Trade bitcoin, ethereum, ripple, and litecoin pairs without owning them, with the world's No.1 CFD provider.1
CFDs are a leveraged product and can result in losses that exceed deposits. Trading CFDs may not be suitable for everyone, so please ensure you fully understand the risks and take care to manage your exposure.
Cryptocurrency trading
Find out more about how to trade CFDs on cryptocurrencies.
Why trade cryptocurrencies with IG?
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Go short as well as long
Take a position when you expect bitcoin to fall in value, not just when you expect it to rise
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No exchange account needed
Get started straight away, without the hassels of an exchange account
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Trade on leverage
Gain exposure to major cryptocurrency pairs without tying up lots of capital
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Monitor your risk
Protect your profits and limit your losses with our range of tools, when trading these extremely volatile currencies
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Improved liquidity
So there’s more chance of executing your full trade at your chosen price
What are cryptocurrencies?
Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies which operate independently of banks and governments, but can still be exchanged – or speculated on – just like any physical currency.
While there’s a huge number of cryptocurrencies available, we offer CFD trading on: bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ripple, litecoin, ether (Ethereum), EOS, Stellar (XLM) and NEO.
Live cryptocurrency prices
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| Ripple (USD) |
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| EOS (USD) |
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| Stellar |
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| NEO |
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Prices above are subject to our website terms and conditions. Prices are indicative only.
How can I trade CFDs on cryptocurrencies?
There are two ways to deal cryptocurrencies: buy them in the hope of selling them on at a profit, or speculate on their value without owning them via CFD trading. Find out more about the differences between buying and trading cryptocurrencies.
To trade CFDs on cryptocurrencies, you’ll need to:
- Create an account
As a CFD trader, you won’t need an account with a cryptocurrency exchange, or a wallet to store your tokens. Just an account with a leverage provider. - Do your research
Cryptocurrencies may be free from many of the factors that influence traditional currencies, but you need to make sure you know your market. - Apply your strategy
Settling on a trading strategy depends on your goals and preferences, and deciding which is right for you is key to your long and short-term success. - Place a trade
Enter your position size, define your close conditions and click ‘buy’ if you think the cryptocurrency will rise in value, or ‘sell’ if you think it will fall. - Close your position
Once you’ve reached your target – or decided it’s time to cut your losses – you’ll close out your position by reversing your original action: so if you bought, you sell, and vice versa.
Keep in mind that as CFDs are leveraged products, you’ll only ever need to put down a small deposit to gain exposure to the full value of the trade. This means your capital goes further, but you also stand to lose more than your initial outlay.
Compare cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin
- Exclusively used as a currency
- Initially released in 2009
- 17 million bitcoins in circulation (or ‘mined’)
- There is a finite supply of 21 million available (it is ‘deflational’)
Ether (Ethereum)
- Just one example of a wider network of applications
- Initially released in 2015
- 101 million ETH units in circulation
- There is an unlimited supply available (it is ‘inflational’)
Ripple
- Underpins a global payment network called RippleNet
- Initially released in 2012
- 39 billion XRP units currently in circulation2
- Market cap of around $130 billion2
- There is a finite supply of 100 billion available (it is ‘deflational’)
Stellar (XLM)
- Underpins a payment network called Stellar
- Launched in 2014
- Over 18 billion XLM units currently in circulation2
- There is no upper limit to the number of coins (it is ‘inflational’)
Bitcoin cash
- Exclusively used as a cryptocurrency
- Split from bitcoin in a 2017 hard fork, designed to increase network capacity
- 17 million BCH units currently in circulation2
- There is a finite supply of 21 million available (it is ‘deflational’)
Litecoin
- Exclusively used as a currency
- Initially released in 2011
- 57 billion LTC units currently in circulation2
- Market cap of around $10 billion2
- There is a finite supply of 84 million available (it is ‘deflational’)
EOS
- Used within a blockchain platform called EOS.IO
- Launched in 2018
- Over 900 million EOS units currently in circulation2
- There is no upper limit to the number of coins (it is ‘inflational’)
NEO
- Used within a wider network of applications, also called NEO
- Launched in 2014
- Over 65 million NEO units currently in circulation2
- There is a finite supply of 100 million (it is ‘deflational’)
Open an account now
It's free to open an account, and there's no obligation to fund or trade.
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Cryptocurrency prices
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Learn about IG
Meet the world's No.1 CFD provider1
1 For CFDs, based on revenue excluding FX (published financial statements, February 2018).
2 As at August 2018.
Help and support
Get answers about your account or our services.
Or contact us on +971 (0) 4 559 2100 or helpdesk.ae@ig.com.
Our office is open 5 days a week, Sunday to Thursday from 8am to 7pm (Dubai time). Support line is available 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, except for Saturday from 1am to 11am (Dubai time).
CFDs are a leveraged product and can result in losses that exceed deposits. Trading CFDs may not be suitable for everyone, so please ensure you fully understand the risks and take care to manage your exposure.
