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If you’re a US resident and wish to start forex trading, you should choose a forex broker that has CFTC, NFA or FINRA regulation to protect your investments. Choose from the best-regulated brokers like Oanda, Forex.com (Gain Capital), TD Ameritrade, Interactive Brokers and ATC brokers.
By Justin Grossbard / Updated: Friday, April 03rd, 2020
These are the best Forex Brokers in the USA that have regulation from NFA, CFTC or FINRA.
Below, our devoted team of investment and business professionals is going to investigate every facet of currency trading via IG USA, including spreads, trading tools and the advantages of NADEX trading as an alternative investment vehicle.
Among the US forex brokers, we have investigated, IG Group offers the largest number of currency pairs with minimum spreads on EUR/USD and USD/JPY from only 0.8 pips. At IG, US clients can enjoy competitive spreads across over 80 currency pairs including:
At IG, US traders can trade forex with variable spreads which can change during the course of a trading day. During illiquid trading hours and news announcements, the spreads can widen considerably. Our team of experts has hand-checked for accuracy the forex trading fees that come with an IG live trading account and has found that the average EUR/USD spread is 0.9 pips respectively 1.4 pips average spread on the GBP/USD pair.
Regulated by the CFTC, NADEX which is owned by the IG Group Holdings Plc. is the only place where the US residents can legally speculate on binary options. Nadex gives forex traders access to 10 forex pairs that are based on the spot exchange rates.
IG’s top technical tools for navigating the forex market and finding new trading opportunities include:
Spot forex trading with IG Group is the ideal place for US-based traders wanting to speculate on a diverse range of currency pairs. Overall, among all FX brokers we’ve investigated, IG US offers the best average spreads on currency trading. Test your trading strategy in a risk-free environment by opening a demo account.
Open a demo account >>Visit IG >>
Forex.com (Gain Capital) – Best For Beginner TradersForex.com is a subsidiary entity of Gain Capital Group a leader in online trading listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Among US FX brokers, Forex.com holds licenses from multiple jurisdictions across 4 continents, not just the USA, which includes FCA, ASIC, FSA and IIROC. Like all US regulated brokers, Forex.com can be trusted by US traders. On US soil, this forex broker is registered as:
Beginner traders are welcomed to start trading with one of the oldest forex brokers in the USA due to advantages that include:
Additionally, Forex.com has equipped its trading platforms with the right risk management tool to help beginner forex traders better cope with trading losses. The Webtrader platform has an easy-to-use interface powered by TradingView.
Forex.com learning centre is designed to take a novice trader through the school of trading and equip US traders with the right knowledge to survive in the forex market. The resources offered through the educational centre are available for:
Note* US FX traders unsure about their trading skill level can take up on the Forex.com Quiz and get resources that fit your level of forex knowledge.
Additionally, US residents can benefit from a dedicated market strategist on a one-on-one relationship. The market specialist can do live demonstrations of the financial services offered by Forex.com, teach FX traders how to use technical analysis and fundamental analysis and ongoing support until you’re fully satisfied with your FX training.
Overall, Forex.com offers financial products and services that cater to beginner traders who are just starting forex trading. Forex traders can gain access to over 80 currency pairs with average spreads of 1.2 pips and $5 commissions on EUR/USD. Please also take note that Contracts for Difference (CFDs) are not available to US residents. You can open a live trading account with Forex.com in less than 5 minutes.
TD Ameritrade – Customer supportTD Ameritrade is a multi-asset broker that ranks in our forex brokers USA list for the outstanding customer support service, Thinkorswim proprietary trading platform, 80 currency pairs along with cryptocurrency pairs, competitive spreads that are in line with the FX industry standards. With over 40 years of providing trading services, TD Ameritrade is one of the largest broker-dealer firms in the United States regulated by tier-one agencies:
Note* To place TD Ameritrade into numbers, there are over 11 million trading accounts holding more than USD 1 trillion in assets and processing 500,000 orders on a daily basis. TD Ameritrade is part of the big four brokerage trading firms that include Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, E*TRADE, and TD Ameritrade.
At TD Ameritrade, US Traders have direct market access to a wide variety of financial instruments, including:
While CFDs are forbidden on US soil, the wide range of financial instruments offered by TD Ameritrade gives US traders the opportunity to speculate and invest directly in the underlying instrument. TD Ameritrade doesn’t charge data fees and platform fees. Only options trading comes with a small fee of USD 0.65 per contract. US-based traders can also expect trading forex with EUR/USD average spread of 1.065 pips (according to data compiled from Oct 2018 through September 2019).
| IG US Markets | Forex.com | Oanda | ATC Brokers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.3 |
| USD/JPY | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.4 |
| GBP/USD | 1.4 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 0.5 |
TD Ameritrade offers professional-grade trading terminal Thinkorswim. US investors that hold a live trading account with TD Ameritrade can trade for free on this multi-asset trading platform. The award-winning Thinkorswim platform offered by TD Ameritrade comes with the following advantages:
Note* On the downside, TD Ameritrade doesn’t offer the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4). Active FX traders that rely on the MT4 platform can opt for ATC Brokers.
Overall, TD Ameritrade is geared more towards professional traders. However, US retail traders can also benefit from the multi-asset Thinkorswim platform which is rich in technical tools. TD Ameritrade offers a dedicated demo trading platform called paperMoney where forex traders from the USA can test any trading strategy using live forex quotes.
