What are CFDs?
CFDs, or Contracts for Differences, are derivative products enabling you to trade the price movements of assets like cryptocurrencies.
You buy and sell CFDs as you would an underlying asset; however, you don’t own the asset but are getting exposure to its price movement. For example, if you think ETH’s price will rise, you could buy an ETH CFD as you would buy 1 ETH.
CFDs allow you to access leverage, which means you only have to deposit a fraction of your position’s full value to trade. For example, to trade an ETH CFD worth $1,000 with 5x leverage, you only need to deposit $200.
While trading with leverage amplifies your potential profit, it can be risky as your potential losses are also amplified. Both profit and loss are calculated on your full position size, not just the deposit amount.
To learn more about CFDs, check out our University article.
CFD Trading in the Crypto.com App
Supported contracts and their specifications
All the supported underlying assets and contract specifications can be found here.
Trading Hours
CFD trading is available 24/7 in the Crypto.com App.
Available Jurisdictions
CFD trading is available in the following jurisdictions:
Antigua & Barbuda
Aruba
Bahamas
Bahrain
Barbados
Bermuda
Brunei
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Curaçao
Dominican Republic
Egypt
El Salvador
Fiji
Georgia
Ghana
Guatemala
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Israel
Jamaica
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Liberia
Malaysia
Maldives
Mexico
Nigeria
Oman
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Sint Maarten
Sri Lanka
St. Kitts & Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Taiwan
Thailand
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia
Turks & Caicos Islands
Uganda
Uruguay
Vietnam
Setting Up Your CFD Wallet
Follow these steps to set up a CFD Wallet:
Go to the Leverage tab from the home screen and tap the Access CFDs button | Set up your USD Fiat Wallet if you have not done so already |
Review the CFD Terms and Conditions, CFD Risk Disclosure Notice, and Privacy Notice.
Tap the Confirm button to verify that you have read and accepted them. | You will be notified when your CFD Wallet is ready. This may take up to two minutes.
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Managing Your CFD Wallet
You can access and manage your CFD Wallet in two ways:
From the Leverage tab on the home screen:
Tap the section below the Buy and Sell buttons | Tap Show Details to view more |
2. From the Account tab on the bottom navigation bar:
Tap CFD Wallet |
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Funding your CFD Wallet
To start trading, first fund your CFD Wallet using your USD Fiat Wallet by following these steps:
Go to your CFD Wallet and tap the Transfer In button | Input the amount of USD you would like to transfer into your CFD Wallet and tap the Transfer button.
You will be notified when your transfer is complete. |
Note: Please ensure you have sufficient funds in your USD Fiat Wallet before making transfers to your CFD Wallet.
Withdrawing from your CFD Wallet
Please note that your CFD Wallet is subject to a Maximum Withdrawal Amount, which is calculated using the Margin Balance required to support your open positions.
Follow these steps to withdraw funds from your CFD Wallet:
Go to your CFD Wallet and tap the Transfer Out button | Input the amount of USD you would like to transfer out of your CFD Wallet and tap the Transfer button.
You will be notified when your transfer is complete.
To check your Maximum Withdrawal Amount, tap Max. below the Transfer button. |
Note: Withdrawals are restricted if your CFD Wallet is on Margin Call or in Liquidation.
Selecting your Account Leverage
Your Account Leverage is the maximum amount of leverage you can access for a trade. It is important that your selected leverage aligns with your personal risk appetite.
You can choose from 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, and 20x leverage. The default is 5x if none is selected.
The margin required is only a fraction of your positions’ exposure. For more information, see ‘What is margin?’.
Follow these steps to select your Account Leverage:
Go to your CFD Wallet and tap Leverage | Select your leverage and tap the Confirm button
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Why am I not able to adjust my Account Leverage?
Account Leverage can only be adjusted when you have no open positions.
What is margin?
Margin is the amount of funds required to open and maintain your CFD positions.
As CFDs are traded with leverage, the margin required is only a fraction of your positions’ exposure.
For example, to trade an ETH CFD worth $1,000 with 5x leverage, you would only need to deposit $200 as margin.
