"A pip is worth $10 on a standard lot" is one of the first things most new traders learn, and it's true often enough to be dangerous - because it's not true universally, and the exceptions are exactly the symbols where getting it wrong costs the most.
Where the $10 rule actually comes from
That figure applies specifically to a handful of USD-quoted major pairs at a standard 1.0 lot, on a 4-digit-style pip. It's a real number for those specific pairs - it's not a general trading fact.
Where it breaks
Gold, indices, JPY pairs, and plenty of other symbols have real pip values that differ from that figure, sometimes substantially, and the actual number depends on your broker's specific contract size and tick value - not a textbook average that's the same everywhere. Two different brokers offering the "same" symbol can have meaningfully different pip values depending on how their contracts are specified.
The pip-vs-point confusion, on top of that
Separately from the value question, there's the pip-vs-point convention itself. Brokers quoting 5 or 3 decimal digits ("fractional pip" pricing) treat 1 pip as 10 points. Brokers quoting 4 or 2 digits treat 1 pip as 1 point. Mixing these up doesn't just give you a slightly wrong number - it can be off by a full order of magnitude, which matters enormously for position sizing.
Why this isn't just a minor detail
If you're sizing a position based on "how much am I risking," and your assumed pip value is wrong, your actual risk is wrong by the same proportion - silently, without any error message, just a position that risks more or less than you intended every single time you trade that symbol. This compounds the same way inconsistent lot sizing does: not a single dramatic mistake, but a systematic one that quietly distorts every trade on that instrument.
What I built
SmartTrader Pip Value Display shows the actual pip and point value for whatever symbol you're on, at a lot size you can type directly into an editable box on the chart - calculated from your broker's real tick value and tick size, not a textbook assumption. It also detects the pip-vs-point convention automatically from the symbol's digit count, so you don't have to remember which rule applies to which broker.
Get it
Free on the Market: https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/186904
Pairs naturally with SmartTrader Position Calculator if you want the lot-size math to go with it: https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/186648
From the same developer as SmartTrader AI Pro: https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/186191
