Why this lesson matters
Core currency is what the orbs *do*. This lesson is how you move them — and how gear trades, which is a different system. Live rates change by the hour; they live on Economy, not here.
Not a price list. If you opened this looking for "what's an Exalt worth today," that's Economy. What follows is access, fees, and which window to use.
Currency Exchange — stackables only, from Act 4
The Currency Exchange is an order-matching market for stackable currency-type items: orbs, Runes, Soul Cores, Essences, Omens, Catalysts, Distilled Emotions, boss fragments. It is not a fixed NPC rate and not an auction house for gear.
Unlocks in Act 4 on this character, in a trade-enabled league. It does not unlock in Act 1, and it is not gated on "Cruel difficulty" — that mode was replaced when the campaign became a single pass plus Interludes. Older guides that say "talk to Finn on day one" or "beat the campaign, then Cruel" are describing the pre-restructure milestone (Cruel Act 1 *was* Act 4). Same NPCs as those guides name — Finn in Clearfell Encampment (Act 1), Risu in the Ardura Caravan (Act 2), Alva in the Ziggurat and in your hideout — the option just isn't there until you've reached Act 4. It is not available in SSF.
If you don't see "Currency Exchange" on those NPCs yet, you probably haven't hit Act 4 on this character. Confirm in-game rather than trusting a dated walkthrough.
How an order works: pick what you Want and what you Have. The window shows a live suggested ratio from other players' orders. You can accept that rate for an instant fill when matching supply exists, or set your own rate and leave the order listed until someone matches it. Some fills come back better than you listed.
Gold fee: placing an order costs Gold, scaled to the rarity and size of the trade. Cancelling does not refund that Gold. Budget for it if you're price-testing.
What does not trade here: equippable gear — weapons, armour, jewellery. Those go through the Trade Site / hideout shop below.
Check the Exchange before whispering someone for a currency-for-currency swap. It's usually faster and you aren't depending on the other player being online.
Direct trading — whispers vs the async hideout shop
Gear trades outside the Currency Exchange.
Whispers (both players online): search the official Trade Site, copy the generated whisper, send it in-game, then travel to the seller's hideout and complete the trade while you're both there. This still works and does not require a Merchant's Tab.
Async hideout shop (seller can be offline): list a priced item in a Merchant's Tab. Buyers find it on the Trade Site or the in-game market browser, hit Secure Item, and teleport to your hideout to buy from Ange — even if you're offline. You collect earnings from Ange (Manage Shop → Earnings Tab).
Ange and a hideout unlock in Act 4 (the Hostile Takeover hideout quest if you don't already have one). Merchant's Tabs are not free: buy them from the shop, or convert a Premium Stash Tab purchased before patch 0.3.0. Tabs bought after that cutoff do not convert. Check current store terms before you spend — this is MTX, not a patch note.
GGG's own FAQ is specific on Gold here, and it is not the Exchange fee: the buyer pays Gold on a Merchant's Tab purchase; the seller does not pay Gold to list. You price each item individually (no tab-wide buyout). Currency-Exchange items cannot be listed in a Merchant's Tab. There is a short grace period after listing, then a cooldown on delisting or repricing.
Gold itself cannot be traded between players. You earn it from kills and vendor sales; you spend it on Exchange fees, Merchant's Tab buy fees, vendor rerolls, and respecs.
Use the async shop for items you can wait on. Use whispers when you need the currency now.
Flipping — one guide's categories, not a taxonomy
This section is Mobalytics' framing, not a cross-checked market textbook. The names are useful; don't treat them as official.
- Arbitrage (the approach they recommend): buy from players who want cash now, hold, resell at a better rate. You're selling liquidity.
- Swing trading (higher risk): buy because you think demand will move — a popularized skill, a patch, a creator video. Size as if the prediction is wrong.
- Trade sniping (they explicitly do not recommend this): taking obvious misprices. Easy way to get blacklisted.
What they say makes a good Exchange flip: stackable, concentrated demand, demand ahead of supply, cheap enough to buy in bulk, currently few other flippers, drops in small piles so most players don't stockpile it.
Practical constraints that *are* in this lesson: keep Gold on hand for Exchange fees, don't leave stale sell orders up when you step away, and don't park a large fraction of your liquid currency in a strategy you haven't run small first. For "what's the rate right now," use Economy — a snapshot in a lesson would be stale before you finish reading it.
Sources: Official forum — Currency Exchange unlock, Act 4 · Official forum — May 2025, Exchange at Act 4 / Cruel Act 1 · Mobalytics — Currency Exchange · ConquestCapped — Currency & Trading · GGG — Asynchronous Trade FAQ · Mobalytics — Merchant Tabs / async trade · Mobalytics — Currency flipping