CFD Wallet Margin Terms
It is important to familiarise yourself with the following terms before trading CFDs:
Margin Balance
The total USD collateral balance in your CFD Wallet to trade and support your CFD position risks, as calculated by:
Margin Balance = CFD Wallet + Unrealised PnL - Fee Reserves
Unrealised PnL = Open Position Quantity ✕ (Latest Sell ÷ Buy Price - Average Entry Price)
Fee Reserves = Additional buffer reserved to account for liquidation risk and the potential liquidation fees incurred
Available Margin
The remaining balance you have in your CFD Wallet for placing additional CFD orders, as calculated by:
Margin Balance - Used Margin = Available Margin
Used Margin
The collateral balance that is withheld for open positions. When your Margin Balance falls below this amount, you will receive a Margin Call.
Maintenance Balance
The minimum Margin Balance to avoid liquidation. It is 50% of your Used Margin.
When your Margin Balance falls below this amount, the assets and positions in your CFD Wallet will be progressively liquidated until it reaches the Used Margin.
Margin Health
Margin Health is a measure of how “healthy” your trading account is in terms of having enough funds or margin to keep your CFD positions open and your risk of liquidation.
The better your Margin Health, the safer your account is from unexpected losses or forced liquidation. It is calculated based on how much Margin Balance you have against the required Maintenance Balance.
Your Margin Health is scored from 0 to >3.00:
In Liquidation (0 - 1.00): Assets and positions are progressively liquidated until the Margin Balance exceeds the Used Margin
Margin Call (1.00 - 2.00): Transfer funds to your CFD Wallet to increase your Margin Balance or close positions to avoid liquidation
Near Margin Call (2.00 - 3.00): CFD positions can still be opened as long as the Margin Balance exceeds the Used Margin
Fair / Excellent (> 3.00): Your CFD Wallet is healthy
Margin Call
Margin Call is triggered when your Margin Health falls below 2.0 but exceeds 1.0. In this case, the Margin Balance cannot support the required Used Margin.
If your CFD Wallet is on Margin Call, it is important that you reduce position risk or transfer in more funds so your Margin Balance exceeds your Used Margin again.
You will be notified via email and push notification when Margin Call is triggered, and the following will go into effect:
Restricted Actions:
Open new CFD positions
Withdraw USD from your CFD Wallet
Allowed Actions:
Transfer USD into your CFD Wallet to increase your Margin Balance
Close CFD positions to lower position risk
Additional Notes: The restrictions applied to your CFD Wallet during Margin Call will not affect your ability to trade with your Crypto Wallet and Fiat Wallet. The digital assets and funds in your Crypto Wallet and Fiat Wallet, respectively, cannot be used as margin for your CFD positions.
Liquidation
When your Margin Balance falls below your Maintenance Balance, your Margin Health will be lower than the minimum threshold of 1.0, triggering Liquidation.
In this scenario, all assets and positions in your CFD Wallet will be progressively liquidated until your Margin Balance exceeds your Used Margin again.
You will be notified via email and push notification when Liquidation begins, and the following will go into effect:
Restricted Actions:
Open or close CFD positions
Withdraw USD from your CFD Wallet
Allowed Actions:
Transfer USD into your CFD Wallet to increase your Margin Balance
If you do not increase your Margin Balance during Liquidation and it is still negative after Liquidation is complete, you may benefit from Negative Balance Protection.
Additional Notes:
Liquidation is subject to a 2% Liquidation Fee on the notional amount that was liquidated and paid in USD.
The restrictions applied to your CFD Wallet during Liquidation will not affect your ability to trade with your Crypto Wallet and Fiat Wallet. The digital assets and funds in your Crypto Wallet and Fiat Wallet, respectively, will not be affected by Liquidation.
Negative Balance Protection
When trading with leverage, it is possible for a price movement against you to result in a negative balance, leading to losses beyond the assets in your CFD Wallet. In this scenario, we may waive our right to claim the deficit.
We will review your CFD Wallet balance hourly (in UTC) to check if it is still negative. If your account is eligible, Crypto.com will absorb the loss and reset your CFD Wallet balance to zero, as part of ‘Negative Balance Protection’.
Trading
What are long and short positions?
