Today, cryptocurrencies have become widely accepted and a popular asset class used for individual and institutional investors. Bitcoin, Ethereum and other altcoins are part of the forex market with some of the best CFD brokers, by far the largest in our current economy with a $6 trillion daily trading volume. Some investors prefer to take long positions in Bitcoin and other cryptos by taking a buy-and-hold approach. They can use crypto exchanges, but given ongoing security issues, more and more people prefer to hold their long-term crypto holdings in cold storage and wallets.
But the price volatility of digital assets presents an excellent opportunity for retail traders to make a regular profit by betting on the price swings of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other altcoins. So what are the best CFD brokers to buy and trade cryptocurrencies?
Let us quickly explain what is CFD broker is and how it is different. Usually, a traditional broker connects buyers and sellers of a particular asset making money on Bid/Ask price, also known as Bid/Ask Spread. With the traditional broker, someone needs to own a stock or any other financial contract to sell it.
CFD broker, on the other hand, is different and have several advantages.
The Contract for Difference (CFD) is the financial instrument that allows investors to trade the direction of the underlying security over a short period (usually max up to a day). With CFD, you don’t have to buy and own the underlying asset, and there is no physical delivery. Instead, CFD pays the difference in a settlement price between the opening and closing trade and is very popular in forex and commodity trading markets.
So when you invest in Bitcoin or Ethereum via CFD, you don’t buy the digital asset but only get the difference in a price move. Investors don’t have exposure to the security risk and hacker attacks so common for many crypto exchanges. With CFD, you can invest in Bitcoin with as little as $10 per trade but still get a whole price upside.
Another exciting feature of the best CFD brokers is that they provide leverage to increase your return on capital. While for traditional currencies, the leverage can be as high as 300:1, for cryptocurrencies is usually relatively modest and can go up to 20:1. Leverage, or Margin Trading, is essentially borrowing money for each trade. So, in the case of cryptos, say for each $100 invested, you can get a trading position of $2000 in that particular cryptocurrency. There is a small borrowing cost, but if the Bitcoin price moved 20% (which happens often), the value of your investment would go from $2000 to $2400.
You will make $400 on the trade when you only invested $100. That is a 400% return on investment! That is why so many investors prefer to trade cryptocurrencies with CFD and leverage, as their return on investment can be phenomenal thanks to the volatility of Bitcoin and other digital assets. But investors also have to be careful as leverage works the other way, too, if the trade goes against you. Managing risk is essential, so never invest more than you are prepared to lose.
Now let’s discuss the most important things to look at when choosing the best CFD broker trading platform for cryptocurrency trading.
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Today, there are many brokers and trading platforms where you can trade and invest in cryptocurrencies. But not each of these is good and reliable. We hear many complaints from our readers about different scam brokers interested in getting your money. Our mission is to review various CFD brokers and share with our community which scams and which ones can be trusted. So when you choose a new CFD broker, there are several vital things you need to look at:
Investments and trading are strictly regulated activities, and usually, it is countries financial regulator that oversees such market participants. Regulated CFD brokers will have to comply with all the laws and regulations and have a sufficient capital base and financial standing to maintain their regulatory status. It is also evident that regulators from a respected jurisdiction such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or any other country in the European Union will ensure that the broker operates in the right way. Otherwise, its owners and senior management can face huge fines and even go to prison. On the other hand, a regulator in some distant off-shore island will not provide such cover.
That is why when choosing the broker, first of all, check which jurisdiction it is regulated. For example, our top recommended brokers such as AvaTrade, Forex.com and eToro are regulated in multiple jurisdictions such as the UK, Ireland, Malta, Cyprus and other countries.
Another essential feature of the CFD broker is the actual trading platform.
Usually, two different brokers (like AvaTrade or eToro) prefer to develop their in-house platform. In contrast, others (like FOREX.com) can use a third-party platform such as Meta Trader, for example. Usually, most of the popular brokers will offer several trading platforms. In-house systems are generally more straightforward and user-friendly, and more suited for beginner traders. On the other hand, experienced investors can utilise extended functionality provided by professional trading terminals such as Meta Traders 4 & 5.
It is also essential for CFD brokers to have a user-friendly mobile app to ensure customers have access to their trading positions anytime, anywhere.
