High Leverage Forex Brokers in Kenya
By Stéphane on 17/10/2023
Here's our selection of high leverage Forex brokers with 1:500 leverage and beyond in Kenya in 2023.
We've highlighted below the maximum leverage available across each asset class, by broker by broker. We've also illustrated how leveraged trading works through an actual trade.
Brokers we recommend
FXCC is a regulated offshore broker with an ECN trading environment. Trade CFDs on over 100 instruments with leverage up to 1:500, only on MT4. FXCC allows all trading styles and EAs.
Trade CFDs on over 250 instruments with high leverage, up to 1:3000, through JustMarkets.com. JustMarkets accepts all trading styles and Expert Advisors on MetaTrader 4 and 5.
HYCM, formerly HY Markets, is an award-winning regulated online broker. Trade over 300 instruments on fixed or variable spreads over MetaTrader 4 or 5.
More 1:500 leverage brokers:
High leverage brokers compared
Here's how and why rated these brokers, or learn more about our impartial 18-point methodology.
| Overall | Markets | Trading environment | Deposits and withdrawals | Investor protection | Customer service | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FXCC | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
| JustMarkets | 4.2 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 3.3 |
| HYCM | 4.2 | 5.0 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| RoboForex | 4.1 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.8 |
| 4XC | 4.1 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 4.7 |
| Forex (CFD) | Cryptos (CFD)* | Indices (CFD) | Metals (CFD) | Energy (CFD) | Stocks (CFD) | ETFs (CFD) | Commodities (CFD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FXCC | 71 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 2 | |||
| JustMarkets | 61 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 165 | ||
| HYCM | 69 | 19 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 149 | 19 | 4 |
| RoboForex | 40 | 33 | 10 | 20 | 4 | 8400 | 1000 | 100 |
| 4XC | 60 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 2 |
| MT4 | MT5 | Copy trading | |
|---|---|---|---|
| FXCC | |||
| JustMarkets | |||
| HYCM | |||
| RoboForex | |||
| 4XC |
| Bank transfer | Credit card | Debit card | NETELLER * | Skrill * | BTC (Bitcoin) | USDT (Tether) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FXCC | |||||||
| JustMarkets | |||||||
| HYCM | |||||||
| RoboForex | |||||||
| 4XC |
| Belize | Cayman Islands | Cook Islands | Cyprus (EU) | Nevis | Seychelles | St. Vincent & the Grenadines | UAE | UK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FXCC | |||||||||
| JustMarkets | |||||||||
| HYCM | |||||||||
| RoboForex | |||||||||
| 4XC |
* Availability is subject to local laws and regulations.
Note: for brevity, this table only shows the most popular payment methods and regulators. Open a free account with any of these brokers to view funding options available in your country.
FXCC is a regulated offshore broker with an ECN trading environment. Trade CFDs on over 100 instruments with leverage up to 1:500, only on MT4. FXCC allows all trading styles and EAs.
- Likes
- 100% bonus on your 1st deposit (up to US$2,000).
- Flexible leverage up to 1:500.
- All MT4 Expert Advisors are allowed.
- No fees on deposits.
- No minimum deposit.
- Dislikes
- FXCC only supports MetaTrader 4.
- Withdrawal fees apply across some, but not all, funding methods.
Trade Forex, precious metals, indices and oil on 1:500 leverage. You may also trade Bitcoin on 1:20 leverage, and other tokens on 1:10. Note that you cannot trade CFDs on individual stocks.
If you prefer to trade with less leverage, you can do so at any time, by setting a lower limit at the account level. If you have open positions, you may need to increase your free margin beforehand to avoid being stopped out.
As was the case with FP Markets, we like that the maximum leverage available to you is constant at all times. This makes this platform well suited to news traders, swing traders and position traders.
We also like that FXCC.com accepts all trading styles and Expert Advisors on MetaTrader 4. And we look forward to the day when FXCC will support MetaTrader 5.
Trade CFDs on over 250 instruments with high leverage, up to 1:3000, through JustMarkets.com. JustMarkets accepts all trading styles and Expert Advisors on MetaTrader 4 and 5.
- Likes
- Flexible leverage up to 1:3000.
- All trading strategies and EAs are allowed on MT4/5.
- You can also trade on raw spreads, plus commission.
- Daily Forex market commentary.
- No fees on deposits or withdrawals.
