Does anyone still believe that Forex is a zero sum game?

To me it just obviously isn't, it can't be, at the very least it doesn't have to be, it's fiat money it's all based on confidence, whatever it might be at the time, nothing is ever a zero sum game, it's never black and white, it's always grey.

It's irrelevant to what we attempt to do, make money out of nothing, however doesn't the fact that if that's the goal prove that it isn't zero sum...

Just wondering what the current views are and if they've changed....?

For every seller there is a buyer otherwise there won't be any transaction.

Since that's the case, it's a zero sum game like other instruments

Frankly, I have no headache on that! As a trader, I do my trading! Since it’s a sustainable market, not interested on zero sum game or not!

If you take all traders in the world and track their account balances you will see something very interesting - the total amount of losses is not equal to the total amount of gains! So, where is all the money going? It's a secret!

So if you go to the bank for a loan, that means someone else has lent them the money to lend to you?

Of course not. Brokers charge you fees. They are real consistently profitable winners. For A/B book brokers, your losses are also their gains.

I was thinking more in terms of, if you wanted a mortgage, you would go to the bank, and the bank gave you the money.

Yes, but a Bank can leverage that money X10 for example

Trading is of course a zero-sum game because it doesn't create value for the society. Trading is similar to any Olympic sport - we participate in this competition by our own choice and we help each other improve. Because when I win, I take loser's money but I give them strength and experience, and vice-versa.

So you don't really need to "believe" that it's a zero-sum game, because it obviously is. However, if you "believe" that the profits and losses are only shared between individual mom-and-pop traders like you then that's a mistake. You need to study how the forex market works and understand who are the participants of this market. The profits and losses are shared between all of the participants, not just John and Peter.

But this question shouldn't bother you too much. I think many people just give up and create excuses like "oh this market is not fair". No, it is fair. If you didn't know how to drive - would you drive? Same in trading - you need to know what you're doing and then things are very fair to you.

Forex is frequently viewed as a zero-sum game in which one trader's gains equal the losses of another. However, this viewpoint is mostly debated in the trading community, with many arguing that Forex is not a zero-sum game due to factors such as market inefficiencies and central bank intervention.

No it isn't zero sum. The clue is in the name Foreign EXCHANGE.

You simply buy or sell at a spot price and the next price determines if it is value or not. No psychology involved.

You can take your own opposite side of the market if you wanted, very nearly simultaneously, so that eliminates the "zero sum" claim. One more soundbite of misinformation debunked hopefully.

Trading based on fundamental news or technical analysis, nor do any shortcut methods such as martingale/averaging, etc., never works in the long run.

Don't take my word for it but the market is purely probabilistic. In other words, its price action is completely random. It may look like it has "patterns" you can exploit but if you look at it from all timeframes at different points in time from both buyer and seller angles, there are no discernible patterns that are consistent for the long term. In practical terms, you will ultimately end up with $0 balance minus broker fees and negative slippage if you use prudent lot size management that gives you longevity. It's a losing game, unfortunately. It's precisely why traders who decide to stay in the game have to constantly revise their trading systems to maintain their "edge."

Develop a trading methodology that takes advantage of this truth and you'll be set for life. That's exactly what I did.

But if it was totally random, the EURUSD might be worth 1.14 today, then 6.21 tomorrow, then 0.1 then 50.2, then 23.44,......

Wrong.

If that is an expression of your limited use of vocabulary, then thanks for your input.

Here we go again..