HYCM review

Spread from

0.1 pips

EUR/USD spread

Approx. 0.2 pips, Raw

GBP/USD spread

Approx. 0.5 pips, Raw

Commission

$2 per side / $4 round turn, Raw

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.6 pips

Spread type

Fixed and variable, account-dependent

Overnight swap

Both: overnight swaps may be charged or credited

Inactivity fee

$10/month after 90 days inactivity

Deposit fee

None internally

Withdrawal fee

Generally none internally; payment-provider/bank fees may apply

Currency conversion

Currency conversion at applicable exchange rate

Cost is where brokers in the same regulatory bracket actually differ.

A quoted spread from 0.1 pips is a raw-spread figure, which almost always means a separate commission per lot. Compare the two together - a "zero spread" account with a high commission can cost more than a wider spread with none.

Quoted spreads are best-case figures on the most liquid pair, in normal conditions. What you actually pay widens around news and at the session open.

HYCM lists a minimum deposit of $20. Treat it as the cost of opening an account, not the cost of trading one - position sizing on a small balance is what tends to cause damage.

Markets

Forex, Stocks, Indices, Cryptocurrencies, Commodities

Currency pairs

60+

Total instruments

300+

Crypto CFDs

Yes

Maximum leverage

1:500

Execution model

Market maker / principal

Execution speed

12ms

Order types

Market, limit, stop, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop

Servers

London and global financial data-centre infrastructure

Leverage up to 1:500 is available on this entity. High leverage does not increase your expected return - it increases position size for the same deposit, and shortens the move needed to close you out.

HYCM covers forex, stocks, indices, cryptocurrencies, commodities. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: visa, mastercard, bank transfer, skrill, neteller and regional payment methods. Check withdrawal routes as well as deposit ones - they are often not the same, and the difference only becomes apparent when you try to take money out.

Platforms

HYCM Trader, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, WebTrader

Own platform

Yes, HYCM Trader

Mobile app

Both proprietary and third-party

Browser trading

Yes

Automated trading

Yes; MT4/MT5 Expert Advisors and automated trading

Copy trading

No

Indicators

30+ MT4; 38+ MT5; additional proprietary-platform tools

Third-party tools

Seasonax, Financial Source, Trading Central

API access

Yes, institutional connectivity

MetaTrader 4 remains the most widely supported platform for expert advisors. If you rely on an existing EA, this is usually the deciding factor.

MetaTrader 5 handles more asset classes and order types than MT4, but expert advisors are not compatible between the two - an MT4 EA will not run on it.

Regulated by

FCA (186171); DFSA (F000048)

Regulator tier

Tier 1

Register entry

FCA Financial Services Register, FRN 186171

Client money segregated

Yes

Held at

Tier 1 banks

Negative balance protection

Yes

Compensation scheme

FSCS up to £85,000 for eligible UK clients

Audited by

Independent external auditors

Not available to

Afghanistan, Belgium, Hong Kong, United States and other restricted/sanctioned jurisdictions

Across a hundred brokers, the licence is what separates the field fastest.

HYCM holds a tier-one authorisation from FCA. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.

The FCA caps retail leverage at 1:30, mandates negative balance protection, and covers eligible clients under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The DFSA regulates from the Dubai International Financial Centre, a separate legal jurisdiction from the wider UAE.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Tier 1 banks. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

Negative balance protection applies, so a losing position cannot take the account below zero and leave you owing the broker money.

Covered by FSCS up to £85,000 for eligible UK clients, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

Check the licence yourself: the FCA Register, the DFSA public register.

Minimum deposit

$20

Account types

Fixed, Classic, Raw, Islamic/Swap-Free, Professional, Demo

Account currencies

EUR, USD, GBP, AED, JPY

Islamic account

Yes

Demo account

Yes

Professional account

Yes

Minimum trade size

0.01 lots

Time to open

Typically a few minutes

HYCM runs 6 account types. More choice is not automatically better: the tightest headline spread almost always sits on the account that also charges a commission, so the comparison that matters is the two added together.

Base currencies: EUR, USD, GBP, AED, JPY. Holding the account in the currency you fund it with avoids a conversion charge on every deposit and withdrawal - a cost that never shows up in a spread comparison.

The smallest position is 0.01 lots. For anyone starting carefully this matters more than the minimum deposit, because it sets the least you can put at risk on a single trade.

A demo account is available. Worth using for the platform rather than the results: fills are simulated, so it tells you how the software behaves but very little about execution.

Deposit methods

Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller and regional payment methods

Withdrawal methods

Bank transfer, Visa/Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller and supported original funding methods

Deposit time

Instant for most cards/e-wallets; bank transfers typically 1-7 business days

Withdrawal time

Typically processed within 1 business day; receipt depends on payment method

Minimum withdrawal

$20

Local payment methods

Multiple jurisdiction-specific online banking and regional payment methods

Withdrawals are stated at Typically processed within 1 business day; receipt depends on payment method, against Instant for most cards/e-wallets; bank transfers typically 1-7 business days for deposits. A gap between the two is normal and not in itself a warning sign - identity checks are a legal obligation, not obstruction. What is worth noticing is a withdrawal that keeps meeting new conditions after those checks are done.

Withdrawal routes: bank transfer, visa/mastercard, skrill, neteller and supported original funding methods. Money is usually returned by the route it arrived on, so the deposit method you pick is in effect the withdrawal method you are picking too.

The minimum withdrawal is $20 - relevant if you intend to fund the account lightly, since it sets the smallest amount you can take out at a time.

Support hours

24/5

Contact channels

Live chat, email, phone

Languages

Multilingual

Telephone

+44 20 3996 4943

Email

support@hycm.com

Live chat response

Typically under 2 minutes

Education

Extensive: webinars, workshops, educational articles, trading courses, platform tutorials and demo trading

Research

Market analysis, Financial Source, Seasonax, technical/fundamental analysis and trading insights

Support runs 24/5. Round-the-clock cover matters more than it sounds: a position held over a weekend or through an unexpected halt is exactly when you need somebody to answer.

Reachable by live chat, email, phone. A published telephone number is the one channel that is hard to fake and hard to ignore, so whether there is one says more than the number of channels does.

Languages: Multilingual. Being able to raise a complaint in your own language is worth more than it appears, because complaints are where precision matters most.

Education: extensive: webinars, workshops, educational articles, trading courses, platform tutorials and demo trading. Treat broker-published material as an introduction rather than as advice - it is produced by a firm whose revenue rises when you trade more.

Legal entity

HYCM Capital Markets (UK) Limited

Company number

02878581

Headquarters

London, United Kingdom

Founded

1977

Publicly listed

No

Parent company

HYCM Capital Markets Group

Employees

200+

Also trades as

HYCM; Henyep Capital Markets

HYCM has been trading for around 49 years, through at least one full market cycle. Longevity guarantees nothing on its own, but a firm that came through 2008 and 2015 has been tested in a way a recent entrant has not.

The contracting entity is HYCM Capital Markets (UK) Limited. This is the company you would actually have a relationship with, and it is worth checking that it is the same one named on the licence you are relying on: large brokers commonly operate several, and they are not equally protected.

Part of HYCM Capital Markets Group. A parent adds resources, but the protections that apply to you are the ones attached to the entity that holds your account, not to the group.