The Bretton-Woods Agreement was founded after World War II, in order to stabilize and regulate the international FOREX Market. Participating countries agreed to try to maintain the value of their currency within a narrow margin against the dollar and an equivalent rate of gold. The dollar gained a premium position as a reference currency, reflecting the shift in global economic dominance from Europe to the USA. Countires were prohibited from devaluing their currencies to benefit export markets, and were only allowed to devalue their currencies by less than 10 %. Post-war construction during the 1950s, however, required great volumes of FOREX trading as masses of capital were needed. This had a destabilizing effect on the exchange rates estabslished in Bretton-Woods.

In 1971, the agreement was scrapped when the US dollar ceased to be exchangeable for gold. By 1973, the forces of supply and demand were in control of the currencies of major industrialized nations, and currency now moved more freely across borders. Prices were floated daily, with volumes, speed and price volatility all increasing throughout the 1970s. New financial instruments, market deregulation and trade liberalization emerged, further stoking growth of FOREX markets.