Elev8 Leverage: Ten Settings From 1:1 to 1:1000 and How to Choose

Elev8 offers ten leverage settings: 1:1, 1:5, 1:15, 1:25, 1:30, 1:50, 1:100, 1:200, 1:500 and 1:1000. They apply on Elev8Trader, MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. You choose when you create the account and can change the setting later in your profile.

The FAQ describes leverage as a virtual credit given to the client by the company that modifies margin requirements: the higher the ratio, the lower the margin you need to open an order. Elev8's spreads page says 1:1000 is available from the start. Digital assets are capped lower, at 1:200, and the shares account uses no leverage at all.

Margin at each setting

Those figures use a position priced in dollars. For pairs with another base currency, the amount is the equivalent in dollars at the current rate. Elev8 provides a trading calculator that gives the exact margin for an instrument, volume and leverage.

Margin shrinks as leverage rises. Risk per pip doesn't. A standard lot of EUR/USD moves about $10 per pip whether your leverage is 1:30 or 1:1000. The setting changes how much of your balance is locked up, and therefore how big a position you are able to open.

Why the top setting is dangerous on small accounts

Take a $50 account at 1:1000. Margin for 0.50 lots of a dollar-based pair is $50, so the platform accepts the trade. Each pip is worth $5. A ten-pip move against you costs $50, the entire balance. EUR/USD covers ten pips in minutes on an ordinary day.

All three rows use the same leverage. Row one is a coin toss. The third row is a trade that can survive a bad week. Elev8 doesn't publish its stop out percentage on the pages we read, so the table shows the distance to a total loss; in practice positions would be closed somewhat earlier.

The low settings, and why they exist

Few offshore brokers offer 1:1. At that level, the full value of a position is held as margin and nothing is borrowed in effect. Settings such as 1:5, 1:15, 1:25 and 1:30 mirror the caps that stricter regulators impose on retail traders for different asset classes.

You can use those settings to give yourself the protection a tier-one regulator would force on you. A trader who knows they are prone to oversized positions can set 1:30 and make the reckless trade impossible to place.

How to change your leverage

1. Close all open positions and delete pending orders on the account.
2. Log in to your profile.
3. Click the leverage ratio in the Primary account section.
4. Set the new leverage.
5. Press Change.

The requirement to be flat is deliberate. A change in leverage alters the margin on every position, and changing it mid-trade could trigger an immediate margin problem. Plan the adjustment for a time when you have nothing open.

Leverage on crypto and shares

Elev8's digital assets page gives a maximum of 1:200 for crypto CFDs. Crypto moves several per cent in a day without news, so even that is a lot: at 1:200, a half-per-cent move against you equals the margin on the position.

Shares are different again. Elev8 says shares are not suitable for leverage trading, and its shares account uses none. You pay the full value of what you buy. Our Elev8 shares trading guide covers the account.

Bonus funds and leverage

Elev8's deposit bonus is part of your equity and free margin, so it increases what you can open at any leverage setting. It is also cancelled if your equity falls below the bonus amount. High leverage plus bonus margin is how small accounts end up in positions that a brief move can wipe out. The Elev8 bonus guide explains the cancellation rule.

Negative balance protection

Elev8 says that when your balance becomes negative, its negative balance protection automatically adjusts it to zero. If a stop out leaves the account below zero, the broker compensates the difference. Your risk, in its words, is limited to the funds you have deposited.

That caps the worst case. It doesn't protect the deposit itself, which a single oversized trade can remove in minutes. The Elev8 regulation guide lists the other protections the broker describes.

How to choose

1. Decide your risk per trade, such as 1% of the balance.
2. Place the stop where the idea is wrong and count the pips.
3. Calculate the lot size that loses 1% at that stop.
4. Check the margin for that size with Elev8's trading calculator.
5. Select the lowest leverage that covers it comfortably.

A $300 account risking 1% with a 30-pip stop trades 0.01 lot. Margin is $10 at 1:100 and $1 at 1:1000. Either is tiny beside the balance. The higher setting gives you nothing useful here and removes a barrier against mistakes.

Hedges have a margin rule of their own. Elev8 says no additional margin is required when you open a hedge, meaning a locked or opposite position. If your free margin is negative, though, you won't be able to open the hedge order.

Myths about leverage

More leverage doesn't make a trade cost more. With Elev8 the cost is the spread, and the spread on 0.10 lots is the same at 1:30 and at 1:1000. Leverage changes the margin held, nothing else.

Less leverage doesn't make you safe by itself. A trader at 1:30 who fills the account with margin is more exposed than one at 1:500 who uses a fiftieth of it. What protects you is the size of the position compared with your balance, along with a stop loss.

The maximum isn't a recommendation either. Regulators in Europe, Britain and Australia cap retail leverage at a fraction of 1:1000 after reviewing how retail accounts lose money. Elev8 gives you the freedom to go higher and, usefully, the settings to hold yourself to those lower limits.

Frequently asked

Related reading

• Elev8 bonus
• Elev8 regulation
• Elev8 account types
• Elev8 fees
• Our full Elev8 review