights, and trading strategies. With the 7,000-member community traded approximately $50 billion in volume per year.
Currensee’s motto is “Trade Together”. Currensee differentiates itself from other online trading communities by allowing only live Forex brokerage accounts to be linked in a trader’s Currensee profile. They do not link demo accounts. The company’s message of “Real trades. Real traders. Real time.” supports their stance on transparency in the Forex market.
Investors in the program select the Trade Leaders they want to invest in, allocate their funds, and build Trade Leader portfolios. Whenever a Trade Leader executes a trade, it is mirrored in the investor’s own brokerage account. The investors are able to see every trade that is made. The model is similar to that of a stock mutual fund.
Trade Leaders featured on Currensee’s Leaderboard are measured against the Trader Authority Index (TAI). The TAI is a proprietary algorithm that combines performance, risk and experience into a single index. The TAI score is displayed on the Currensee Trade Leaderboard and on every Trade Leader’s profile.
. When a trader executes an order, Currensee automatically sends a tweet on the trader’s behalf. This serves a dual purpose, as the high volume of daily tweets spread throughout the Forex community on Twitter extends their reach beyond their own network of users.
along with volume, percentage short/long
, and winning/losing across the community. Members can see which of their “trading friends” are trading a particular pair and can use that information to make more informed trading decisions. This ability to share amongst a community is a key pillar of successful social networks, although it's unknown how effective this data is for new traders.
Foreign exchange market
The foreign exchange market is a global, worldwide decentralized financial market for trading currencies. Financial centers around the world function as anchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock, with the exception of weekends...
(FX, Forex or currency) traders. The impetus to let traders collaborate on trading strategies, styles, and techniques stemmed from the fundamental chaos of the retail forex market, where regulations vary from country to country and the were a high number of solo "Day trader
Day trader
A day trader is a trader who buys and sells financial instruments within the same trading day such that all positions will usually be closed before the market close of the trading day. This trading style is called day trading...
s".
From this initial social networking foray emerged Currensee's "Trade Leaders Investment Program," in which Currensee uses a proprietary algorithm to identify top-performing traders from within the social network, invites them to participate in the program, and then allows other investors to follow and execute their trades in their own brokerage account. Something that was akin to the mutual fund system based in stock indexes.
History
The company was founded in 2008 by software developer Asaf Yigal and Forex trader Avi Leventhal, at the time of the late-2000s recession. They identified an opportunity to offer Forex trading as an alternative asset class and a new way to trade together.The company is currently led by CEO Dave Lemont, and is headquartered in Boston's North End neighborhood. Currensee is funded by North Bridge Venture Partners, Egan-Managed Capital and Vernon & Park Capital. They are a member of the National Futures Association
National Futures Association
The National Futures Association is an independent self-regulatory organization and watchdog of the commodities and futures industry in the United States. The NFA oversees and protects investors from fraudulent commodities and futures activities. The NFA also provides mediation and arbitration...
and registered with the Financial Services Authority
Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority is a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its board is appointed by the Treasury and the organisation is structured as a company limited by guarantee and owned by the UK government. Its main...
.
The Currensee Social Network
Together Yigal and Leventhal combining social networking with real trade collaboration. Currensee’s goal was to bring transparency to retail Forex trading by creating an active network of traders and a different way to make investing decisions. The Currensee trading social network connects retail Forex traders from around the world so they can see each others' actual trades and share trading strategies in real time to make more informed trade decisions.Traders link their live brokerage accounts to Currensee, so when they participate in discussions and on trading teams, fellow traders can look at their trading performance and make an informed decision about their next trade. This form of social trading, or trading together, allows Forex traders to collaborate and share their Forex best practices, trading strategies, preferred pairs and economic indicators, and so on. This is a key differentiator, as there is a wide discrepancy between user performance in "demo accounts
Paper trading
Paper trading is a simulated trading process in which would-be investors can 'practice' investing without committing real money....
" and live brokerage accounts.
As at 2010 the social network was made up of members from over 80 countries connecting with other traders to form online trading teams, share trading ideas, market insights, and trading strategies. With the 7,000-member community traded approximately $50 billion in volume per year.
Currensee’s motto is “Trade Together”. Currensee differentiates itself from other online trading communities by allowing only live Forex brokerage accounts to be linked in a trader’s Currensee profile. They do not link demo accounts. The company’s message of “Real trades. Real traders. Real time.” supports their stance on transparency in the Forex market.
Trade Leaders Investment Program
In October 2010, Currensee launched their Trade Leaders Investment Program (TLIP). Investors in the TLIP select the Trade Leader (or Trade Leaders) whose trades they want to follow and execute in their own trading account. Trade Leaders are selected from the members of the Currensee social network via a proprietary algorithm developed by Currensee's engineering team, and are screened for eligibility based on historical performance, risk management, and returns.Investors in the program select the Trade Leaders they want to invest in, allocate their funds, and build Trade Leader portfolios. Whenever a Trade Leader executes a trade, it is mirrored in the investor’s own brokerage account. The investors are able to see every trade that is made. The model is similar to that of a stock mutual fund.
Leaderboard and the Trader Authority Index
The Trader Leaderboard ranks the top traders in the Currensee community based on historical and real-time performance.Trade Leaders featured on Currensee’s Leaderboard are measured against the Trader Authority Index (TAI). The TAI is a proprietary algorithm that combines performance, risk and experience into a single index. The TAI score is displayed on the Currensee Trade Leaderboard and on every Trade Leader’s profile.
Tweet My Trades
Currensee allows its members the option of automatically sharing their open and closed positions using the Tweet My Trades feature using TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. When a trader executes an order, Currensee automatically sends a tweet on the trader’s behalf. This serves a dual purpose, as the high volume of daily tweets spread throughout the Forex community on Twitter extends their reach beyond their own network of users.
Currensee Social Indicators
Currensee Market Watch Social Indicators is another proprietary element; this one aggregates the trading knowledge of the network to deliver unique social data. Currensee Social Indicators provide real-time, aggregate trade information by currency pairCurrency pair
A currency pair is the quotation of the relative value of a currency unit against the unit of another currency in the foreign exchange market. The currency that is used as the reference is called the counter currency or quote currency and the currency that is quoted in relation is called the base...
along with volume, percentage short/long
Long (finance)
In finance, a long position in a security, such as a stock or a bond, or equivalently to be long in a security, means the holder of the position owns the security and will profit if the price of the security goes up. Going long is the more conventional practice of investing and is contrasted with...
, and winning/losing across the community. Members can see which of their “trading friends” are trading a particular pair and can use that information to make more informed trading decisions. This ability to share amongst a community is a key pillar of successful social networks, although it's unknown how effective this data is for new traders.