Scalping USDTRY or USDZAR is a different sport

[Amanhasnoname]

Staring at a 12 pip spread on an exotic next to a 0.6 pip spread on EURUSD makes the exotic look like a rip-off. The fairer comparison is spread as a fraction of the typical one-minute range. If the exotic moves 15 to 20 pips a minute in active hours, a 12 pip spread eats a big chunk, but not wildly more than a major at quiet times.

What really changes is everything around the spread. Quotes on thin crosses can sit still for several seconds and then reprice in one step, so stops and limits fill at the next available price rather than the one on screen. Swap on the carry side can be large enough to matter even for trades held an hour or two. Liquidity also lives in a narrow window, often when the home market is open, and outside it the spread can triple.

Tactically, wide targets and few trades suit these pairs better than the usual in-and-out tempo. Sizing should be built from the stop distance in money terms, not from habits carried over from majors.

Which exotic has given the cleanest behaviour on your platform, and in which hours does it actually behave?