Spread betting is a tax-free, leveraged way to trade on forex, and you also pay no commission. Spread bet on over 90 currency pairs – including major, exotic and emerging markets – with spreads starting from just 0.6 pips.1
Spreads will vary depending on the volatility of the underlying market. You’ll receive our minimum spread when the market spread is particularly narrow, but in most other conditions, you’ll find our minimum spread applies.
Our spot bets offer significantly narrower spreads than the corresponding forward forex bet, and are not subject to the premium or discount that may apply for a forward date. [6]
Notes in [square brackets] are detailed in the Notes tab.
Pair
Dealing hours [1]
One point means
Minimum bet
Minimum spread [2]
Average spread*
Guaranteed stop premium [3]
Margin required [4]
Professional margin required [9]
Spot FX EUR/CHF
24 hours
0.0001 SF/€
£1
2
n/a
3.33%
Spot FX EUR/GBP
0.0001 £/€
£0.50
0.9
Spot FX EUR/JPY
0.01 ¥/€
1.5
Spot FX EUR/USD
0.0001 $/€
0.6
1.2
Spot FX GBP/EUR
0.0001 €/£
Spot FX GBP/JPY
0.01 ¥/£
2.5
Spot FX GBP/USD
0.0001 $/£
Spot FX USD/CAD
0.0001 CD/$
1.7
Spot FX USD/CHF
0.0001 SF/$
Spot FX CHF/JPY
Spot FX GBP/CHF
0.0001 SF/£
3
4
Shown below are our forward forex bets for the quarterly value dates. You can place bets on forex for the next two quarters. [5]
Forward spreads are in addition to the current spot spread for each pair (shown above). [7]
Forward spread [7]
Retaiil margin required [4]
GBP/USD
9
EUR/USD
10
USD/CHF
0.0001 $/SF
8
6
EUR/GBP
7
USD/JPY
0.01 ¥/$
USD/CAD
EUR/CHF
EUR/JPY
GBP/EUR
18
GBP/CHF
16
12
Average Spread* [2]
Retail margin required [4]
Spot FX AUD/USD
0,0001 $/A$
0.75
0.8
5%
Spot FX EUR/SGD
0.0001 SD/€
5
6.19
Spot FX EUR/ZAR
10p
150
198.98
100
2.25%
Spot FX GBP/SGD
0.01 SG/£
10.42
Spot FX GBP/ZAR
0.01 SR/£
200
256.98
Spot FX SGD/JPY
0.01 ¥/SG
5.22
Spot FX USD/SGD
0.01 SD/$
3.55
Spot FX USD/ZAR
0.01 SR/$
90
128.75
GBP/SGD
50p
20
0.9%
GBP/ZAR
400
USD/SGD
22
15
0.68%
USD/ZAR
250
Spot FX AUD/CAD
0.0001 CD/A$
2.78
0.45%
Spot FX AUD/CHF
0.01 SF/A$
2.95
1.35%
Spot FX AUD/EUR
0.01 €/A$
2.83
Spot FX AUD/GBP
0.0001 £/A$
2.94
Spot FX AUD/JPY
0.01 ¥/A$
1.3
1.91
Spot FX AUD/NZD
0.0001 NZ/A$
3.18
Spot FX AUD/SGD
0.0001 SD/A$
6.84
Spot FX EUR/AUD
0.0001 A$/€
1.8
2.61
Spot FX EUR/NZD
0.0001 NZ/€
4.02
Spot FX GBP/AUD
0.0001 A$/£
1.9
3.64
Spot FX GBP/NZD
0.0001 NZ/£
6.87
Spot FX NZD/CHF
0.0001 SF/NZ
5.60
Spot FX NZD/EUR
0.0001 €/NZ
1.99
Spot FX NZD/GBP
0.0001 £/NZ
3.01
0.0%
Spot FX NZD/JPY
0.01 ¥/NZ
3.21
AUD/JPY
AUD/NZD
0.01 NZ/A$
AUD/USD
0.0001 $/A$
EUR/AUD
14
EUR/NZD
GBP/AUD
7.5
GBP/NZD
NZD/JPY
11
NZD/USD
0.0001 $/NZ
* Average spread (Monday 00:00 - Friday 22:00 GMT) for the twelve weeks ending 7 October 2016
Spot FX CAD/NOK
0.0001 NK/CD
20p
25
65.94
80
Spot FX CHF/NOK
0.0001 NK/SF
40
55.77
60
Spot FX EUR/DKK
0.0001 DK/€
14.40
4.5%
Spot FX EUR/NOK
0.0001 NK/€
34.27
Spot FX EUR/SEK
0.0001 SK/€
30
37.76
Spot FX GBP/DKK
0.0001 DK/£
45.36
45
Spot FX GBP/NOK
0.0001 NK/£
50
76.70
Spot FX GBP/SEK
0.0001 SK/£
78.55
Spot FX NOK/SEK
0.0001 SK/NK
12.07
Spot FX USD/DKK
0.0001 $/DK
19.80
Spot FX USD/NOK
0.0001 NK/$
35.20
Spot FX USD/SEK
0.0001 SK/$
32.73
GBP/NOK
GBP/SEK
120
USD/NOK
USD/SEK
Spot FX CHF/HUF
0.01 HF/SF
39.40
1.8%
Spot FX EUR/CZK
0.01 CK/€
28.04
Spot FX EUR/HUF
0.01 HF/€
42.09
Spot FX EUR/ILS
0.0001 ILS/€
83.28
Spot FX EUR/MXN
0.0001 MP/€
186.97
Spot FX EUR/PLN
