Of course, whilst you need complex structural analysis of the universe to detect the real dark stuff, in FX its presence is arguably more easily sniffed out. Mostly, says Saravelos, via the closer inspection of short-term derivative flows and the murky parts of balance of payment statistics.

David referenced that this might turn out to be pretty significant as reserve managers are currently desperate to diversify their holdings out of euro and dollar.

But there's another important factor to consider too. China is not a benevolent agent which just does things for the sake of pleasing other people. If it chooses to act you can bet your bottom yuan that it's because it suits its own interests to do so.

FT Alphaville reporter David Keohane met Simon Derrick, chief currency strategist at BNY Mellon. They geeked out on various FX topics.

Naturally, everyone is assuming this buyer is the SNB — in disguise.

And… drum roll please… it’s… Deutsche at the global top!

We were particularly drawn to the Beyond Finance session last Thursday, which tried to take a peek at how technology might change the world of banking and money in the years to come.

Firstly, though, the scale of this reversal versus the usual trend was smaller than it appeared, according to Jens Nordvig at Nomura. And some of it was a response to exchange rates: