The Best Crypto CFD Brokers
CFDs offer a very simple way to leverage cryptocurrency trades without actually buying into the market. Others allow bitcoin depositors to trade mainstream instruments like forex pairs.
Deposit in Bitcoin and trade crypto, commodities, stocks and forex
WCX
WCX is able to offer extremely narrow spreads on dozens of different CFD instruments - both crypto and mainstream like Forex and commodities - thanks to a bitcoin-only deposit and withdrawal funnel.
- Best spreads in the market
- instant bitcoin deposits
- excellent assortment of crypto and mainstream financial derivatives
Bitcoin
Ethereum
Litecoin
Dash
EOS
Ethereum Classic
Monero
NEO
Ripple
Stellar
Tron
- Spread Based
- Global
- Crypto Only
- Bitcoin
WCEX is targeted exclusively towards bitcoin holders looking to trade mainstream commodities, forex, indices and stocks.
WCEX offers narrow spreads on multiple mainstream instruments, as well as crypto pairs. Bitcoin deposits are tradable after 1 confirmation. Withdrawals are processed automatically and usually within an hour, and the fee is reasonably set. Contracts are denominated in bitcoin, so you needn’t worry about bitcoin price fluctuations – your earnings are based on the percentage increase in the position against the initial amount of bitcoin invested.
The spreads are among the cheapest in the market and there is a good variety of instruments to trade in forex, commodities, indices, and individual stocks. All in all, probably the best CFD brokerage for crypto holders.
Deposit Fiat, Trade in Bitcoin
AvaTrade
AvaTrade offers leveraged trading of cryptocurrency CFDs across Metatrader and proprietary platforms.
- Ava offers some of the narrowest spreads on cryptocurrency CFDs
- Bitcoin mini contract available for relatively small investment
- Great reputation built over more than 10 years in the market
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
Bitcoin Cash- EOS
- Ripple
- BTCUSD: 1%; EURUSD: .00015; GBPUSD: .0002; GOLD: .5; OIL: .03
- Global
- USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, CAD
- Credit Card, Bank Wire, Paypal, Neteller, Skrill
AvaTrade rates as our top Crypto CFD brokerage in the market, just barely scraping by plus500. It offers a number of different crypto instruments, high leverages – up to 25X for bitcoin, 10X for Ethereum, access through the metatrader 4 platform on desktop or mobile, and fairly reasonable spreads. Important to note – the minimum nominal bitcoin position is 0.1 – meaning a position may be opened with .01 to .005 – requiring a relatively small account balance.
Ava itself has been in the market since 2007, and has established a solid reputation. It offers 100s of currencies, indices, commodities and stocks for trade, as well as the dozen or so cryptos. They also offer an all or nothing deposit bonus, though the wagering requirements are quite difficult to clear – but in any event, the bonus is only upside, there are no negative side effects of having it in the account.
AvaTrade does not accept cryptocurrency deposits.
Cryptocurrency CFD Runner Up: Plus500
Plus500
With easy trading and leverages up to 30:1, Plus500 is an ideal spot to day trade bitcoin and ethereum for those turned off at the prospect of actually buying crypto.
- the simplest and most intuitive trading platform for crypto CFDs
- spreads are pretty good but overnight charges can get expensive
- Plus500 is a publicly traded firm on the UK stock exchange
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Dash
- Monero
- NEO
- Ripple
Zcash
- Variable
- USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, SGD
- Credit Card, Bank Wire, Paypal, Debit Card, Skrill
While Plus500 falls just behind AvaTrade on our list of best crypto CFD brokers, this is entirely subjective, and there are a few benefits of trading with Plus500 that might make it a better choice than AVATrade for many traders. Plus500 has slightly narrower spreads across most of their cryptocurrency CFDs than AVA. They are also cheaper in terms of the premiums charged for overnight holds; as a matter of fact, you might find you are entitled to a positive premium based on your particular position long or short. Ava charges overnight holders a negative premium regardless of position.
On the other hand, Plus500 offers a smaller range of cryptocurrencies, and their platform, while quite easy to use, does not really hold a candle to metatrader 4 in terms of analysis or sophistication. Plus500 is an entry level product, which is a benefit or a detriment depending on your experience as a trader. Additionally, the btcusd contract size is 1 bitcoin, meaning the minimum account balance required to open a position would be .05 bitcoin equivalent.
Plus500 does not accept cryptocurrency deposits.
Evolve.Markets
Evolve Markets
Evolve Markets offers US Traders access to Metatrader 4, web, mobile and download platforms, with tight spreads on crypto and mainstream asset classes
- Evolve brings cryptocurrency CFD trading to the US markets
- Trade a number of different cryptos on the MetaTrader 4 platform
- Only Bitcoin deposits accepted and accounts are anonymous
- Bitcoin
- Litecoin
- Ripple
- BTCUSD: .75% ; EURUSD: .00011; GBPUSD: .00016; GOLD: .23; OIL: .048
- United States
- Crypto Only
- Crypto Only
Evolve.Markets has a very distinct advantage among the crypto brokers compared here – it accepts US customers. Of course, this means that deposits are limited to bitcoin which sort of skirts regulatory language (the letter, though probably not the spirit) which definitely disqualifies CFD brokerages that accept fiat deposits. And if you are ok deposits crypto, why would you not just try out a futures exchange?
