Some Forex and CFD brokers offer high maximum leverage, allowing you to borrow much more money than you have in your account to finance much larger trades.
This can be a quick route to exponential account increase or total account blowup. Read on to learn how and where to find high-leverage brokers, to understand what leverage and margin are and how they work, the pros and cons of using high leverage, and useful tips on other aspects of using high-leverage brokers.
Top High Leverage Forex Brokers
- IFC Markets, 600+ Instruments, 0% deposits, free Autochartist signals .
- PrimeXBT, An award-winning crypto-forward broker with a 100% reserve ratio.
- FP Markets, ECN trading with leverage up to 1:500.
- Eightcap, Competitive pricing + excellent daily videos.
- AvaTrade, Highly regulated, choice of fixed or floating spreads.
Best High Leverage Brokers Comparison
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Regulators | BVI, FSCA, LFSA | BCR, FCIS, FSA, FSC Mauritius, FSCA | ASIC, CMA, CySEC, FSCA | ASIC, CySEC, FCA, SCB | ASIC, BVI, Central Bank of Ireland, FFAJ, FSCA, KNF, MiFID |
Year Established | 2006 | 2018 | 2005 | 2009 | 2006 |
Execution Type(s) | ECN/STP | Market Maker | ECN/STP | ECN/STP, Market Maker | Market Maker |
Minimum Deposit | |||||
Average Trading Cost EUR/USD | $4.00 | $9.00 | 1.2 pips | 1.0 pips | 0.9 pips |
Average Trading Cost GBP/USD | $24.00 | $16.00 | 1.4 pips | 1.2 pips | 1.5 pips |
Average Trading Cost Gold | $45.00 | $0.38 | $0.16 | $0.12 | $0.29 |
Trading Platform(s) | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, NetTradeX | Proprietary platform, Web-based | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, Proprietary platform, Web-based | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Trading View | Other, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Proprietary platform, Web-based+ |
Islamic Account | |||||
Negative Balance Protection | |||||
| Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website |
IFC Markets
In Summary 600+ Instruments, 0% deposits, free Autochartist signalsIFC Markets is a longstanding broker having been founded in 2006 and today has 165,000 clients from 80 countries. It operates with licenses under multiple jurisdictions including the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, the Malaysia Labuan Financial Services Authority, and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.
IFC has a huge number of Forex pairs available to traders, and many other markets including precious metals, equity indexes, and individual stocks. IFC Markets now has over 600 instruments available to traders.
IFC Markets developed the cutting edge NetTradeX platform for its customers for instant execution and advanced market analytics. They even go so far as to provide a video tutorial on the platform so you can get up and running straight away. If you are more familiar with the highly popular MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms, IFC Markets also has those available for its customers who want to stay with the MetaTrader suite. All their platforms can be traded on desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
The company is very tech-focused having been awarded a US Patent for their Portfolio Quoting Method.
IFC Markets is best for its technological capabilities and it is best for a trader wanting a wide variety of instruments to trade.
Pros & Cons
- Excellent regulatory track record and secure trading environment
- Outstanding asset selection and patented PQM asset generation technology
- Extremely competitive commission-free trading cost structure
- Valuable research and educational section, low minimum deposit, and high leverage
- No direct support for social trading
PrimeXBT
In Summary An award-winning crypto-forward broker with a 100% reserve ratioPrimeXBT is a crypto-first broker with ultra-competitive leverage, negative balance protection, and a €20,000 investor compensation fund with independent audits by the Hong Kong-based Financial Commission. The asset selection focuses on Forex and cryptocurrencies, and traders can manage their portfolios from the lightweight, web-based trading platform powered by TradingView charts and the user-friendly mobile app. Therefore, I highly rank PrimeXBT among the best high-leverage Forex brokers.
Traders get commission-free trading fees with average EUR/USD spreads of 0.9 pips or $9.00 per 1.0 standard round lot with volume-based rebates. The generous reward program grants $5,000+ cash bonuses for achieving milestones.
Pros & Cons
- Generous rewards program
- €20,000 investor compensation fund
- Proprietary copy trading service
- Good choice of Forex and cryptocurrency pairs
- No algorithmic trading
FP Markets
In Summary ECN trading with leverage up to 1:500fpmarkets is an ASIC-regulated Australian brokerage which launched in 2005. For most traders, the unique selling point of this broker is in the extremely wide range of tradable assets offered, providing the opportunity to trade over ten thousand individual stocks and shares including publicly quoted Hong Kong and Australian companies. Ffpmarkets also offers 60 Forex pairs and crosses, 11 equity indices, the major commodities, and 5 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin. fpmarkets offers an unusual hybrid ECN/STP execution model, meaning their clients can choose between ECN style of execution giving a very high level of speed, and a “straight through processing” execution style which allows for more “natural” spreads.
Pros & Cons
- Choice of trading platforms and auxiliary trading tools
- Very competitive cost structure and excellent asset selection
- Low minimum deposit requirement and leverage of up to 1:500
- Well-regulated and trustworthy
- Availability of Iress geographically restricted
Eightcap
In Summary Competitive pricing + excellent daily videosEightcap is another competitive Australian broker with leverage of 1:500 and outstanding technology infrastructure that ensures high-speed execution. It only offers a limited asset selection and fails to upgrade the out-of-the-box MT4/MT5 trading platforms. Traders with existing trading solutions and a focused trading strategy will benefit from the competitive ECN cost structure. Eightcap is ideal for scalpers and high-frequency traders, providing deep liquidity to traders. New traders have access to quality educational content, including a dedicated section on trading strategies. Eightcap additionally provides daily in-house research, its primary trading tool. Multilingual customer service and a transparent trading environment offer traders security, as Eightcap established a trustworthy relationship. While advanced trading features are non-existent, Eightcap focuses on the core trading environment and executes well in that category.
Pros & Cons
- Low minimum deposit and high leverage of up to 1:500
- Competitive cost structure
- Excellent technology infrastructure and seasoned management team
- Daily research and quality educational content
- Limited leverage in some areas
AvaTrade
In Summary Highly regulated, choice of fixed or floating spreadsAvaTrade is one of the most regulated brokers and offers low leverage in several jurisdictions. The ASIC-regulated entity offers traders up to 1:400, still below the 1:500 most Australian brokers provide, but a very competitive one for traders to consider. AvaTrade presents new traders with a market-leading educational, SharpTrader, where more than 40 lessons and 200 videos await. It also maintains 24/7 customer support in 14 languages.
With more than 1,250 CFDs in a commission-free trading environment, traders can achieve cross-asset diversification with a slightly overpriced cost structure. AvaTrade offers its traders the core MT4/MT5 trading platforms and deploys its proprietary WebTrader, AvaOptions, and AvaTradeGO. Social traders can diversify their portfolios through DupliTrade, ZuluTrade, and MQL5 Signal Service.
Pros & Cons
- High quality educational offering via AvaAcademy
- Excellent choice of trading platforms catering to various trading needs
- Broad asset selection and cross-asset diversification opportunities
- Well-regulated and trusted broker with oversight from a central bank
- Trading costs competitive but nothing special
What are Leverage and Margin in Forex Trading?
Leverage in Forex trading refers to the amount a trader borrows from the broker to increase their position size. Margin is the amount of money a trader needs to pay to open a leveraged position. For example, if the margin requirement is 1%, and the trader wants to take a $10,000 trade, then the margin requirement is $100. A 1% margin requirement equals 1:100 leverage because you only need to have $1 deposited to cover a $100 position in this example.
The Real Impact of Leverage on Your Forex Trades
Leverage is simply a multiplier, for good or bad. It will increase the size of your winning trades and the size of your losing trades by an equal amount.
