Forex Brokers for US traders make it easy for you to trade on the go. Many brokers have mobile apps but you can also trade from your favorite browser.
In this post, you’ll learn about the top three Forex brokers for US traders that we reviewed at EA Trading Academy. Thousands of students at the Academy use these brokers, and the post is not sponsored. It is a fair review.
We’re not recommending any of them. We’re only providing you with information on the ones our students prefer. You should always do your due diligence before you open an account at a broker.
You can sleep at night because these Forex brokers are regulated and you can fund your account with your credit card at these US Forex brokers. Additionally, all of these brokers have low fees.
Finding Forex Brokers for US Traders
We know it’s hard to find good Forex brokers for US traders. That’s because some Forex brokers don’t offer their services to traders in the United States. Those brokers aren’t regulated in the US.
However, we’ve gotten useful feedback about Forex brokers for US traders from our students. We’ll share the top three so that you’ll know what you can look for in a Forex broker.
Criteria for Forex Brokers
There are three important criteria that you should consider before investing your money. If you stick to those criteria, you won’t get burned.
Always look for a broker that’s regulated. Even if you’re trading from outside of the United States, ensure that you use regulated international brokers.
If you’re in the US, look for a broker that has relatively low fees on each of your transactions. The cost of your transactions will add up over time.
You also need a broker that lets you fund your account easily. They should also offer a world-class trading platform that you can use on your preferred device.
The brokers that we’ll mention in this post all satisfy these criteria. You’ll find all of them on our Brokers’ page. However, always do your own research and decide which broker is best for you. Don’t take anything that we are saying here as financial advice.
Choose Regulated Forex Brokers for US Traders
The top Forex brokers for US traders are regulated. Regulation protects traders, so whether you’re based in the United States or another country, you should never do business with a broker that isn’t regulated.
The best Forex brokers for US traders are regulated in the United States by the National Futures Association (NFA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The NFA and CFTC help to prevent fraud, stop scams and preserve market integrity.
Unregulated brokers must abide by the directives that are set by these bodies. For example, the NFA and CFTC determine how much leverage brokers can offer.
Use Leverage Carefully
American retail traders can get leverage of 1:50 for major currency pairs and 1:20 for all other currency pairs. In this way, the NFA and CFTC are like traffic cops, encouraging you to drive within the speed limit.
The leverage that’s offered by Forex brokers for US traders might seem restrictive. However, it helps you to limit your losses. Remember, when you’re using leverage, sometimes a trade might not go your way. Using more leverage gives you less breathing room.
Some US traders like to hedge with Forex trades. However, hedging isn’t offered by Forex brokers for US Traders. Hedging goes against the rules that have been sent by the NFA.
All brokers in the United States must abide by the NFA’s first in first out (FIFO) rule. The FIFO rule says that you must close trades in the order that you open them but only if they are the same trading amount.
Some American Forex traders get around the FIFO rule by opening two accounts with the same broker. So, they can go long and short on the same currency pair by using both accounts. That allows them to enjoy the benefits of hedging while staying within the boundaries that the NFA has set.
Be Cautious With International Brokers
There are international brokers that accept traders from the United States. They might not stick to the standards of authorities in the United States, so you should always be careful.
Some retail traders are surprised that only a few brokers are authorized to offer their services in the US. That’s because the US has 19.5% of global over-the-counter Forex turnover.
That’s the way it is at this point, so you should always check to ensure that any broker sticks to US rules. If a broker isn’t regulated, they’re not accountable to anyone for how they handle your money.
So, they don’t have to stick to any rules and they’re free to do whatever suits them. You could invest with them today and they could disappear with your funds tomorrow.
Minimum Capital Requirement
A Forex broker must maintain a minimum amount of capital in order to do business in the United States. So, all the brokers that we’ll mention in this post maintain a net capital of at least USD $20 million.
So here are the Top 3 Forex Brokers for US Traders
- IG
- Trading.com
- Forex.com
That minimum capital requirement is similar to that of Forex brokers in the United Kingdom and other regions. In the UK, brokers must have at least €730,000 to show that they’re financially stable.
If a broker can’t meet that requirement, you can expect that they might not be able to meet their financial obligations. So, you could sign up for an account with them but they might close down within a short time.
US brokers have different minimums for your starting capital. Trading.com makes it easy for you to start trading Forex with just $5 in your account. However, IG wants you to have at least $250 in your account.
Forex.com has a minimum capital requirement of $100 when you fund your account with a credit card or debit card. Remember, you should never use more than about 1% of your account balance on a Forex trade. If you use more than that, you’ll increase your risk.
