Xtrade review

Spread from

1.0 pip

EUR/USD spread

Approx. 2-5 pips depending on account/status

GBP/USD spread

Approx. 3-6 pips depending on account/status

Commission

$0

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Spread only

Spread type

Variable

Overnight swap

Overnight funding premium charged/credited depending on instrument and direction

Inactivity fee

Up to $50/month after prolonged inactivity

Withdrawal fee

Account/payment-method dependent

Currency conversion

Conversion spread/rate may apply

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

Spreads from 1.0 pip suggest an all-in account, where the broker's fee is built into the price rather than charged separately. There is usually no commission on top, which makes the cost easier to predict.

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.

Xtrade lists a minimum deposit of $100. 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, Shares, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Bonds, Cryptocurrencies

Currency pairs

50+

Total instruments

Hundreds

Crypto CFDs

Yes

Maximum leverage

1:400

Execution model

Market maker / principal

Execution speed

Not publicly disclosed

Order types

Market, limit, stop-loss, take-profit and platform-specific orders

Servers

Global trading infrastructure

Leverage up to 1:400 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.

Xtrade covers forex, shares, indices, commodities, etfs, bonds, cryptocurrencies. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: visa, mastercard, visa electron, maestro, american express, discover, diners, bank transfer, cryptocurrency transfer. 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

Xtrade WebTrader, Xtrade Mobile

Own platform

Yes

Mobile app

Proprietary

Browser trading

Yes

Automated trading

No

Copy trading

No

Indicators

Integrated technical indicators and charting

Third-party tools

Trading signals and analytical tools

API access

No standard retail API

Xtrade offers Xtrade WebTrader, Xtrade Mobile. A proprietary platform can be excellent, but it means your setup does not transfer if you later change broker.

Regulated by

Belize FSC (4705379); South Africa FSCA (FSP 44681); additional offshore entity

Regulator tier

Tier 2

Register entry

Belize FSC register

Client money segregated

Yes

Held at

Regulated financial institutions; specific bank not prominently disclosed

Negative balance protection

Yes

Compensation scheme

No statutory investor compensation scheme for international clients

Audited by

Independent external auditors

Not available to

United States, Canada, EU residents on the global entity, and other jurisdictions where services are prohibited

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

Xtrade's licence is offshore (FSC). Offshore entities typically offer higher leverage and lighter reporting, and compensation schemes do not apply - the trade-off is protection, not price.

The FSCA licenses derivative providers in South Africa without a fixed retail leverage cap, so headline leverage is often higher than an FCA or ASIC entity may offer.

An FSC licence (Mauritius or Belize, depending on the entity) is an offshore authorisation with lighter reporting duties than a tier-one regulator.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Regulated financial institutions; specific bank not prominently disclosed. 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 No statutory investor compensation scheme for international clients, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

Check the licence yourself: the FSCA list of regulated entities.

Minimum deposit

$100

Account types

Standard, Premium, Platinum, VIP, Demo

Account currencies

USD primarily, entity-dependent

Islamic account

Yes

Demo account

Yes

Professional account

Entity-dependent

Minimum trade size

Instrument-dependent

Time to open

Typically a few minutes, subject to verification

Xtrade runs 5 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: USD primarily, entity-dependent. 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 Instrument-dependent. 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, Visa Electron, Maestro, American Express, Discover, Diners, bank transfer, cryptocurrency transfer

Withdrawal methods

Original funding method, including cards, bank transfer and supported crypto methods

Deposit time

Cards/electronic methods generally fast; bank transfer several business days

Withdrawal time

Method-dependent

Local payment methods

Region-dependent

Withdrawals are stated at Method-dependent, against Cards/electronic methods generally fast; bank transfer several 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: original funding method, including cards, bank transfer and supported crypto 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.

Support hours

Trading-week support

Contact channels

Live chat, email, phone, Help Centre

Languages

Multilingual

Telephone

N/A

Email

N/A

Live chat response

Instant live chat advertised

Education

Extensive: video courses, ebooks, trading education, glossary and market basics

Research

Financial news, trading signals, market analysis and educational market content

Support hours are Trading-week support. Check they overlap the sessions you actually trade - cover that ends with the local business day is no use during an overnight move.

Reachable by live chat, email, phone, help centre. 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: video courses, ebooks, trading education, glossary and market basics. 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

Xtrade International Ltd

Company number

Belize-registered company

Headquarters

Belize City, Belize

Founded

2003

Publicly listed

No

Parent company

Independent

Employees

Approx. 100-500

Also trades as

Xtrade; XTrade

Xtrade has been trading for around 23 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 Xtrade International Ltd. 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 Independent. 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.