The short version
- Forex is a dealer network open 24 hours on weekdays, stocks trade on regulated exchanges in set sessions, and crypto trades nonstop on many separate platforms.
- With shares, a licensed broker normally holds them for you under client-asset rules; with crypto, the platform often holds the coins itself unless you withdraw them.
- Leverage, investor protection and settlement speed all differ, and those differences matter more to a beginner than the chart does.
Financial markets explained from the ground up start with one idea: a market is simply a place where buyers and sellers agree a price. What changes from one market to the next is who those buyers and sellers are, when they can meet, who keeps a record of ownership and what rules protect you if something goes wrong. This guide compares the three markets beginners ask about most, currencies, shares and crypto, so that the rest of the site makes sense.
Three markets in one table
| Forex | Stocks | Crypto | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is traded | One currency against another | Part-ownership of companies | Digital tokens recorded on blockchains |
| Where | Network of banks and dealers, no single venue | Regulated exchanges such as NYSE, Nasdaq or the LSE | Hundreds of independent platforms plus decentralised protocols |
| Hours | Sunday 17:00 to Friday 17:00 New York time | Set weekday sessions, closed on holidays | 24 hours, every day |
| Typical beginner access | A broker, often through CFDs | A licensed broker or investment platform | A crypto platform or a self-custody wallet |
| Settlement | Two business days for most spot deals | One business day after the trade in the US | Minutes on-chain; instant inside a platform's own records |
Forex: the market with no front door
The currency market has no central building or single order book. Large banks quote prices to each other and to clients, and retail brokers pass on their own prices built from that flow. Trading follows the sun: it opens as Monday begins in the Asia-Pacific region, moves through the European day and ends with the New York afternoon on Friday. Because currencies of large economies rarely move more than a fraction of a percent a day, retail forex is usually traded in large sizes with borrowed money. That is why regulators cap leverage for ordinary clients. Our forex guide explains pairs, pips and lots.
Stocks: ownership with rules attached
A share is a legal slice of a company. It trades on an exchange with published opening and closing times, for example 09:30 to 16:00 in New York, 08:00 to 16:30 in London and 09:00 to 11:30 then 12:30 to 15:30 in Tokyo. Outside those hours, the price mostly waits; news that arrives overnight shows up as a jump, or gap, at the next open.
You buy through a broker, which usually holds the shares in a nominee account on your behalf. Rules on keeping client assets separate from the firm's own money, and in many countries a compensation scheme, protect you if the broker itself fails. They do not protect you from a falling share price. Start with our guide to the stock market for beginners, then learn to read a market page.
Crypto: always open, and scattered
Crypto never closes, and it is not traded in one place. Each platform runs its own order book, so Bitcoin can show slightly different prices on different sites at the same moment. Ownership is recorded on a public blockchain, but when you buy on a platform and leave the coins there, what you really have is an entry in that company's database and a promise to let you withdraw.
That arrangement is the biggest practical difference between crypto and the regulated markets. Some countries now license crypto platforms, and the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation sets common rules, yet protections still vary a great deal from one country to another. Read how crypto works for the basics and how to check a platform before you use one.
Leverage: same idea, very different limits
Leverage means controlling a position larger than the money you put down. In the UK and EU, retail clients trading CFDs face caps of 30:1 on major currency pairs, 20:1 on gold and major indices, 5:1 on individual shares and 2:1 on crypto. In the UK, crypto derivatives cannot be sold to retail consumers at all. Offshore platforms may offer far more, which is the opposite of a feature: higher leverage just lets a smaller price move wipe out your deposit.
An illustrative example: with $1,000 at 30:1 you could control a $30,000 currency position. A 1% move against you would cost about $300, close to a third of your money. Try your own numbers in the margin calculator.
What links the three
These markets do not move in isolation. Interest-rate decisions shift currency prices and can drain or add money to riskier assets such as growth shares and crypto. A strong US dollar often coincides with weaker crypto prices, although that pattern is not a rule. Weekend news hits crypto first because it is the only one of the three that is open. When you see a sudden move, asking "which market was closed when this news broke?" is often a useful first question. The market board on our home page shows which are open right now.
Beginner questions
Which market is best for a beginner?
None is automatically best. Stocks bought without leverage through a regulated broker carry fewer platform risks; forex is usually leveraged; crypto is open all the time and can swing sharply. The right starting point is understanding one market well before putting money into it.
Why can crypto trade at weekends when stocks cannot?
Stock exchanges are companies with staff, clearing systems and set sessions. Crypto platforms run automated order books and blockchains keep producing blocks around the clock, so nothing forces a pause.
Is a CFD the same as owning the asset?
No. A contract for difference is an agreement with a provider to settle the change in price. You do not own the currency, share or coin, and you depend on the provider being able to pay.
Sources
- European Securities and Markets Authority, CFD product intervention measures
- UK Financial Conduct Authority, ban on crypto-derivatives for retail consumers
- US Securities and Exchange Commission, T+1 settlement rule