Oanda – No Minimum Deposit
Oanda is a leading global market maker that ranks in our forex brokers USA list for the no minimum deposit policy. Oanda offers two account types (Standard account and Premium account) that give US FX traders the following advantages:
Note* At Oanda US residents can fund their live accounts via debit card (MasterCard, Visa or Discover), bank transfer, check (USD) and automated clearing house (ACH). On the other hand, withdrawing funds can be done via debit card and bank wire transfer.
Our team of industry experts has assessed and hand-checked for accuracy the main advantages that Oanda can bring to the table (see below):
US Forex Brokers with Spread-only Pricing ModelOur review process took into consideration the forex spread cost built into the bid and ask prices to gauge the trading fees for making a trade. We have found that Oanda’s market maker model offers two types of forex pricing options:
Oanda spread-only model offers average spreads of 1.4 pips on EUR/USD and USD/JPY compared to 0.4 pips average spread on EUR/USD respectively 0.3 pips on USD/JPY for the core pricing model. While the FX core pricing model offers reduced spreads, it has an additional commission of $5 per side for each 100,000 unit traded (or $10 round-turn commission).
See below, a full comparison of the variable spreads and core spreads on Oanda’s most popular currency pairs.
Oanda’s price engine technology connects to an exclusive liquidity pool formed by tier-1 global banks. At Oanda US the price you see on the price feed is the price your order gets filed meaning there are no re-quotes.
With over 23 years of experience in the foreign exchange market, Oanda is a well-respected brokerage trading firm among its peers. Oanda is providing access to the foreign exchange market under the umbrella of the following regulatory authorities:
Oanda customers have at their disposal a wide range of supported funding currencies (9 currencies) including USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, HKD, JPY, SGD and CHF.
ATC Brokers MetaTrader 4 Trading PlatformATC Brokers operate as an agency model (ECN and STP models) and ranks in our forex brokers USA list for the best MetaTrader 4 broker. ATC Brokers provides financial services in the form of forex trading under the supervision of both CFTC and NFA. The regulatory framework protects US clients from bad trading practices and offers the safety of funds.
ATC Brokers blends the benefits that come with ECN forex brokers and STP forex brokers into a hybrid model. The enhanced trading experienced by the non-dealing desk execution model gives US traders the following advantages:
Note* While ATC Brokers offers a core pricing model, besides the spread it also charges a big commission of $10 per every 100,000 units traded.
The trading software solution built in-house by ATC Brokers experts has propelled this FX trading provider on top of our best MetaTrader 4 brokers in the USA. Below our industry experts will expand on the innovative technological solution offered by ATC Brokers.
Additionally to offering the popular MetaTrader 4 platform (desktop and mobile), ATC Brokers have combined the advantages of the MT4 technology with a new range of trading tools and features and brought to live MT Pro trading platform. This optimized version of the MT4 offers US residents the following advantages:
Overall, ATC Brokers offer superior trading conditions through the MT Pro software technology. Trading forex can be conducted via both platforms (MetaTrader 4 and MT Pro) at your discretion with raw spreads as low as 0.3 pips on EUR/USD respectively 0.4 pips on USD/JPY. US retail traders can request their demo account login details (30 days availability) after submitting an online form request. Take note, the live trading account requires a minimum deposit of USD 3,000.
Our team at Compare Forex Brokers deems Forex (FX) regulation one of the most important factors when deciding to assess the US forex brokers. Forex regulation in the United States is unanimously accepted as providing the most severe regulatory framework in the world.
The strict rules that govern and supervise the financial services offered by the US Forex brokers offer US traders the following advantages:
Our team of investment professionals will outline the major regulatory entities in the USA that supervises the financial markets and forex brokers.
USA Forex Regulatory AgenciesIn the United States, there are two financial watchdogs responsible for providing regulatory frameworks for US-based forex brokers:
All US forex brokers and overseas forex brokers that intend to serve US residents must register with the CFTC and NFA at the same time. Both regulatory bodies work together to protect US traders. Below our experts will outline a brief history of the world’s most trustworthy regulatory authorities in the foreign exchange market.
The NFA is a self-regulatory organization (SRO) founded in 1977 as a CFTC committee, but it only became an independent registered futures association only in 1981. The National Futures Association began its regulatory operations only in 1982.
Note* The NFA website offers US retail traders the chance to verify the status of US forex brokers via an online portal called Background Affiliation Status Information Center (BASIC).
These are some of the strict restrictions imposed by the NFA on the US regulated brokers:
On the other hand, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) was established in 1974 by the US Congress. The CFTC is the ultimate regulatory body in the USA governing over the forex market. There are two major bills that provide the legal framework that constitute the rules governing forex trading:
Below, our team of industry experts will rank the best CFTC and NFA regulated brokers in the USA in terms of their modus operandi, trading platforms, range of currency pairs, spreads, total costs of trading, customer support and much more.
Our team of industry experts at Compare Forex Brokers has hand-check for accuracy all the data provided through the Forex brokers USA Review. We used our proprietary star scoring system to rank USA forex brokers. Our methodology took into consideration factors such as:
The heavily regulated environment in the USA due to the CFTC rules and strict requirements has narrowed the list of forex brokers in the US. However, individual US traders have the option to also trade through offshore forex brokers that are not subject to the CFTC rules. The number of offshore forex brokers accepting Americans is also very limited and it comes with several risks due to the lack of regulation.
Risk Warning: Forex trading and trading on margin comes with a high level of risk. Trading high-leveraged products may not be suitable for all investors as you might lose all your money. Make sure you understand how forex trading works before putting at risk any of your funds.
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