Crypto CFDs at a broker
Trading crypto prices with a broker: what a CFD is, what it costs, leverage and weekends.
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Lessons
- 01What is a crypto CFD?A crypto CFD is a contract with your broker that settles the change in a cryptocurrency's price in cash. You never own the coin, so you need no wallet or private key. You can buy or sell, profit or loss lands in your account currency, and the broker sets the contract's terms.
- 02Buying coins vs trading crypto CFDs.Buying coins gives you the asset itself, which you can hold or send, and you must guard the keys. A crypto CFD gives you only the price change, settled in cash by your broker. CFDs make shorting and leverage easy but usually charge swap each night, so long holds tend to cost more.
- 03What does it cost to trade crypto CFDs?Trading a crypto CFD costs the spread on every trade, commission on some account types, and swap for each night the position stays open. Slippage can add to the bill. The spread matters most on short trades and swap on long ones. Your broker sets every rate, so read them in the symbol's specification.
- 04How does leverage work on crypto CFDs?Leverage on a crypto CFD lets you open a position worth more than the margin you put up. At 1:10, a $6,000 bitcoin position locks $600. Leverage sets the margin and position size sets the risk. Because crypto moves fast, brokers and regulators usually allow far less leverage on crypto than on forex.
- 05Trading crypto CFDs at weekends.Coins trade on exchanges seven days a week, but a crypto CFD trades only when your broker's sessions allow. Some brokers quote crypto CFDs through the weekend, others pause them. Either way, weekend markets can be thinner, spreads can widen, prices can gap, and swap may count Saturday and Sunday nights.