If you’re already trading on Tradovate, you might consider joining the 10 million other traders buying and selling foreign exchange (forex) on the world’s largest capital market. You may be wondering: Can you trade forex on Tradovate? The answer is a qualified no.
You cannot directly trade forex on Tradovate, but you can gain exposure to forex through the futures market, which offers advantages and disadvantages. So if you have ever searched “can you trade forex on Tradovate,” you’ve landed in the right place. If you want to trade forex directly, you’ll learn about trading forex on Tradovate and alternative platforms.
What Can You Trade on Tradovate?
While spot forex trading is not available on Tradovate, one of the most popular online futures trading platforms and brokers, you can trade several futures and options on futures contracts. You can access more than 100 products from leading exchanges.
Here’s what you can trade on Tradovate:
- Index futures
- Currency futures
- Interest rate futures
- Metals futures
- Energy futures
- Agriculture futures
Tradovate also offers trading on options on futures and event contracts and you get flexibility with trading sizes with full, mini, micro and nano-size contracts.
Tradovate’s Forex Trading Offerings
If you’re on Tradovate, you still can catch the forex wave by trading forex futures, standardized contracts that allow you to buy and sell a specific amount of currency at a set price on a predetermined date.
You can trade the U.S. dollar against such major currencies as the Euro, Australian dollar, British pound, Canadian dollar, Japanese yen, Brazilian real, Mexican peso, New Zealand dollar and Swiss Franc. You can also trade cross-rate futures, which allow you to trade two foreign currencies against each other, such as the EUR/JPY pair.
The forex futures you can trade on Tradovate include Micro FX futures, a smaller contract size that provides the benefits of larger contracts at one-tenth the cost. Smaller contracts provide the flexibility of smaller margins, opening access to futures contracts to traders with varying account balances.
Tradovate’s Micro FX futures trade through the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Advantages of Trading Forex Futures on Tradovate
Trading forex futures, especially on Tradovate, can provide you with certain advantages, including:
- A regulated marketplace
- Centralized clearing of contracts
- Pricing and volume transparency
- Trading cost consistency
- Potentially lower costs on tight spreads
- Competitive commissions
- Potentially greater leverage
- Potentially lower margins
- Advanced trading tools
- Access from anywhere on any device
Trading forex futures on Tradovate can also open the door for diversification. With Tradovate, you can access major markets to trade futures on indexes, interest rates, precious and industrial metals, energies and agricultural products.
Considerations for Traders
The differences in cost, transparency, counterparty risk and more make trading forex futures more beneficial to some traders than spot forex trading.
Traders with long-term strategies, such as position traders holding positions for long periods and hedgers who might be exposed to future currency fluctuations, might benefit the most. While spot forex trading can have tighter spreads, you can also get hit with overnight charges on open positions.
Trading futures successfully requires you to understand the contract specifications and margin requirements. Contract specifications define the terms of the contract: the currency pair, the size, the delivery site and the delivery date. You must also know the margin needed to control the position.
All of this impacts your trading decisions and helps you manage risk and avoid potential margin calls, where you must add money to your account.
Your margin is a good-faith deposit on meeting your obligation in the futures contract. This kind of leveraging can be risky, so consider how trading forex futures aligns with your risk tolerance and trading strategies.
Alternative to Tradovate for Forex Traders
If you want to get into forex trading, you can turn to several forex brokers as alternatives to Tradovate.
Best for Dedicated Forex Traders: FOREX.com
Why We Picked It: A wholly owned subsidiary of NASDAQ-listed StoneX Group Inc., FOREX.com is a global broker for forex and contracts for difference (CFDs). If you only trade forex, FOREX.com delivers the goods for dedicated forex traders.
FOREX.com provides access to 80 currency pairs and has low forex fees, with some of the tightest spreads in the industry. The broker also supplies traders with many research tools.
FOREX.com is registered as a Futures Commission Merchant and Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer with the CFTC. The broker is also a member of the National Futures Association and is regulated in Australia, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom (U.K.).
Best for Low Fees: RoboForex
Why We Picked It: Belize-based RoboForex is your go-to forex broker for low fees. While the spreads vary on the Pro Account from RoboForex, the broker offers commission-free trading. Also, you don’t have to pay a fee for an inactive account if you stop trading for a period. Nor will you see a charge for depositing or withdrawing money from your accounts.
RoboForex is regulated by The Financial Commission in Belize, holds a civil liability insurance policy of up to €2.5 million, segregates client funds from the company’s and provides negative balance protection.
Best for Leverage: IFC Markets
Why We Picked It: Flexibility in trading can often be the difference between succeeding and failing. With IFC Markets, flexibility comes by way of leverage. IFC Markets offers forex traders leverage from 1:1 up to 1:400, depending on the account you choose and where you live. Leverage can increase your returns but it can also amplify your losses.
IFC Markets is owned by IFCM Group, based in Labuan, Malaysia’s federal territory. IFC Markets is regulated by the Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA) and the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC).
Best for Multi-Asset Traders: Tickmill
Why We Picked It: If you trade forex but also want to trade other assets, Tickmill may be your broker. London-based Tickmill – with offices in Cyprus, Dubai, Seychelles and South Africa – offers more than 60 currency pairs for forex trading. It also offers CFD trading on stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), bonds, commodities, cryptocurrencies, stock indices, futures and options.
Tickmill is owned by Illimar and Ingmar Mattus, who cofounded the company.
Tickmill’s main operating entity in the Seychelles is regulated by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA). The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also regulates the broker in the U.K., the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa.
Find the Forex Brokers to Trade Forex Your Way
You now have the answer to “Can you trade forex on Tradovate?” You can’t do it directly – what is known as spot forex trading. You can trade forex futures on the popular trading platform and broker. That can provide certain advantages.
However, you also now know the best alternatives to trade forex directly. Consider the benefits that suit you, your risk tolerance, your trading style and your financial goals to choose the right forex broker.