- Dislikes
- No access to an investor compensation fund as this broker is incorporated in the Seychelles.
- Customer support is underwhelming.
If you're looking for the highest possible leverage, JustMarkets should be on your radar. Trade Forex, gold and silver on 1:3000 leverage, indices on 1:500 leverage, oil on 1:200 leverage and individual stocks on 1:20 leverage.
Please note that the maximum leverage available to you will also vary with the balance of your account. The higher your balance, the lower the maximum leverage. You can also adjust the maximum leverage downwards at any time if you wish.
You should be aware that JustMarkets.com increases its margin requirements across some instruments on weekends, as well as before and after rollovers. This caught us by surprise and could surprise you too if you plan on keeping your positions open over several days.
HYCM, formerly HY Markets, is an award-winning regulated online broker. Trade over 300 instruments on fixed or variable spreads over MetaTrader 4 or 5.
- Likes
- Trade CFDs or invest in over 1,000 "real" stocks.
- Trade on MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5.
- Get free signals from Trading Central.
- Account currencies include USD, EUR, GBP, CAD and AED.
- Dislikes
- Trading fees on its Fixed and Classic accounts are a little high.
- Monthly inactivity fee after 90 days.
- Copy trading isn't possible.
Trade Forex on 1:500 leverage, indices on 1:200 leverage, precious metals and commodities on 1:133 leverage, as well as crypto and individual stocks on 1:20 leverage.
HYCM's appeal lies partly in its brand name. The company was founded in the 70s and was one of the first to launch a Forex trading platform as early as 1999. In other words, HYCM is a broker you can trust.
In our experience, HYCM.com's fees are a little higher than the competition, unless you open a Raw account. However, we do appreciate the ability to open an account in USD, EUR, GBP, CAD or AED, which has helped us avoid unnecessary currency conversion fees.
RoboForex.com is an offshore broker based in and regulated in Belize. Access over 12,000 instruments, including real equities and CFDs on Forex, crypto and oil, from a single platform. We were able to start trading in minutes, without ID verification.
- Likes
- Access 12,000 instruments, including real stocks.
- Start trading in minutes without ID verification.
- Enjoy negative balance protection.
- Dislikes
- RoboForex is only regulated in Belize.
- Withdrawal fees across most funding methods.
RoboForex is one of the best high leverage Forex brokers. Trade Forex on 1:2000 leverage, gold on 1:2000 leverage, silver on 1:1000 leverage, in addition to CFDs on crypto, energy products and more through its Pro account. Its low stop out level (40%) is also a plus.
But our preference goes to its ECN account, which allows you to trade with 1:500 maximum leverage and low spreads plus a $2 commission per lot. Average spreads are 0.1 pips for the EUR/USD currency pair, 3.31 pips for Gold and 0.17 pips for Silver.
We also like RoboForex.com for other reasons, namely its lightning-fast account opening process and the speed with which its customer service agents answer questions on Whatsapp.
4XC is an offshore broker founded in 2018 by Forex veterans. Trade Forex, metals, oil and stocks with leverage up to 1:500. 4XC accepts all trading styles and Expert Advisors on MT4/5.
- Likes
- Enjoy flexible leverage up to 1:500.
- Choose between MetaTrader 4 and 5.
- All trading styles and Expert Advisors are allowed.
- Fast execution speeds from its London data-centre.
- Dislikes
- Negative balance protection is only available across Forex and precious metals.
- 4XC is regulated in the Cook Islands, a country without an investor compensation fund.
Trade Forex, gold and silver on 1:500 leverage, indices and oil on 1:200 leverage, as well as cryptocurrencies on 1:20 leverage.
Unlike some brokers who'll increase margin requirements on weekends, public holidays or around news events, 4XC keeps its maximum leverage unchanged. We feel that this provides a more predictable trading environment, especially for beginners.
We also like that 4xc.com accepts all trading styles on MetaTrader 4 and 5. Its trading conditions are competitive, particularly on its Pro and VIP accounts designed for high-net-worth individuals.
Leveraged trading example
There's more to trading on leverage than picking an asset and hitting the "Buy" button. Let us talk you through a trade we placed through a high leverage broker, step by step. We'll touch on position sizing, leverage, and key concepts every trader should know.
