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Next: turn pip value into a lot size
Once you know what a pip is worth, the lot size calculator works out how big the trade can be for a given stop and risk.
What is included
- The calculator, with your own numbers
- The formula written out
- A worked example you can reproduce
- Where grid, martingale and DCA bots break the maths
Who it is for
- People running or testing a trading bot
- Anyone sizing a position or checking costs
- Readers learning how the numbers work
- Not advice, and not for placing trades
Key facts
- Pip value = units x pip size x exchange rate from the quote currency to your account currency.
- A pip is the usual smallest quoted step: 0.0001 for most pairs, 0.01 for pairs that include the Japanese yen. Some platforms also show a tenth of a pip.
- 10,000 units of a dollar-quoted pair is worth about $1 per pip, and 100,000 units about $10. The word "about" matters: other quote currencies need converting.
- Pip value tells you the cost of a move. It does not tell you whether the move is large, so compare it with the stop distance.
- The rate is an input you supply. Every example number on this page is made up, apart from the exact arithmetic shown.
How the calculator works
A pip is the smallest standard step in a currency price. A price quoted as 1.1000 moving to 1.1001 has moved one pip. Because the step is fixed and the position size is known, the dollar value of one pip is simple arithmetic.
Value of N pips = N x pip value
The rate converts the pair's quote currency (the second currency in the pair) into your account currency. A pair quoted in dollars on a dollar account needs no conversion, so the rate is 1. For any other quote currency, enter how many account dollars one unit of the quote currency buys.
A worked example
Take 10,000 units of a pair quoted in dollars, with a pip size of 0.0001 and an account in dollars. One pip is worth 10,000 x 0.0001 x 1 = $1.00. Ten pips are $10 and a hundred pips are $100. At 100,000 units, one standard lot, the same pip is worth $10. At 1,000 units, a micro lot, it is worth $0.10. Calculated by us on 27 Oct 2026, exact.
Why yen pairs use 0.01
One yen is a small amount of money, worth a fraction of a cent, so a price quoted in yen has far fewer decimal places than one quoted in dollars. A move of 0.0001 yen would be too tiny to matter, so the convention is to count the second decimal place. A pip is 0.01 for pairs that include the yen.
A made-up example: 100,000 units of a pair quoted in yen, with a pip size of 0.01, is 100,000 x 0.01 = 1,000 yen per pip. If one yen is worth $0.0067 in the made-up exchange rate, one pip is worth 1,000 x 0.0067 = $6.70 in a dollar account. The rate moves all day, so the dollar value of the pip moves with it.
Where bots break the maths
A bot may trade several pairs at once. A single lot setting then means a different dollar value per pip on each pair, and the cost of the same 50 pip move is not the same across them. A 0.1 lot on a dollar-quoted pair is about $1 per pip. On a pair quoted in another currency it can be more or less, and it changes whenever the exchange rate does. A risk limit written in pips alone is not a risk limit in dollars.
A grid or martingale bot makes the pip value grow. If the bot adds lots as price falls, the pip value of the whole position rises each step, so the next pip costs more than the last. A ladder that starts at $1 per pip and doubles four times is $16 per pip at the top. The last 20 pips of a move can cost more than the first 100. See the martingale page and grid trading for the ladders themselves.
Checks before using a pip value
- Look up the pair's quote currency and the pip size your platform uses. Some platforms show fractional pips, one tenth of a pip, which is a fifth decimal place.
- Use the current rate for the conversion, and expect it to change.
- Check the pip value on your platform against this calculator before relying on either.
- For indexes, metals and crypto the tick size and contract size differ, so the pip idea does not carry over directly.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a pip?
A pip is the smallest standard step in a currency price, 0.0001 for most pairs and 0.01 for pairs that include the yen. A move from 1.1000 to 1.1001 is one pip.
How much is a pip worth on a mini lot?
On a dollar-quoted pair with a dollar account, a mini lot of 10,000 units is worth about $1 per pip. A standard lot is about $10 and a micro lot about $0.10.
Why does pip value change with the exchange rate?
Because the pip is measured in the quote currency. If that is not your account currency, each pip has to be converted at the current rate, and the rate moves.
What is a pipette or a fractional pip?
It is one tenth of a pip, the fifth decimal place on most pairs. Some platforms quote to it. This calculator counts whole pips, so divide your platform's fractional pip count by 10.
Do pips work for crypto and stocks?
Not in the same way. Those markets use ticks or cents. If you know the tick size and the units, units x tick size gives the value of one tick, the same sum with a different name.
Are the numbers on this page real?
Example numbers are made up to show how the maths works, and the page says so. A figure only counts as exact when the page says it was calculated on a stated date. Nothing you enter in a calculator leaves your browser.
Can I use this to decide whether to run a bot?
It can show whether a bot's numbers hold together and how much an account can lose. It cannot say what the market will do, and it is not advice. Use it to ask better questions, then read the terms of your own broker or exchange.
Is this financial advice?
No. It is a calculator and general education. It does not know your broker, your pair or your situation.
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