For example, you have a $10,000 account and trade without leverage. You risk 1% of your account, which is $100, with a stop loss 100 pips away.
In scenario A, you win the trade by 100 pips. As you risked $1 per pip, you made a $100 profit, so your account now stands at $10,100.
In scenario B, you lose the trade by the stop loss, getting hit 100 pips away in the other direction. As you risked $1 per pip, you made a $100 loss, so your account now stands at $9,900.
Now, let's imagine the same scenarios, but you are trading with leverage at 1:30, trading a position size 30 times bigger than you would have unleveraged. As you risk 1% of your account leveraged by 30, you risk 30% of your account on this trade using high leverage.
In scenario A, you win the trade by 100 pips. As you risked $30 per pip, you made a $3,000 profit, so your account now stands at $13,000.
In scenario B, you lose the trade by the stop loss, getting hit 100 pips away in the other direction. As you risked $30 per pip, you made a $3,000 loss, so your account now stands at $7,000.
Why Leverage and Margin Go Hand-in-Hand
Leverage and margin go together because they are just different ways of expressing the same thing. Calculating leverage and margin are opposite sides of the same coin.
For example, let’s say you have a $10,000 position, and your broker allows you to open a $100,000 position in EUR/USD.
To determine your leverage, divide your total position size of trades open (here, $100,000) by your account equity ($10,000). The result is 10, so you are leveraged by a factor of 10, giving leverage of 1:10, meaning that for every $1, you have control over $10 in the market.
Leverage = Total Position Size / Account Equity
Taking the same example, where your broker allows you a maximum leverage of 1:10, this means that for every $10 of position size you want to control in the market, you must deposit at least one Dollar with them as margin.
To determine your margin, divide your account equity by the maximum position size your broker will allow you. Here, that is $10,000 / $100,000 = 10%.
Margin = Account Equity / Total Position Size
One final note: leverage and margin do not have to refer to maximum position or deposit limits. For example, a large account holding one small trade open will still have a margin that the broker requires to be in the account, and the broker will display this amount somewhere on the platform. You are not leveraged unless your total position size exceeds your account equity.
Where to Find the Highest Leverage in Forex Trading
Many countries have laws and regulations which cap the maximum leverage any broker can offer their clients. For example, if you open an account with a branch of broker X regulated in the European Union, by law, that broker will not allow you to be leveraged on Forex instruments by more than 1:30.
This means the highest leverage available will depend on where your broker is regulated.
Forex traders can find the highest leverage with well-regulated offshore Forex brokers.
Many brokers regulated in offshore, low-regulation, high-leverage jurisdictions will not allow residents of highly regulated places like the USA or the European Union to open accounts. If you live in these places, you might find it hard to access a high-leverage account.
If you are looking for a high-leverage broker and want to know which countries to look in, here is a list of countries and the maximum Forex leverage they can offer by law. Note that many brokers offer accounts through several regulatory branches, so one account with broker X can be limited to a maximum leverage of 1:30. Contrastingly, another account type regulated somewhere else can allow a maximum of 1:1000 or even more.
Note how the maximum leverage tends to increase as you go lower due to the quality of the regulation. It is rare to find a combination of advanced regulation and high maximum leverage, ideally what you want when looking for a high-leverage broker. One obvious exception is New Zealand, which has many brokers catering to offshore clients. Kenya also stands out, but few brokers will allow non-Kenyan residents to open an account through their Kenya-regulated branch.
Suppose you cannot find a suitable broker in New Zealand. In that case, Bermuda is your next best choice, as it has a tier 3 regulator, which is barely acceptable to many traders looking at regulation while having no rules limiting maximum leverage.