Step 1: Initiate your trade
Start by determining the size of the order you wish to place. Familiarise yourself with your broker's standard contract for the instrument in question, commonly known as 1 lot. For currency pairs, 1 lot typically represents 100,000 units of the base currency, like 100,000 euros for the EUR/USD pair. For gold, 1 lot is often equivalent to 100 troy ounces (3.11 kilograms), valued around $191,500 when gold trades at $1,915 an ounce.
As our trading account has a balance of only $51.61, we explored the smallest possible position size. A micro lot, or 0.01 lot (one-hundredth of a standard contract), is the minimum our broker permits. At the time of writing, one micro lot of gold required a $1,915 commitment.
With our account balance insufficient to cover this, we leveraged our position. Thanks to our broker's 1:200 leverage, we secured $1,915 worth of gold with a mere $9.57 deposit, as illustrated in our account's screenshot. This amount, known as the 'required margin', is 200 times less than the actual position size.
Step 2: Keep tabs on your trade
Let's clarify 4 crucial trading concepts:
- Balance: your total funds, excluding any unrealized gains or losses.
- Equity: your balance, including unrealized gains or losses. Any broker bonuses will appear here.
- Margin (or Required Margin): the funds you've allocated to your positions, representing your personal stake.
- Free Margin: your equity minus the required margin, indicating available funds for withdrawals or new positions.
Prior to opening our position, our account's balance, equity, and free margin were all equal to $51.61, while the required margin was zero. Once our order was executed, the required margin rose to $9.57, causing an equivalent fall in free margin. A subsequent $4.04 drop in the price of gold resulted in an unrealised loss, reducing both our equity and free margin, as is apparent in our account's screenshot.
Understanding margin calls and stop-outs:
A margin call occurs when the amount of your equity falls below your margin. Most brokers trigger this call as soon as your equity crosses this threshold, but some allow a lower threshold. When a margin call occurs, you will be asked to invest more money and will no longer be able to open new trades. In our example, the price of gold would need to drop by $42.04 compared to our purchase price to reach this threshold. This amounts to a 2.2% drop in the gold price, which could occur over several days, rather than one.
If the amount of our equity were to fall further, below 50% of the required margin, your broker will start to automatically close your positions. This is called a stop-out. This process will continue until the amount of your equity exceeds 50% of your required margin. In our example, the price of gold would only need to drop an additional $4.79 from the margin call threshold to trigger this process. This underscores the importance of having funds at hand to avoid being stopped out and realising your losses.
Step 3: Risk management is key
George Soros often likes to point out that: "It's not whether you're right or wrong that's important, but how much money you make when you're right and how much you lose when you're wrong." This is also why many traders set stop-loss and take-profit levels when opening a trade.
Stop-loss and take-profit orders are essential risk management tools. Both types of orders can take emotion out of trading by automatically closing your position once predetermined price points are reached. A stop-loss order will cap your losses when the market moves against you. Conversely, a take-profit order will exit your trade and lock-in your profits.
Step 4: Closing your trade
In this example, we decided to close our position once gold reached $1,919.20, as our goal was to take advantage of a quick pullback to a support price. This trade earned us a profit of $4.20 before taxes, a 44% return on our required margin. Since we closed this position intraday, we did not incur any swap fees, which only apply to positions held overnight.
Conclusion
In conclusion, leverage is a double-edged sword that can significantly increase your profits and losses. This explains why regulators in the European Union(1), the UK(2) and beyond have sought to cap leverage available to retail traders.
Remember to set stop-loss and take-profit levels when you initiate a trade, in order to cap your losses and avoid being overrun by emotions. And if you are new to trading, why not start with lower leverage and smaller position sizes. As Warren Buffet once said, "Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1."
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About the author
I'm Stéphane, a trader and an entrepreneur. My mission with TrustedBrokers is to help you find the right broker for you, whether you're a beginner or a pro. I've personally used and tested the brokers on our service, opening and funding real-money accounts, contacting customer service and placing trades. I started my career in investment banking in London.
- 1. European Securities and Markets Authority. (2018). ESMA adopts final product intervention measures on CFDs and binary options. https://www.esma.europa.eu/press-news/esma-news/esma-adopts-final-product-intervention-measures-cfds
- 2. Financial Conduct Authority. (2019). FCA confirms permanent restrictions on the sale of CFDs and CFD-like options to retail consumers. https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-confirms-permanent-restrictions-sale-cfds-and-cfd-opt