Long Position:
When you predict the underlying asset's price will go up, you can buy a CFD to open a long position. To close your long position, you can sell the same CFD.
You will profit if you sell the CFD at a higher price than when you bought it.
Short Position:
When you predict the underlying asset's price will go down, you can sell the CFD to open a short position. To close your short position, you can buy the same CFD.
You will profit if you buy the CFD at a lower price than when you sold it.
Order Types
Crypto.com offers CFD trading with Market Orders. Your trade is usually filled immediately at the best available price.
It can be filled in whole or in part, with any remaining quantity automatically cancelled. This is also known as a ‘partial fill’.
What is my trade’s leverage?
Your trade’s leverage is determined by your Account Leverage or the Instrument's Leverage, whichever is lower.
For example, if your Account Leverage is 5x and you are placing a trade for an instrument with an Instrument Leverage of 10x, your trade’s leverage will be 5x.
But if your Account Leverage is 20x and you are trading the same instrument with an Instrument Leverage of 10x, then your trade’s leverage will be 10x.
Getting Started With CFD Trading
Opening a position
Follow these steps to open a CFD position:
First, select a token.
Tap the Buy button if you think its price will go up, and Sell if you think it will go down. | Input the Quantity of the CFD.
The quantity has to be in increments of the contract’s lot size. Make sure you have sufficient margin in your CFD Wallet. |
Instead of Quantity, you can also choose to input the Indicative Exposure by tapping the ‘switch’ icon.
Indicative Exposure is an approximation based on the current price and the Quantity to the nearest lot size. Your trade will be executed based on Quantity. | Tap the Place Order button
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If you have an open position for an instrument and you use the steps above to trade in the opposite direction, your earlier position will be closed.
For example, you have a long BTC CFD position for 0.3 contracts:
If you place a Sell order of a BTC CFD for 0.3 contracts, your long position will be closed.
If your Sell order has fewer than 0.3 contracts, you will partially close your long position.
If your Sell order has more than 0.3 contracts, you will close your long position and open a new short position.
Closing a position
You can quickly close a position without having to submit an order manually by following these steps:
Open your CFD Wallet and tap 'X' next to the position you want to close | Tap the Confirm Close button |
You will be notified if your order has been executed fully and the position will be removed from the list | Your order may also be partially filled. In this case, your position will remain on the list with a smaller Quantity. |
If your position cannot be closed, you will be prompted to try again | If another order is processing, please wait until it has been completed before closing your position |
Follow these steps to close a part of your position:
Tap the position you want to close on the price chart or select it in your CFD Wallet
| Tap the Close Position button |
Input the Quantity you want to close and tap the Close button |
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Fees and Charges
Spread
Crypto.com does not charge any trading fees for CFDs. However, when you enter into a CFD position, we will charge a spread on the transaction, which is the difference between the ask price (the price at which you buy a CFD instrument) and the bid price (the price at which you sell the respective CFD instrument).
The spread might be different for each underlying digital asset. This includes Crypto.com’s spread and the market spread, and can vary depending on market conditions.
Funding Fee
Funding Fee is the amount you pay for keeping your CFD positions open. It is charged on an hourly basis and deducted from your CFD Wallet balance. Any positions open past the hourly cut-off time will incur a Funding Fee.
When placing a trade, the indicative funding rate will be displayed. The actual rate applied at the cut-off time may vary.
FAQs
What’s the minimum amount I can trade?
The minimum amount varies depending on the instrument’s lot size. Refer to the Contract Specifications for details.
How do I view my transaction history?
Follow these steps to view your transaction history:
Go to Account on the bottom navigation bar and tap CFD Wallet | Tap the ‘clock’ icon on the top-right corner of the screen
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Why am I not able to access my CFD Wallet even after I have accepted the CFD Terms & Conditions?
Your CFD Wallet may take some time to create and you will see this message:
If it is not ready after one hour, please reach out to our Customer Support team.
What does the error ‘Outstanding trade processing’ mean?
This means that you have a trade that is still being executed. Once the trade is executed, you will be able to place another one.
If you see this error for an extended period of time, please reach out to our Customer Support team.