Leverage is a tool with two edges.

How leverage actually works

Leverage lets you control a position larger than the cash in your account. It multiplies the outcome in both directions with perfect symmetry: at 1:30, a 1% move against you costs 30% of the margin committed to that position. Leverage does not improve a strategy — it enlarges whatever the strategy already does.

Maximum leverage for retail clients

These limits are regulatory maxima applied to retail client accounts by asset class. They are ceilings, not recommendations — most experienced traders operate well below them.

Margin, margin call and stop-out

1. Required marginOpening a position reserves a portion of your balance. The larger the position or the lower the leverage, the more is reserved.
2. Free marginWhat remains available to absorb adverse movement or to open further positions.
3. Margin callWhen your margin level falls to the warning threshold you are notified. Nothing is closed at this point — it is a prompt to add funds or reduce exposure.
4. Stop-outIf the level keeps falling, positions are closed automatically starting with the largest loss, protecting the remaining balance.

Negative balance protection

Retail accounts cannot go below zero. In the event of a gap that takes an account negative — a weekend gap or an abrupt repricing — the deficit is written back to zero. You can lose the money you deposited. You cannot end up owing us more than that.

A worked example

One standard lot of EUR/USD is 100,000 units. At 1:30 the margin required is roughly €3,333. A 50-pip move is about €460 — around 14% of the margin committed. The same 50 pips against a position four times the size is around 55% of it. Nothing about the market changed; only the size did.