Maximum leverage at IC's global company by market, October 2026.

Maximum leverage at IC's global company by market, October 2026.

Leverage at IC Markets goes up to 1:5000 on forex through its global company, Raw Trading Ltd. That figure is a ceiling, not a flat rate. IC applies leverage through a tiered margin system: the first part of a position gets the highest leverage, and larger slices get less. Leverage also drops for new trades around major news, over weekends on gold and silver, and to 1:30 on major pairs for retail clients of IC's Australian and EU companies.

In practice, leverage decides how much margin a trade ties up. It doesn't change the profit or loss per pip; a one-lot EUR/USD trade gains or loses about $10 a pip whatever leverage you pick. High leverage simply lets you open bigger positions with less money, which is exactly why it is dangerous.

Forex (global company)Up to 1:5000
MetalsUp to 1:2000
Energies, cryptoUp to 1:500
Indices, futures, bondsUp to 1:200
StocksUp to 1:20
cTrader Raw accountUp to 1:1000
Australia and EU retail1:30 on major pairs

Maximum leverage by asset class

IC publishes a maximum for each market on its leverage page. These apply to the global company's MetaTrader accounts.

MarketMaximum leverageExamples
Forex1:5000Major, minor and exotic currency pairs
Metals1:2000Gold, silver, palladium, platinum
Energies1:500Brent, WTI, natural gas
Crypto1:500Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP
Indices1:200US30, S&P 500, UK100
Futures1:200Commodity, index and metal futures CFDs
Bonds1:200US 10-year Treasury
Stocks1:20Shares and ETFs on NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE, Xetra

The cTrader Raw Spread account, which also serves TradingView, caps leverage at 1:1000.

How IC's tiered leverage works

IC doesn't give a whole position one leverage rate. It splits the position into tiers and margins each slice at that tier's rate, so leverage falls as the position grows. IC's own worked example uses a 70-lot USDCHF position in normal market conditions.

TierLots in the tierLeverageNotionalMargin
10 to 251:5000$2,500,000$500
225 to 501:3000$2,500,000$833.33
350 and above (20 lots here)1:1000$2,000,000$2,000
Total70 lots$7,000,000$3,333.33

For most retail traders only tier 1 ever applies: 25 lots is a very large position. The point to take away is that the headline 1:5000 applies to the first slice of a trade, and that IC's leverage is "dynamic and may change at any time", in its own words.

When IC lowers your leverage

IC reduces leverage for new positions in two situations, and both catch traders out.

  • Higher Margin Requirement (HMR) periods. Around central bank rate decisions, non-farm payrolls, CPI, crude oil inventories, market closes and weekends, IC temporarily lowers leverage and raises margin for new positions. IC says the list is indicative and it can apply HMR whenever it judges markets volatile. Existing trades usually keep the leverage they opened with, though stock CFD margins can be recalculated.
  • Gold and silver over the weekend. From three hours before Friday's close until 30 minutes after Monday's open (server time), new gold and silver positions get leverage of 1:200. Positions opened before the window aren't affected.

An EA or grid strategy sized for 1:5000 can fail to open trades, or open them with far more margin than expected, during an HMR window. Test around news on a demo first.

Margin call, stop out and negative balance

IC's margin call level is 100%: you are warned when your equity equals the margin your positions need. The stop-out level is 50%: below it, the platform starts closing positions, largest loser first on MetaTrader 4. Both are calculated as equity divided by used margin.

IC is clear that the stop-out isn't a safety net. Its Help Centre says it can't guarantee your account won't go negative when prices gap, and at the global company you bear any negative balance. With 1:5000 leverage, a small gap can take an account through zero.

How to change your leverage at IC

Request a new leverage from the Client Area: select the trading account, choose the leverage, and submit. IC's Help Centre says leverage ranges from 1:1 to 1:5000, so you can set something far lower than the maximum.

Most experienced traders run far below the maximum. A setting of 1:100 or 1:200 is plenty for normal position sizes and makes it much harder to over-trade by accident.

How much leverage should you use?

Think in risk per trade, not leverage. If you risk 1% of a $1,000 account on a EUR/USD trade with a 20-pip stop, your position is 0.05 lots, worth about $5,850 at a rate of 1.17. That needs only around 1:6 effective leverage. Even a 0.5-lot trade on the same account is about 1:60. Anything above 1:500 is rarely needed by a retail trader; it only allows positions far too large for the balance.

Our margin calculator shows what a position ties up at each leverage, and the leverage calculator works out your effective leverage from account size and position.

Leverage on crypto and 24-hour stocks

Two more markets have their own leverage schedules. On crypto, IC's global company offers up to 1:500 on BTCUSD for positions below 50 lots of net exposure and 1:300 above that, with the same 1:500 and 1:300 split at 1,000 lots on ETHUSD; BCHUSD and LTCUSD go up to 1:200. The crypto maximum on cTrader and TradingView is 1:300.

IC's 24-hour US stock CFDs change leverage through the day: 1:20 during normal market hours (16:30 to 21:55 server time), 1:10 in the pre-close window until 22:40, and 1:5 in pre-market and after-hours trading. Unlike most HMR changes, IC says margin on existing stock positions is recalculated when these adjustments take effect.

A 1:5000 cap is a marketing number for most people. The traders who last set their account to 1:100 or 1:200, size every position from their stop loss, and never let the available margin decide how big a trade should be.
Ranjan NiskrityChief Editor, FX Recap
Illustrative case: Sebastián, 27, Buenos Aires

Sebastián opened an IC Raw account with $300 at 1:5000 and bought 2 lots of gold before a US jobs report, using the free margin he could see. The trade opened during a Higher Margin Requirement window at a lower leverage than he expected, and a sharp move stopped him out within minutes. He now sets his account to 1:200, keeps gold positions to 0.02 lots per $300, and avoids opening trades in the minutes before major releases.

Frequently asked

What is the maximum leverage at IC Markets?

Up to 1:5000 on forex at IC's global company, Raw Trading Ltd. Metals go up to 1:2000, energies and crypto 1:500, indices, futures and bonds 1:200, and stocks 1:20. The cTrader Raw account is capped at 1:1000. Australian and EU retail clients get 1:30 on major pairs.

Does IC Markets really offer 1:5000 leverage?

Yes, but only on the first tier of a forex position. IC's tiered system applies 1:5000 up to 25 lots, 1:3000 from 25 to 50 lots and 1:1000 above that in normal conditions, and it lowers leverage for new trades during high-risk periods.

How do I change leverage on IC Markets?

In the Client Area, select the trading account, choose the new leverage and submit the request. IC offers settings from 1:1 up to the maximum for your account and company.

What is IC Markets' stop out level?

50%. IC's margin call level is 100%, and when your margin level falls below 50% the platform starts closing positions automatically, largest losing position first on MetaTrader 4.

Why did my leverage drop at IC Markets?

IC applies Higher Margin Requirements around major news, market closes and weekends, lowering leverage for new positions. Gold and silver positions opened from three hours before Friday's close until 30 minutes after Monday's open get 1:200. Larger positions also fall into lower leverage tiers.

What leverage does IC give Australian and EU clients?

Retail clients of IC's Australian (ASIC) and EU (CySEC) companies are capped at 1:30 on major currency pairs, under local rules. The 1:5000 maximum applies only to the global Seychelles company.