0.0001 PZ/€
45.41
Spot FX EUR/TRY
0.0001 CK/$
29.44
3.6%
Spot FX GBP/CZK
0.01 CK/£
34.49
Spot FX GBP/HUF
0.01 HF/£
42.33
Spot FX GBP/ILS
0.0001 ILS/£
103.49
Spot FX GBP/MXN
0.0001 MP/£
130
211.85
300
Spot FX GBP/PLN
0.0001 PZ/£
50.93
Spot FX TRY/JPY
0.01 ¥/HF
6.91
Spot FX USD/CZK
0.01 CK/$
26.29
Spot FX USD/HUF
0.01 HF/$
41.31
Spot FX USD/ILS
0.0001 ILS/$
76.43
Spot FX USD/MXN
0.0001 MP/$
80.50
Spot FX USD/PLN
0.0001 PZ/$
33.51
Spot FX USD/TRY
23.87
Spot FX AUD/CNH
0.0001 CNH/AUD
25.17
Spot FX CNH/JPY
0.01 JPY/CNH
£10
1.74
Spot FX EUR/CNH
0.0001 CNH/EUR
44.50
Spot FX EUR/RUB
07.00-21.00
0.0001 RUB/EUR
2000
2663.78
Spot FX USD/CNH
0.0001 CNH/USD
15.46
Spot FX USD/RUB
0.0001 RUB/USD
1600
2452.15
EMFX GBP/INR
01.30-21.00
0.01 INR/GBP
35
37.35
EMFX USD/BRL
13.05-22.00
0.0001 BRL/USD
40.98
EMFX USD/INR
0.01 INR/USD
21.22
EMFX USD/IDR
04.30-21.00
1 IDR/USD
106.64
EMFX USD/KRW
01.00-21.00
0.01 KRW/USD
175.15
EMFX USD/MYR
0.0001 MYR/USD
150.23
EMFX USD/PHP
0.01 PHP/USD
19.37
EMFX USD/TWD
0.001 TWD/USD
147.13
NZD/CNH
0.0001 CNH/NZD
23.01
Spot FX GBP/CNH
0.0001 CNH/GBP
39.12
BRL - Brazilian real CLP - Chilean peso CNH - Chinese renminbi (yuan) – offshore IDR - Indonesian Rupiah INR - Indian rupee KRW - South Korean won MYR - Malaysian ringgit PHP - Philippine peso RUB - Russian rouble TWD - Taiwan dollar
Dealing hours
Minimum spread
Guaranteed stop premium
Retail margin required (per contract)
Professional margin required (per contract) [9]
Spot FX Bitcoin/USD
24 hours *
$1
£0.20
70
50%
13.5%
Spot FX Bitcoin Cash/USD
Spot FX Bitcoin Gold/USD
* Bitcoin markets close at 10pm on Friday night (UK time), then reopen on Saturday at 4am (UK time).
Please note that in times of high volatility, our minimum spreads can increase significantly.
Overnight funding charges
Our annualised overnight funding rate is currently 0.034% for bitcoin (12.5% per annum), and 0.055% for all other cryptocurrency markets (20% per annum). At present, clients with a long position will pay this overnight funding rate, while clients with a short position will receive on the overnight funding rate. In addition, a 7.5% per-annum IG admin fee will also apply.
What will this mean for my positions?
Holding a position in our other cryptocurrency pairs would result in you paying an overnight funding charge of 0.0764% when long (27.5% per annum), and receiving an adjustment of 0.0347% when short (20% per annum)
We will review our overnight funding charges frequently, and update our website and contract details with the latest rates. Please note that for any position opened before 10pm (London time) Wednesday that is still open after 10pm (London time) Wednesday, the daily interest credit or debit will be made for three days as opposed to one. This three-day adjustment covers settlement of trades over the weekend period. Adjustments will also be made in advance of Christmas and New Year holidays.
Long £1 per point on Bitcoin, which is currently trading at a price of 15000.
(1 x 15000) x 0.0548% = £8.22
Client will be charged £8.22 per day.
Short £1 per point on Bitcoin, which is currently trading at a price of 15000.
( 1 x 15000 ) x 0.0136% = £2.04
Client will receive £2.04 per day.
Why can I sometimes not trade bitcoin?
Given the high demand and price increases, we may restrict any new orders to buy or sell cryptocurrency, both online and over the telephone.