What to Look for in a High Leverage Broker
Forex brokers regulated in the USA, the European Union, or Canada cannot offer high leverage to residents of these areas. Most traders in other countries can select among dozens of excellent brokers with competitive trading environments. I recommend traders consider the below aspects when narrowing their choices:
Regulation - Forex traders should always trade with regulated Forex brokers featuring a spotless regulatory record spanning 10+ years, but not all regulators have competitive trading conditions. The FSCA, the BVIFSA, the FSC, the IFSC, the DFSA, and the CIMA established themselves among the best regulators for Forex traders and brokers, offering a superb combination of regulatory security, trustworthiness, and competitiveness.
Maximum Leverage—Traders must focus on brokers with low-margin requirements to fully take advantage of leveraged trading accounts. Anything at or below 1% for liquid assets represents an excellent and competitive offer, representing maximum leverage greater than 1:100.
Assets Covered by High Leverage—Brokers usually offer different levels of maximum leverage on different asset classes, with major Forex pairs usually enjoying the highest and crypto or stocks the lowest. Check out the asset's maximum leverage to ensure a broker is a good, high-leverage fit for your trade.
Tight & Transparent Spreads - High leverage should never remain the sole aspect of the trading environment. A trader-friendly cost structure is more defining for a quality broker. Active traders should look for an ECN account, raw spreads, and a commission of no more than $7 per round lot. A volume-based cashback program will lower the final trading costs.
Execution Speed and Stability—Most traders using a high-leverage broker will be scalpers or traders with relatively large positions, so every pip will count. In this situation, a broker must offer fast and reliable trade execution.
Support for Trading Software - Most profitable traders use sophisticated automated trading solutions developed on the MT4 or cTrader infrastructure. Some operate from within the trading platform, while others require an API to communicate with MT4 or cTrader. Brokers with proprietary trading platforms should offer an API to allow traders to connect their trading software to the order execution service.
Risk Management Tools – Brokers are increasingly expected to offer sophisticated risk management tools within their trading platform(s). High-leverage brokers whose clients are taking on high levels of risk should be especially careful to provide these tools to their clients.
Account & Trade Minimums—Capital requirements to open an account differ, and some brokers require no minimum. I recommend choosing a broker with a low minimum and access to all trading features. This will allow traders to implement a deposit strategy to grow their portfolio in a way that suits their circumstances. Traders should also ensure that the minimum transaction size is 0.01 lots.
How to Open a High-Leverage Brokerage Account?
Draw up a shortlist of the best high-leverage Forex brokers which will accept you as a client. Don't forget that if you live in the EU, the USA, or Canada, most Forex brokers will not offer you higher leverage than 30 to 1 or 50 to 1 on major Forex pairs.
Depending on your country of residence, check the maximum leverage each broker offers and remove any brokers that do not offer the leverage amount you want.
Compare the remaining broker's other attributes, with the two most important being regulation and fees. After this step, you can narrow your shortlist to just one or two potential brokers.
Consider narrowing your list by evaluating nice-to-have features such as trading platforms.
Open demo accounts with your remaining shortlisted brokers. After a few weeks of paper trading, you will likely have seen enough to know whether you feel comfortable opening an account with real money.
Finally, open a real money account by following the account opening instructions at your chosen high-leverage Forex broker(s).
Is Leverage Trading Halal
Leverage trading is halal if Islamic traders use a swap-free Islamic trading account, as available at the best Forex brokers. It neither levies nor grants overnight financing rates. Many Forex brokers with Islamic accounts substitute the lack of swap rates with fixed fees, higher spreads, time limits before extra costs apply, or other restrictions, which may create unfair trading conditions. Therefore, I advise Islamic Forex to read and understand the conditions of Islamic accounts, compare them to non-Islamic accounts, and evaluate their fairness.
Bottom Line
Trading with one of the high-leverage Forex brokers does not only make sense but remains a requirement for committed Forex traders seeking to trade for a living. It does require tremendous skill, knowledge, and experience. Traders must also understand the necessity of risk management. While between 70% and 85% of traders lose money, which has nothing to do with leveraged trading accounts, those who master this trading tool can join those who earn consistent profits. As always, education and patience remain paramount to use leverage effectively.
