XTB is founded in 2002 as Poland’s first leveraged foreign exchange brokerage house, X-Trade morphed into X-Trade Brokers in 2004 to comply with new Polish regulations.
It then rebranded to its current incarnation, XTB Online Trading (XTB), in 2009 and went public, listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2016 under the ticker symbol, XTB. The firm does not accept U.S. traders.
XTB is a solid choice for traders that want to minimize their costs, whether it be the inherent cost of placing a trade (bid/ask spread) or not having to be burdened with extraneous costs, such as wire fees. XTB offers maximum leverage of up to 500:1 for non-U.K. accounts while U.K. accounts get up to 30:1 leverage.
The firm places an emphasis on customer support and offers relevant educational tools and research amenities that would be well-suited to a novice trader. This company is ranked as the winner of AskPaccosi’s Best Forex Broker for Low Costs in 2020.
Pros
- Lowest FX spreads
- Regulated by FCA (U.K.)
- Offers protection for client accounts
- Emphasis on customer service
Cons
- Does not accept U.S. clients
- Non-FX spread costs are high
- No guaranteed stop loss
- No back-testing or automated trading capabilities
