Best Crypto Trading Forex Brokers for 2023

Who are crypto forex brokers?

These are forex brokers that also list cryptocurrency assets on their platforms, usually in combination with fiat currencies to form a crypto-fiat pairing. Examples of crypto-fiat pairs include BTCUSD, DASHUSD, ETHUSD and LTCUSD. These cryptocurrency assets are CFD instruments and do not warrant owning the actual cryptocurrencies in itself.

What crypto assets are offered by crypto forex brokers?

Assets that are offered by crypto forex brokers include various pairings between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. Popular cryptos used in these pairings are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC). However, other cryptos such as DASH, Ripple, NEO and Stellar Lumens have emerged as crypto assets that are making their way onto platforms featured by crypto forex brokers. Fiat currencies which are used as the counter asset in these pairings are US Dollar (most popular), Euro and British Pound. So you get to find pairings such as BTC/USD, ETH/USD, LTC/USD, DASH/USD, BTC/EUR, etc. The exact combinations will differ from broker to broker. These crypto assets are usually listed on popular platforms such as the MT4, where they can be traded just like any other currency pair of CFD asset. You can use market or pending orders to setup trades, or trade with the regular lot sizes featured on the platforms to setup your trades.

Account opening with crypto forex brokers

Opening an account with a crypto forex broker is quite simple, and follows the regular process of account opening, which involves filling an online form. Account verification is also easier, especially if you are going to use a crypto-only account, or if you will use cryptos for deposits and withdrawals. This is because cryptocurrency transactions are basically anonymous and do not require verification of the identities of the individuals involved in the transaction. So if you opt for a crypto transaction method for deposits and withdrawals, your account will most likely be opened for trading without verification.

Depositing/withdrawing funds on crypto forex broker platforms

Some crypto forex brokers require that you open a dedicated account that can be used to trade cryptocurrency assets, while others allow you to use the same regular trading accounts used to forex and CFDs. In the last few years, some crypto forex brokers have opened up new payment channels that allow their clients to deposit and withdraw their holdings in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the popular cryptocurrencies used for such deposits and withdrawals. To be able to use these cryptos for deposit and withdrawal transactions, there is a need to get a wallet to be able to hold your assets. These wallets are usually provided by the crypto forex broker. Making a deposit in cryptocurrencies will require you to obtain BTC or ETH from a third party source exchange, store this in an external wallet, and transfer what you want to trade with to your wallet on the crypto forex broker platform. Withdrawals will also follow the same route. The advantage here is that the cryptos used in conducting your deposit transactions are held in a cold wallet and are not accessible to hackers, unlike the ones held in exchanges which are hot wallets and are vulnerable to theft by hackers. Brokers like SimpleFX typify an emerging trend where crypto forex brokers are increasingly dispensing with fiat deposit methods and replacing these with more crypto-based methods. Presently, SimpleFX allows users to deposit and withdraw funds in cryptos such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dash and Litecoin. It also offers e-wallets such as FasaPay, Skrill and Neteller. You really would not even find the bank wire or card options here.

For other brokers, you will also be able to use conventional means of payment to transact on your account. This includes the use of bank wires, credit/debit cards and e-wallets such as Skrill, Neteller and WebMoney.

More consistently, you will find that some of the crypto forex brokers in our list offer both fiat and cryptocurrency deposit and withdrawal methods. ThinkMarkets is an example of this hybrid transaction model, as it offers the fiat methods just mentioned as well as the Bitcoin method using the BitPay wallet.

How were crypto forex brokers on this list selected?

Certain factors were considered in compiling the list of the best crypto forex brokers you can use today. These factors include leverage/margin requirements, security of transactions and spreads.

Leverage/Margin Requirements

Trading cryptocurrencies on forex broker platforms in Europe and the UK has become very expensive, no thanks to the 1:2 leverage cap imposed by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Ordinarily, spreads on some cryptocurrency assets such as BTC/USD are quite high, and margin requirements as well as the inherent volatility of some of these assets may overwhelm most traders’ financial capacity. In compiling our list of the best crypto forex brokers, one of the criteria used for selection was to seek for platforms that had friendlier leverage provisions. The leverage provided by many of the brokers on our list for trading cryptocurrency assets ranges from 1:2 to 1:100. In terms of cost implications to the trader, what does this mean?

Trading LTC/USD with a leverage of 1:2 means that setting up a $100,000 position on this asset will require a margin of $50,000. But on a crypto forex broker platform like that of PrimeXBT (one of the brokers found on our list), the leverage provided for trading this asset is 1:100. This means that you can trade a Standard Lot with a margin of $1000. Look at the difference in the two positions: $50,000 margin (UK/EU broker) as opposed to $1,000 margin (our broker). It goes without saying that this represents significant cost savings and using our brokers will make crypto trading on a forex platform cheaper.

Security of Transactions

For those who opt to use the crypto-based funding and withdrawal methods, a key advantage of using crypto forex brokers is the safety of transactions. Rather than expose your crypto holdings in exchange-based hot wallets, you can use the same holdings in secure cold wallets to fund your account and trade the same assets as CFDs. This represents a far more secure way to trade and enables the trader to have immense peace of mind. It should also be mentioned that most crypto forex brokers mentioned here are regulated, and so there is accountability in how business is conducted on those platforms. Using exchanges which are unregulated always carries risks, as users of Cryptopia and QuadrigaCX have found out the very hard way.

Spreads

Cryptos tend to have higher spreads than any other assets on these crypto forex platforms. For instance, the spread on LTC/USD on SimpleFX is 14,800 points, or $148 for a Standard Lot position. But comparatively speaking, the spreads on crypto assets with our crypto forex brokers are lower than what you will get on other platforms. Spreads are the trader’s cost, and for assets that carry wider spreads, this cost simply needs to be kept as low as possible. By offering traders lower spreads, the savings that will be realized over time will prove beneficial for the trader.