Pip Value Calculator

A pip is the smallest standard price move, and what it is worth in your account currency depends on the pair and your lot size. For pairs quoted in USD the answer is fixed. For pairs where USD is the base currency it changes with the exchange rate, which is the part most calculators skip.

• Most pairs: 1 pip = 0.0001. Yen pairs: 1 pip = 0.01
• Standard lot 100,000 units, mini 10,000, micro 1,000
• EURUSD and the other USD-quoted pairs: $10 a pip per standard lot, always
• Gold here uses 0.10 as one pip on a 100 oz contract

Why the Value Changes on Some Pairs and Not Others

When USD is the quote currency, as in EURUSD or GBPUSD, one pip on a standard lot is 0.0001 times 100,000, which is exactly $10 regardless of where price is. When USD is the base currency, as in USDJPY or USDCHF, the pip is earned in the other currency and has to be converted back, so the value is (pip size times units) divided by the current rate. That is why USDJPY is worth roughly $6.67 a pip at 150 and about $7.14 at 140.

What This Means for Position Sizing

Risk per trade is stop distance times pip value times lots. If you size positions from a fixed lot number rather than from risk, your actual exposure drifts every time the pair changes or the rate moves. Work the other way round: decide the dollar risk first, then let the lot size calculator derive the position from the stop.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming $10 a pip everywhere. True only for USD-quoted pairs at a standard lot.
• Using 0.0001 on yen pairs. Yen pairs move in 0.01 increments, so a pip is 100 times larger than the same digit count elsewhere.
• Confusing pips and points. Many brokers quote a fifth decimal; that last digit is a point, not a pip.
• Gold conventions vary by broker. Check whether yours treats 0.01 or 0.10 as a pip before sizing anything.

Related Tools

• Lot Size Calculator
• Prop Firm Drawdown Calculator
• Risk-Reward Optimizer