Dukascopy review

Our rating

Dukascopy scores 7.7 out of 10 on our table. That figure is an average of six things we assess, and it hides the shape of the broker: its strongest area is regulation at 9.9, its weakest is education at 4.8. Whether that gap matters depends entirely on which of the six you were going to use.

Regulation and safety9.9/10

Dukascopy lists its authorisations as FINMA (Switzerland); Bank of Latvia supervision for Dukascopy Europe; JFSA Type-1 Financial Instruments Business Operator for Dukascopy Japan. Those are tier-one authorisations, which is the strongest position a retail broker can be in - they carry leverage caps, client-money rules and, in several cases, a compensation scheme.

The licence that matters to you is the one held by the entity that opens your account, and at a multi-entity broker that is decided by your country of residence. Its registration can be checked directly on the FINMA authorised banks and securities firms register. It is a two-minute check and it is the only way to confirm that the firm taking your deposit is the firm named on the website.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own funds, with Dukascopy Bank SA / regulated banking infrastructure - so that if the business fails, client balances are not part of what its creditors can reach. Negative balance protection applies to for eligible European retail clients, so a gap through your stop cannot leave you owing the broker money.

On compensation: swiss deposit insurance up to CHF 100,000 for eligible deposits; Latvian investor compensation up to 90% of eligible losses capped at €20,000 for Dukascopy Europe clients. That covers the broker failing, not your trades losing money - the two are frequently confused and only one of them is insured.

Dukascopy does not accept clients from United States, Canada, Belgium, Israel, Russia, Belarus and other sanctioned/restricted jurisdictions or countries where services cannot legally be offered. Restriction lists move, so confirm your own country before you spend time on an application.

What it costs to trade7.7/10

Dukascopy advertises spreads from 0.0 pips. Commission is from approx. $1.75 per side / $3.50 round turn, volume and equity dependent, charged on top of the spread rather than instead of it - which is the normal arrangement on a raw account and the reason its quoted spread can be so low. Put the two together and a EUR/USD round turn works out at approx. 0.55 pips at lowest commission tier, which is the figure worth comparing against other brokers.

An advertised minimum is the best price a broker has ever quoted, not the price you will get. On our record its measured average on EUR/USD is approx. 0.2 pips, and approx. 0.5 pips on GBP/USD. Spreads are variable, so they move with liquidity and widen around releases and the daily rollover.

Positions held overnight accrue a swap, and swap-free accounts are available for clients who need them. Currency conversion costs approx. 0.5% where your account and the instrument use different currencies - worth avoiding by funding in the currency you intend to trade.

Leave the account dormant and it costs you: up to $100 annually where applicable. That is the charge most often missed when comparing brokers, and it matters disproportionately if you trade seasonally or infrequently.

Platforms and tools9.3/10

Dukascopy runs JForex, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5. Both MetaTrader versions are available, which matters more than it sounds: an expert advisor written for MT4 will not run on MT5, so a trader arriving with existing software needs the specific version it was written for.

Automation is supported: yes. There is API access (Yes, JForex API and FIX API) for anyone connecting their own software. Copy trading is available through Yes, JForex strategy/copy functionality, which is the alternative to writing rules yourself.

Charting runs to 250+ JForex indicators. Additional tools include MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5. On mobile: both proprietary and third-party.

Markets, leverage and execution8.8/10

Dukascopy covers Forex, Cryptocurrencies, Indices, Stocks, Bonds, Energy, Commodities, ETFs. That comes to 25,000+ instruments in total. On the currency side specifically it lists 60+ pairs. Breadth is worth less than depth in the markets you actually trade - a hundred instruments priced well beats a thousand you will never open.

Leverage runs to 1:100 on the entity that offers most. That does not improve your expected return; it lowers the deposit a given position requires, and shortens the move needed to close you out. Whatever the headline, the number that governs your position is the margin requirement on the specific instrument - it is always lower on shares and crypto than on major currency pairs.

Execution is ECN / agency via SWFX Swiss FX Marketplace, routing orders to external liquidity rather than pricing them internally. Measured speed is approx. 100ms. Its servers sit in geneva with global financial-market connectivity, which is what determines latency more than any software choice.

Order types available: market, limit, stop, stop-limit, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop, bid/offer orders. Stops and limits are table stakes; what separates platforms is whether the ones you rely on are there and how quickly they can be modified once a position is open.

Accounts

Account types run to jForex, MT4, MT5, MCA, Corporate, Swap-Free, Demo. The minimum deposit is $100. The smallest position it will take is 0.01 lots on MT4/MT5; smaller unit-based sizing available through JForex, which is what actually governs how precisely you can size risk on a small account.

A demo account is available, which is the cheapest way to find out whether the platform suits you. Swap-free Islamic accounts are offered. Professional classification is available for clients who qualify, which lifts leverage caps and lowers the protections that come with retail status - a trade rather than an upgrade. Opening takes approximately 15 minutes for video identification.

Accounts can be denominated in 23 base currencies. Funding in the currency you trade removes a conversion charge from every position, which is a small saving repeated indefinitely.

Deposits and withdrawals

Deposits can be made by bank transfer, Visa/Mastercard, Apple Pay, Skrill, Neteller, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether. They clear in cards/e-wallets generally instant.

Withdrawals go out by bank transfer, Visa/Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether. Expect typically same day processing. The minimum withdrawal is No general minimum. Check the withdrawal routes rather than the deposit ones. They are frequently not the same list, anti-money-laundering rules usually require funds to return the way they came, and the difference only becomes apparent at the point you want your money back.

Local payment methods include SEPA; SIX/Swiss bank transfers and international bank transfer networks - which matters more than it looks if you are outside the broker's home market, since an international wire is slow and expensive compared with a domestic transfer.

Support and education5.7/10

Support runs 24/5, which covers the trading week but not the weekend - relevant if you hold positions through it, and particularly if you trade crypto. You can reach them by live chat, email, phone, platform support chat. Live chat typically answers in under 2 minutes. Support is offered in multilingual.

Its education is substantial - webinars, platform tutorials, trading articles, videos, seminars and educational resources - which is the difference between a broker that will teach you and one that will simply take the deposit. Research output covers Extensive: Dukascopy TV, market news, technical analysis, sentiment tools, market forecasts and research.

The company behind the brand

The company behind the brand is Dukascopy Bank SA, registered as CHE-112.137.593. It operates from Geneva, Switzerland. It has been trading since 2004, which puts roughly 22 years and several market cycles behind it - including conditions that removed a good number of its contemporaries.

It is independently owned rather than part of a larger group. It is privately held, so its finances are not published the way a listed group's are. Headcount is in the 300+ range.

You may also see it under Dukascopy; Dukascopy Bank; SWFX. Brands and legal entities rarely map one to one in this industry, and the name on the website is not always the name on the client agreement.