The investment universe is a list of different assets where you can invest via a particular CFD broker. If you are looking to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum, it is also helpful to know which other altcoins the broker can access. While some brokers can only invest in 3-4 cryptocurrencies, the more popular ones will access at least 12-15 different cryptos. It is essential to diversify your portfolio and invest in other asset classes. So make sure that your CFD broker offers access to stocks, commodities, Forex, ETFs and Indices,
That is a critical feature, especially if you are making your first steps in trading. Most popular brokers such as AvaTrade, ZuluTrade, Forex.com and eToro will allow you to open a free demo account with at least $10,000 in virtual cash. That can be extremely useful as you can first explore the trading platform and make your first bet risk-free. Obviously, once you familiarise yourself with how the broker trading platform works and make trades, you can move into a real-money account, but you can take as much time as you want to learn.
Another handy feature that is so popular among beginner investors is social trading capability. What social trading is, is that it allows you to follow or copy trades of professional traders and their investment strategies for a profit share. These traders would be experienced investment professionals who, in most cases, manage money for a living. First, you will see the description of their trading style and their strategy’s performance.
Then, if you like the idea, you start following and making trades alongside them. And you can invest with experienced traders and make a profit even if you don’t have trading experience at all. Read this ZuluTrade review if you are interested in learning more about the world’s largest social trading platform.
That is probably the last most important thing that you need to consider. Most brokers will accept popular payment methods such as debit or credit card, PayPal, wire transfer, etc. While some brokers will say their minimum deposit can be as low as $10, we urge you to be wary of such offers.
With an established and reliable CFD broker, the minimum deposit can start at $100 and, in some cases, can be as high as $500. We think that is reasonable as, in reality, if you only invest $10, you won’t do much. And if you decide to deposit at least $100, that means you are serious about investing and won’t just open the account for the sake of it.
Many brokers will require you to invest £10 per trade for minimum trade, but leveraging the actual trading position can be higher.
Over the past years, we have reviewed more than 30 different CFD brokers and trading platforms. Some of them are good, many are average, and some are a complete scam. Today, we want to share the best CFD brokers that we have reviewed and are currently available on the market.
Another popular CFD broker on our list is eToro. The company is headquartered in London and regulated by FCA, CySEC and also in the US. Since 2014, this broker has reached more than 7 million registered users thanks to its super-user friendly in-house trading platform suitable for both beginner and professional traders. You can invest in the 30+ largest cryptocurrencies with eToro and other asset classes such as forex, stocks, commodities and ETFs. eToro is also available for US clients, making it one of the most popular brokers for trading stocks, forex and cryptocurrencies.
For more information, read the eToro review.
You can open a Free eToro Account here.
Last but not least, our list is the world’s largest social trading network where you can copy and invest alongside professional traders and investors. ZuluTrade allows you to auto-follow the strategies you selected, review the list of trades and choose which one to execute yourself. While ZuluTrade is not a broker, several best CFD brokers provide automated trading via APIs. The great thing about social trading is that you don’t need to be an investment guru to invest in top-performing investment strategies.
With social trading, you can invest in auto-pilot and make money when you sleep while professionals do all the work for you. And you only pay a profit share, which means you only pay when the strategy you follow makes money. ZuluTrade works with AvaTrade and some other brokers, including one in the United States.
For more information, read the ZuluTrade review.
You can open Free ZuluTrade Account here.
One of the oldest and largest CFD brokers that have been a pioneer in online trading since 2006 is AvaTrade. It has a professional community of more than 200,000 experienced traders, with an average trading volume surpassing $60 billion per month. With AvaTrade, you can invest in major cryptocurrencies, stocks, Forex, commodities, ETFs and indices via several in-house and third-party investment platforms. In addition, AvaTrade offers 20:1 leverage when investing in cryptocurrencies with 24/7 customer support in different languages. AvaTrade is headquartered in Dublin, has regional offices in Paris, Dublin, Milan, Tokyo and Sydney, and other countries and is regulated in 6 jurisdictions.
For more information, read the AvaTrade review.
You can open Free AvaTrade Account here.
Forex.com is the oldest CFD broker in the UK, operating since 1999 and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Forex.com is a highly rated CFD broker that holds client funds on aggregated accounts under the FCA client money rules. Forex.com Ltd is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange and offers access to more than 2000 financial instruments. In addition, Forex.com provides its investors with trading access to the largest cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Crypto 10 Index, NEO, IOTA, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, EOS, Tron, Cardano and Monero.
Forex.com offers 1:2 leverage on cryptocurrencies, ultra-tight spreads, no commissions, and trading access to the most popular cryptos 24/7. Forex.com is also available to US clients, making it the most popular cryptocurrency trading platform for investors worldwide.
For more information, read the Forex.com review.
You can open Free Forex.com Account here.