And US traders can access a metatrader 4 platform across mobile, desktop, and web and gain access to a number of crypto pairs, and a limited amount of mainstream instruments as well. Evolve offers very tight spreads across all these instruments, better even than Plus500. For US-based traders unwilling to use a VPN and trade at a futures exchange, Evolve is a good spot.
Whaleclub
WhaleClub
Instant CFD trading of crypto and mainstream markets, powered by Bitcoin and Dash. No matter where you lay your head, you can join the WhaleClub with an email.
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
- Dash
- BTCUSD: .67% ; EURUSD: .0002; GBPUSD: .0002; GOLD: .9; OIL: .2
- Global
- Crypto Only
- Crypto Only
Like Evolve Markets, Whaleclub offers US customers access to the most popular mainstream and crypto CFDs, and accepts deposits in both Dash and bitcoin. I’m not sure the market for dash collateralized CFD trading, but if you fall into that niche – congrats, you have found your perfect product!
As to bitcoin depositors, Whaleclub is similar to Evolve, just slightly less good. It has slightly wider margins, it charges a much higher premium on overnight holdings (prohibitively high on crypto, do not keep positions open overnight), and it limits itself to a web based proprietary platform. It does offer a wider variety of mainstream CFDs.
SimpleFX
SimpleFX
SimpleFX offers bitcoin users the chance to buy mainstream CFDs on the MT4 platform
- CFD brokerage catering to non-US markets accepts bitcoin or mainstream deposit options
- 1 bitcoin is the smallest contract at 3:1 leverage
- Spreads have gotten progressively wider on crypto
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Dash
- BTCUSD: 2% ; EURUSD: .0001; GBPUSD: .00015; GOLD: .025; OIL: .06
- USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, BRL, CAD, CHF, CNY, DKK, IDR, JPY, PLN, RUB, SEK
- Credit Card, Bank Wire, Neteller, Skrill, Bitcoin
Whatever happened to SimpleFX? It was one of the first crypto-facing CFD brokerages, and offered a simple and fast way for crypto-holders to trade mainstream instruments as well as leverage their holdings using crypto CFDs.
Since then they have made a number of changes detrimental to most of their crypto trading audience. The crypto spreads are much, much wider than their competition. Their highest bitcoin leverage is 5:1 while their smallest contract is 1 bitcoin, meaning your minimum account holding for a trade is .2 btc. They do alright on the mainstream instruments, but unless you are super partial to MetaTrader 4, you are better off just going to 1broker. Very hard to find a reason to pick simplefx over the competition.
More About Crypto CFDs
Bitcoin CFDs are derivative instruments, meaning that the underlying asset – bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and the like – is not actually being bought and sold. Rather, a contract is created between a buyer and a seller by which the seller agrees to pay the buyer the difference between the current market value of the underlying asset, and the market value when the buyer exits the contract. Hence, contract for difference.
Bitcoin CFDs are highly leveraged, with a typical range from 10:1 until 50:1. It goes without saying that these leverages are extremely risky, particularly if account margin is low.
The brokerages themselves act as the market maker, or the counter party to each trader. A properly run CFD broker will make their money entirely from the spread and funding rates, balancing buy and sell orders to equilibrium, and hedging on third party exchanges if there is an imbalance. The spreads are generally between $7-$20, which, when trading an asset worth $4,000, is a relatively low amount. Keep in mind, however, that this spread is amplified due to the leverage, which we illustrate below.
Let’s imagine you have an account with $800, and you would like to buy two bitcoin at $4,000 each. At a spread of $20, you start with a p/l of -40. Now, in order to maintain the position, your account equity – the original margin of $800 plus the p/l – must stay above $400 or the account is liquidated. You are already 10% of the way to liquidation, and if bitcoin drops by $180, a large but by no means unheard of amount, you are liquidated.
CFD brokers also add a funding premium to your order. The size of the premium varies; the benefit is, however, that if your position is against the prevailing market wisdom many brokers will pay you a premium, a mechanism to help balance their book.
There are a few distinct benefits to bitcoin CFDs. The high leverages will be attractive to big profit seekers not scared off by the heightened risk. The CFD model allows for contracts on any instrument meaning you can buy contracts on most anything, really. Most of the CFD brokers also service non-crypto clients, meaning all standard payment methods are integrated, and trades may be collateralized in your local currency.
Bitcoin CFDs and Fraud
There is a troublesome aspect in this market maker model. If the brokerage is dishonest or simply unable to properly hedge their positions, profit/loss becomes a zero sum game against the customer. And there are a number of tools that the dishonest broker might employ to limit losses. There is generally a lack of transparency when it comes to prices; unlike exchanges where the market sets the price via the exchange, the broker has more control over the spot price. Traders might also experience excessive slippage, a difference between the execution price and the price at which an order was placed. This happens at the most ethical of brokerages, and it is deliberately done at the worst of brokerages. To avoid this altogether, traders might prefer trading bitcoin futures.