As we hedge client exposure in the underlying market, our interests are aligned with yours. However, due to the various risks and complexity involved in trading underlying cryptocurrencies, there's a limit to the total amount of physical cryptocurrency we can hold as a business. We therefore need to reflect this by limiting the exposure that each client is allowed to maintain through CFDs and spread bets. This limit is currently £250,000 notional (or equivalent) per client across all cryptocurrency holdings. Any client with a notional size above this limit is at risk of having their cryptocurrency positions reduced.
Sometimes our platform won't allow you to open a new long position on bitcoin. This happens when we reach our maximum exposure in the market. You'll be able to open a position when our trading volume changes.
Please note this should not affect your ability to close any existing open positions, provided this does not increase or create net long exposure.
You can check whether or not our bitcoin markets are 'unlongable' in the platform. In IG Trading, click the 'information' icon in the deal ticket, then select 'other'. In the classic platform, click on your market's dropdown and select 'get info'. Please refresh your browser for the latest updates.
IG policy on blockchain forks
We base the price of our cryptocurrency products on the underlying market, made available to us by the exchanges and market-makers with which we trade.
There is currently one accepted decentralised ledger which records all bitcoin transactions – as well as an equivalent for ether – called the blockchain. When the software of different miners becomes misaligned, a split – or 'fork' – in the blockchain may occur. This results in the existence of two different blockchains.
Generally, cryptocurrency users quickly agree which version to continue to use, causing minimal disruption. The old version of the blockchain is then discontinued.
In the event that one version isn't discontinued – known as a hard fork – we will generally follow the blockchain that has the majority consensus of cryptocurrency users, and will therefore use this as the basis for our prices. We reserve the right to determine which blockchain and cryptocurrency unit have the majority consensus behind them.
If the hard fork results in a viable second cryptocurrency, we may create an equivalent position on client accounts to reflect this. However this action is at our absolute discretion, and we will have no obligation to do so. If, and when, the second cryptocurrency is tradeable on a major exchange, we will endeavour to represent that value. We’ll do this either by making the product available to close based on the valuation on that venue, or by booking a cash adjustment on client accounts. If, within a reasonable timeframe, the second currency does not become tradeable on major exchanges or is otherwise deemed not to be viable as a currency (for example, it is not mined), we may delete any positions that had previously been created at no value on client accounts. We will take steps to notify you when we have taken this action.
When a hard fork occurs, there may be substantial price volatility around the event, and we may suspend trading throughout if we do not have reliable prices from the underlying market.
We will endeavour to notify you of potential blockchain forks, however it is your responsibility to make yourself aware of the forks that could occur.
The following notes apply to all of the preceding forex tables, wherever the corresponding number is found.
1. Normal dealing hours for all pairs are from 21.00 (London time) on Sunday until 22.00 (London time) on Friday, with the exception of emerging-market pairs, which operate on different schedules. All dealing times listed are London times. Please note that Daylight Savings Time in the UK or the country of origin may cause the times shown to be imprecise.
2. Spreads are subject to variation, especially in volatile market conditions. Our quotations are derived from quotes in the underlying market available to us from the banks and liquidity providers with which we trade. We monitor the liquidity available in the underlying market, offering our minimum spread when the market spread is particularly small. In most other conditions, our typical spread applies. If spreads move wider in the underlying market, we may match this. We do not apply any weighting or biases to our pricing sources.
3. For guaranteed stop bets a guaranteed stop premium is charged if your guaranteed stop is triggered. The potential premium is displayed on the deal ticket, and can form part of your margin when you attach the stop. Please note that premiums are subject to change, especially going into weekends and during volatile market conditions.
4. Margin requirements represent a percentage of the overall position value. You can find the tiered margins from the Get Info dropdown section within each market in our trading platform. Please note that higher margins may be required for large positions. Please see our tiered margining page for more details.
5. When forward forex bets are rolled over, the initial bet is closed at the mid-price for the contract month, plus or minus half of our normal spread. The new bet is then opened at the mid-price of our current quote for the next contract month. If the initial bet was controlled risk, the full controlled risk premium is either added to the offer price or subtracted from the bid price depending on the direction of the bet.
6. Each day your DFB bet remains open, we make a cash adjustment to your account to reflect the funding costs of your bet. The funding adjustment is based on the tom-next spread for the currency pair (excluding bitcoin) involved including an admin fee of 0.0022% per day. Note: For any position opened before 22.00 Wednesday that is still open after 22.00 Wednesday, the daily interest credit or debit will be made for three days as opposed to one. This three-day adjustment covers settlement of trades over the weekend period. This will not always apply to emerging-market pairs. Emerging pairs are priced using one-month pricing, so the funding charge for these will depend on the three-day adjustment that is made in the underlying market.
7. Forward spread is added to the current spot spread for each pair to produce our forward prices. This means that dealing spreads available will be variable, depending upon market conditions.
8. Bitcoin funding will be 0.0438% daily for short positions and 0.0274% for long positions.
9. Professional clients are exempt from regulatory limits on leverage in place for retail clients, and are able to trade on lower margins as a result. You can find out more, and check your eligibility, on our professional trading page.
* Average spread (Monday 00:00 - Friday 22:00 GMT) for the twelve weeks ending 26 June 2017.
1 Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.