2022 Capital.com Review • CFD Trading

Capital.com is an international CFD broker specializing in derivatives contracts like CFDs and spread betting in the U.K. Licensed in five jurisdictions (including the Financial Conduct Authority in the U.K., CySEC, NBRB, ASIC and FSA), Capital.com brings over 6,000 securities to its clients’ fingertips, along with zero commissions, low spreads and plenty of educational courses to teach new traders.

CFDs and spread bets are complex trading instruments and are fairly risky to the uninitiated trader. Capital.com lists a warning on the bottom of its website: 79.17% of retail customers trading CFDs lose money. Spread bets are even more risky for day traders since they aren’t as tax efficient as CFDs.

How does a CFD work? CFDs are a bet between you and the broker. You’ll bet on the direction of the price of a particular asset — for example, the S&P 500 index or spot price of gold. This contract is strictly between you and the broker — no asset is actually purchased and contracts don’t need to be bought and sold on an exchange. If you think the price of gold is going up in the future, a CFD will pay you for each incremental increase in the spot price of gold. In this instance, you’d be holding a de facto long position in gold and the broker a short position. The difference in the two positions represents your profit or loss.

CFDs are banned in the United States since they aren’t routed through a regulated exchange. CFDs are also subject to a number of risks that traditional investments aren’t since they’re unregulated, often illiquid and dependent on the capability of the broker to pay. CFDs are also traded on margin, which can enhance losses for unprepared traders.

Some of the markets available for your Capital.com investment portfolio include:

• Indices: Trade a variety of CFDs such as the Nasdaq 100, Dow 30, S&P 500, Russell 2000, FTSE 100 and Nikkei 225, plus the VIX and DXY Dollar index. Index CFDs can apply leverage of 20-1, and they trade 24/5 on Capital.com’s platform.

• Commodities: Capital.com has plenty of commodity CFDs available that track the spot price of everything from WTI and Brent crude to metals like gold and silver to softs like orange juice and cocoa. Commodity traders could bet on carbon emissions futures using Capital.com’s CFD products. Leverage on commodity CFDs is limited to 10-1. 

• Forex: Currency trading is always popular among CFD brokers, and Capital.com is no different. Capital.com makes 138 different currency pairs available to traders, from major pairs like EUR/USD to minor pairs like CHF/PLN (that’s the Swiss franc to the Polish zloty). Currency traders can apply 30-1 leverages on their positions, and the markets are open 24/6.

• Cryptocurrencies: Capital.com has hundreds of cryptocurrency CFDs to trade, with all tokens paired against the U.S. dollar. You can trade the most popular digital assets like BTC, ETH and SOL along with lesser-known tokens like WAVE, QTUM and NEO. Crypto CFDs can only be traded with 2-1 leverage, but the markets never close.

Capital.com has an award-winning mobile app, but traders can also use its web platform, TradingView account, or even the powerful forex trading platform MetaTrader 4. 

Like most online brokerage services, Capital.com first directs client inquiries to its Help Center and its vast assortment of how-to articles and FAQ sections. Most basic questions about trading different assets, accessing your account and using the platform can be answered on these pages. 

If you have an individual question about your account or you want to ask something that isn’t in the FAQs, you have a couple different avenues to pick from. The LiveChat bot is available 24/7, but real humans are only available during working hours. You can submit a help ticket and have a response sent to your email address, email directly at support@capital.com or call their main office in the U.K. at +44 20 8089 7893. Support is available in 24 different languages.

Capital.com clients can enjoy zero commission trading and tight spreads on all available products. Whether it’s CFDs or actual shares of public stock, you’ll never pay a commission to buy or sell a security. Most clients will only pay a fee through the bid/ask spread, and Capital.com tries to keep its spreads near the industry bottom. There’s also no fee for deposits, withdrawals or currency conversions.

The only other cost Capital.com customers might encounter is the overnight fee. For cryptocurrencies and shares, the overnight fee is calculated only on the leverage applied to your trade, not the value of your position. For forex, commodities and indices, the overnight will be calculated using the total value of your position.

The Capital.com mobile app is available for both iOS and Android operating systems, although it’s not in the App Store or Google Play Store in the U.S. The mobile app is similar to the web browser platform, allowing users to seamlessly open and close positions whether they’re in front of their laptop or using their smartphone. The app can be used to set stop-loss and take-profit orders, activate price alerts or hedge with risk management tools. The education center is located here too and video tutorials can be played right through the app.

News and market updates: The real-time news offerings are robust and filled with pertinent info. You’ll get updates on pre-market moves, economic data and current events. Users stay informed of what’s going on in markets, politics and business via both web platform and mobile app.

Financial analysis: Capital.com does more than just report the news. You’ll get analysis on markets and world news that can help dictate the type of trading you’ll partake in. 

Client education: CFDs and spread bets are complicated derivatives and you’ll likely need some how-to’s and FAQs. Thankfully, Capital.com has a full course load of material to teach traders how to best use these derivatives. Using the Investmate function gives clients access to a wealth of lessons about market history and how different investments and derivatives work.

Negative balance protection: Capital.com gives retail clients up to 1-30 leverage, but it also has a program to prevent them from losing more than they invest. The negative balance protection feature prevents a client’s account from dropping below zero, so you can never lose more than your original investment.

Capital.com has a strong focus on user experience, and it shows. The market variety is vast, the costs are low and the platform is easy to navigate whether you’re using the app or web version. With more than 6,000 available securities, everyone will find an appealing market on Capital.com. Positions can be opened and closed easily, and funding your account is a simple three-step process.

Users can also learn about markets through the education center and about the Capital.com platform itself through the various FAQs and instructionals. Customer service is available 24/7 too, so clients can always get answers to their questions when needed. Responsive customer service is a must with instruments that trade 24 hours per day like CFDs.

Spread betting is only available in the U.K. and Ireland, but CFDs can be traded all over the world. With more than 6,000 markets available, Capital.com’s offerings are tough to beat. Take a look at some competitors and see for yourself.

Capital.com has plenty to offer day traders looking to access various markets through derivatives like CFDs and spread bets. For those who understand the risks of trading such instruments, Capital.com is an ideal platform. Zero trade commissions and super low spreads make it one of the cheapest online brokers in the industry. 

But if you’re new to day trading or looking for a broker in the United States, Capital.com may not suit your needs. CFDs are risky investments. The platform does have real shares that can be purchased and owned, but the majority of trading is done with derivatives. Be sure to understand the risk and reward of using leveraged trading instruments like CFDs and spread bets.