Wocu
Encyclopedia
The World Currency Unit Wocu is a standardized basket of currencies
: the national currencies of the 20 largest national economies measured by GDP. The basket is reweighted semi annually according to the relative growth of the economies, whereby constituent currencies are replaced by other currencies should the size of the GDP be overtaken by that of another national economy.
To provide a consistent calculation algorithm, the GDP figures used are those issued by the International Monetary Fund
bi-annually, as part of its World Economic Outlook
forecast.
The Wocu algorithm is independently monitored by the WDX Institute
, a not-for-profit research body established to further academic research on World Currency Baskets.
Conceived initially as a private sector and apolitical global alternative to the European Currency Unit
, it is used to price commodities such as bunker fuel and as a reference currency for global investors and companies seeking to mitigate bilateral exchange rate
volatility.
Currency basket
A currency basket is a portfolio of selected currencies with different weightings. A currency basket is commonly used to minimize the risk of currency fluctuations. An example of a currency basket is the European Currency Unit that was used by the European Community member states as the unit of...
: the national currencies of the 20 largest national economies measured by GDP. The basket is reweighted semi annually according to the relative growth of the economies, whereby constituent currencies are replaced by other currencies should the size of the GDP be overtaken by that of another national economy.
To provide a consistent calculation algorithm, the GDP figures used are those issued by the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
bi-annually, as part of its World Economic Outlook
World Economic Outlook
World Economic Outlook is basically a survey conducted and published by International Monetary Fund. It is published twice and partly updated 3 times in an year. It portrays the world economy in the near and medium context...
forecast.
The Wocu algorithm is independently monitored by the WDX Institute
WDX Institute
The WDX institute is a not-for-profit research body established to further academic research on World Currency Baskets.It is responsible for independently monitoring the Algorithm of the Wocu, a standardized basket of currencies comprising the national currencies of the 20 largest national...
, a not-for-profit research body established to further academic research on World Currency Baskets.
Conceived initially as a private sector and apolitical global alternative to the European Currency Unit
European Currency Unit
The European Currency Unit was a basket of the currencies of the European Community member states, used as the unit of account of the European Community before being replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999, at parity. The ECU itself replaced the European Unit of Account, also at parity, on 13...
, it is used to price commodities such as bunker fuel and as a reference currency for global investors and companies seeking to mitigate bilateral exchange rate
Exchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate between two currencies is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. It is also regarded as the value of one country’s currency in terms of another currency...
volatility.
Symbol
The currency's symbol comprises a Capital W within a circle. This characterizes the Wocu as a global, all encompassing currency.The relative value of the Wocu
Since September 10, 2009 the value of the Wocu has been calculated in real-time 24 hours per day 7 days per week and the weighting of the basket is now being adjusted on the third Thursday of May and November each year.| Currency | Wocu | |
|---|---|---|
| USD United States dollar The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies.... |
1.7407 | |
| EUR Euro The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,... |
1.2726 | |
| JPY | 144.72 | |
| CNY Renminbi The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC... |
11.4305 | |
| GBP Pound sterling The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence... |
1.0730 | |
| RUB Ruble The ruble or rouble is a unit of currency. Currently, the currency units of Belarus, Russia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria, and, in the past, the currency units of several other countries, notably countries influenced by Russia and the Soviet Union, are named rubles, though they all are... |
50.7099 | |
| BRL Brazilian real The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos .... |
2.8983 | |
| CAD Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies... |
1.7103 | |
| INR Indian rupee The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India.... |
78.2473 | |
| MXN Mexican peso The peso is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 15th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use its sign, "$". The Mexican peso is the 12th most traded currency in the world, the third most traded in the Americas, and by far the most... |
20.9956 | |
| AUD Australian dollar The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu... |
1.7250 | |
| KRW Korean won The won was the currency of Korea between 1902 and 1910. It was subdivided into 100 chon .-Etymology:Won is a cognate of the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen.-History:... |
1949.32 | |
| TRL Turkish lira The Turkish lira is the currency of Turkey and the de facto independent state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The lira is subdivided into 100 kuruş... |
2.7716 | |
| PLN | 5.0085 | |
| IDR Indonesian rupiah The rupiah is the official currency of Indonesia. Issued and controlled by the Bank of Indonesia, the ISO 4217 currency code for the Indonesian rupiah is IDR. Informally, Indonesians also use the word "perak" in referring to rupiah... |
15384.62 |
See also
- Special Drawing RightsSpecial Drawing RightsSpecial Drawing Rights are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund . Not a currency, SDRs instead represent a claim to currency held by IMF member countries for which they may be exchanged...
- BancorBancorThe Bancor was a supranational currency that John Maynard Keynes and E. F. Schumacher conceptualised in the years 1940-42 and which the United Kingdom proposed to introduce after the Second World War...
- European Currency UnitEuropean Currency UnitThe European Currency Unit was a basket of the currencies of the European Community member states, used as the unit of account of the European Community before being replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999, at parity. The ECU itself replaced the European Unit of Account, also at parity, on 13...
- World Currency UnitWorld Currency UnitA world currency unit is a concept of monetary foreign exchange that surfaced after the Great Depression and the financial crisis created by World War II uncovered the deficiencies of the Gold Standard....
- World currencyWorld currencyIn the foreign exchange market and international finance, a world currency, supranational currency, or global currency refers to a currency in which the vast majority of international transactions take place and which serves as the world's primary reserve currency...
- WDX InstituteWDX InstituteThe WDX institute is a not-for-profit research body established to further academic research on World Currency Baskets.It is responsible for independently monitoring the Algorithm of the Wocu, a standardized basket of currencies comprising the national currencies of the 20 largest national...
External links
- Wocu
- WDX Institute dedicated to research on world currency baskets