Background Information on the Top Forex Brokers for US Traders
Forex.com
Forex.com is the leading Forex broker in the United States. It’s registered with both the NFA and CFTC. Plus, it’s been in business for many years. Over that time, it’s become a leader in the market.
Additionally, its parent company is GAIN Capital Holdings. GAIN is on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). So, that increases its credibility.
Forex.com has sister companies. Major markets like Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom regulate those companies. That means it consistently meets the standards of operation that are in place in those regions.
IG
IG does business in all of the highly regulated trading zones around the world. So, in that way, it’s like GAIN Capital Holdings and it’s safe.
IG is on a stock exchange. Plus, it discloses its financials regularly. IG is also popular among US traders because of its low spreads.
Low spreads make it easy to enter your ideal position whether the market is falling or rising. IG has over 40 years of experience in the financial markets and it operates the North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex). The CFTC regulates Nadex.
If you’re using MT4, you’ll get low spreads from IG and other Forex brokers for US traders. You’ll also get attractive offers if you’re a high-volume trader.
Trading.com
Trading.com has low spreads, like the other two brokers. However, they have the lowest capital requirement. You can place your orders online or over the phone.
They don’t charge commissions. Plus, they place over 99% of their orders in less than a second. However, you should continually evaluate your trades carefully and not let speed get you into trouble.
If you’re an American Forex trader, you’ll have access to more than 50 markets with Trading.com. You could trade currency pairs such as GBPUSD and USDYEN.
Trading.com is the US branch of the XM group. Markets such as the European Union and the United Kingdom regulate it. So, clients invest safely.
Trading.com is also popular among Forex traders because of its low costs. For example, their spread for popular currency pairs starts from 0.6 pips on EURUSD.
Minimum Deposit, Base Currency, and Fees
If you want to open an account with these Forex brokers for US traders, you can use your debit or credit card. At Forex.com, you only need to deposit $100. After making your deposit, you can usually start trading within a few hours.
Some payment methods at Forex brokers for US traders fund your account within a few hours. However, others take a few days. Some brokers charge a fee of 1% for using your card to fund your Forex trading account.
These three Forex brokers for US traders let you freely choose your preferred base currency. However, it would be best if you always kept in mind that whenever you buy or sell in currencies other than your base currency, you’ll need to pay a currency conversion fee. For example, in that situation, IG charges a standard fee of 0.5%.
Platforms at Forex Brokers for US Traders
The top Forex brokers for US traders all offer MT4 or MT5. MT4 and MT5 are very popular trading platforms. Traders can access third-party APIs as well.
IG and Forex.com offer MT4. Trading.com uses MT5. So, if you use any of these Forex brokers for US traders, you’ll benefit from advanced chat and a user-friendly interface.
In fact, IG offers American Forex traders additional perks, such as its Pro real-time chat software. MT4 fully integrates that.
Both MT4 and MT5 are reliable platforms. No one can easily manipulate these platforms, unlike web-based trading platforms at some unregulated Forex brokers.
With web-based platforms, brokers can adjust the platform so that you initially profit but then sustain huge losses when you’re ready to withdraw your profits. So, in that case, the problem isn’t you, it’s their manipulation.
When you’re using MT4 and MT5, you’ll be able to use several technical analysis indicators and automated strategies. This world-class software also lets you trade from any web browser, so you won’t need browser extensions or any additional software. Here at EA Trading Academy, we like to use MetaTrader because we can trade with the robots that we create in EA Studio.
Do Your Due Diligence
Always do your own due diligence if you’re considering signing up with any of these brokers. Always test your strategies with their demo accounts first.
If you open an account with real cash, always use relatively small sums of money to test how easy it is to deposit and withdraw funds from your Forex account. You should definitely do that before you make a large investment.
You should also check for information on each broker in the NFA’s BASIC register. A BASIC check can help you to avoid problems. You can search for any broker on the NFA’s BASIC system. Use the firm’s name, an individual’s name, or another identifier.
If you can’t find any information by using those BASIC searches, you should avoid doing business with them. All legitimate introducing brokers register on the NFA’s BASIC system.
Final Thoughts
If you’re an American trader, you have several options for trading Forex. Regulated brokers offer popular platforms like MT4 and MT5. They also have several convenient deposit methods and minimum deposit requirements to suit your trading style.
We hope that you liked this post on Forex brokers for US Traders. Please let us know in the comments below if you try any of the brokers from today’s post. This way the post will be useful to everyone reading it after you.
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