[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":1146},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-regulated-broker":3,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-regulated-broker-related":306},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":290,"date":291,"description":292,"draft":293,"extension":294,"meta":295,"navigation":293,"path":296,"related":297,"seo":302,"stem":303,"term":304,"updated":291,"__hash__":305},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-regulated-broker.md","What Is a Regulated Broker? What Regulation Covers",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":281},"minimark",[9,13,18,36,39,117,124,128,136,149,153,160,172,187,191,240,243,247,274],[10,11,12],"p",{},"A regulated broker is one authorised by a financial supervisory authority in a specific jurisdiction, which sets binding rules on how it holds client money, how much leverage it may offer, and what it must disclose. Regulation constrains the broker's conduct and solvency; it is not an endorsement of its pricing, its execution or its platform. It protects the money in your account against the broker's failure and misconduct, and does nothing at all about the money you lose trading.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"how-it-works","How it works",[10,19,20,21,25,26,29,30,35],{},"A licence typically imposes some combination of the following: minimum regulatory capital, ",[22,23,24],"strong",{},"segregation of client funds"," in accounts separate from the firm's own money, periodic reporting and independent audit, a ",[22,27,28],{},"compensation scheme"," that pays out if the firm becomes insolvent, access to an ombudsman for disputes, caps on retail ",[31,32,34],"a",{"href":33},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage","leverage",", negative balance protection, and restrictions on how the firm may advertise.",[10,37,38],{},"The specifics vary by regime. Stated factually, without ranking:",[40,41,42,58],"table",{},[43,44,45],"thead",{},[46,47,48,52,55],"tr",{},[49,50,51],"th",{},"Authority",[49,53,54],{},"Jurisdiction",[49,56,57],{},"Typical retail features",[59,60,61,73,84,95,106],"tbody",{},[46,62,63,67,70],{},[64,65,66],"td",{},"FCA",[64,68,69],{},"United Kingdom",[64,71,72],{},"Segregated funds, FSCS compensation up to £85,000, leverage capped at 30:1 on major FX, negative balance protection",[46,74,75,78,81],{},[64,76,77],{},"CySEC",[64,79,80],{},"Cyprus (EU)",[64,82,83],{},"Segregated funds, Investor Compensation Fund up to €20,000, the same 30:1 major FX cap under EU rules",[46,85,86,89,92],{},[64,87,88],{},"ASIC",[64,90,91],{},"Australia",[64,93,94],{},"Segregated funds, 30:1 cap on major FX since 2021, no statutory compensation scheme",[46,96,97,100,103],{},[64,98,99],{},"CFTC \u002F NFA",[64,101,102],{},"United States",[64,104,105],{},"Roughly 50:1 on major FX, FIFO order handling, no hedging, no compensation scheme",[46,107,108,111,114],{},[64,109,110],{},"BaFin, FSCA, and offshore regimes",[64,112,113],{},"Germany, South Africa, Seychelles, Belize and others",[64,115,116],{},"Requirements range from EU-equivalent to considerably lighter",[10,118,119,120,123],{},"Two practical points. First, caps and compensation limits change, so the regulator's own public register is the only current source. Second, ",[22,121,122],{},"regulation attaches to a legal entity, not to a brand",": large groups operate several entities under different licences, and the one named on your client agreement is the one whose rules apply to your money — often not the one in the advertising.",[14,125,127],{"id":126},"why-it-matters","Why it matters",[10,129,130,131,135],{},"Segregation decides whether your balance still exists if the broker fails. The leverage cap decides how far price can move before a ",[31,132,134],{"href":133},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-margin-call","margin call",". The compensation scheme decides what happens after insolvency, up to a limit that is usually far below a funded trading account.",[10,137,138,139,143,144,148],{},"None of it touches performance. A fully regulated broker will process a losing strategy exactly as efficiently as a profitable one, and a licence tells you nothing about ",[31,140,142],{"href":141},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","spread",", swap or execution quality — ",[31,145,147],{"href":146},"\u002Fguides\u002Fbroker-cost-audit","the three costs that actually differ between firms",".",[14,150,152],{"id":151},"what-the-data-shows","What the data shows",[10,154,155,156,159],{},"Across the 10,000+ accounts connected to ShowMyTrades (August 2026), trades arrive from ",[22,157,158],{},"703 distinct broker servers",". That is the practical scale of the problem: seven hundred different sets of conditions behind superficially identical account pages.",[10,161,162,163,166,167,171],{},"Traders treat those differences as real. ",[22,164,165],{},"429 users run accounts at more than one broker",", and 699 run more than one account — ",[31,168,170],{"href":169},"\u002Fguides\u002Fsame-strategy-different-brokers","comparing the same strategy across firms"," is a routine use of the platform, not an edge case.",[10,173,174,175,182,183,186],{},"Regulation and evidence are separate questions, and both are thinly held: of the 10,000+ published accounts, ",[22,176,177,178],{},"65 carry ",[31,179,181],{"href":180},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record","Track Record Verified"," and ",[22,184,185],{},"264 carry Trading Privileges Verified",". A licence says the broker is supervised. Verification says the numbers on the page came out of that broker rather than out of a form.",[14,188,190],{"id":189},"where-you-see-it-on-showmytrades","Where you see it on ShowMyTrades",[192,193,194,217,231],"ul",{},[195,196,197,198,201,202,205,206,209,210,213,214,148],"li",{},"The ",[22,199,200],{},"account header"," carries a ",[22,203,204],{},"broker"," badge, with the trade server name in its tooltip, read from the terminal rather than typed in by the owner. Next to it sit the platform, the account currency, the leverage in force, and whether the account is a ",[22,207,208],{},"Real Account",", a ",[22,211,212],{},"Demo Account"," or a ",[22,215,216],{},"Contest Account",[195,218,197,219,222,223,226,227,230],{},[22,220,221],{},"Terminal"," panel shows the live connection to that trade server — ",[22,224,225],{},"Ping",", ",[22,228,229],{},"Retransmission"," and connection state — which is how the same strategy at two brokers stops being an argument and becomes a comparison.",[195,232,197,233,182,236,239],{},[22,234,235],{},"Track Record",[22,237,238],{},"Trading Privileges"," badges in the same header carry the separate claim: Track Record verification means the data comes from the broker over a read-only investor connection, and Trading Privileges verification means the publisher proved control of the account.",[10,241,242],{},"We report which broker and server an account trades on. We do not rate brokers, rank regulators, or check licences — that is the regulator's register, not ours.",[14,244,246],{"id":245},"common-misunderstandings","Common misunderstandings",[248,249,250,256,262,268],"ol",{},[195,251,252,255],{},[22,253,254],{},"\"Regulated\" is not a single status."," It is per entity and per jurisdiction, and the offshore arm of a well-known brand carries offshore protections, not the parent's.",[195,257,258,261],{},[22,259,260],{},"A licence is not a performance guarantee."," No regulator insures you against your own strategy.",[195,263,264,267],{},[22,265,266],{},"Compensation schemes cover insolvency, not losses",", and they are capped well below the size of many funded accounts.",[195,269,270,273],{},[22,271,272],{},"High leverage is not by itself evidence of a bad broker."," It tells you which regime the entity sits under, which is a different fact.",[10,275,276,277,148],{},"For what to check before trusting any published record, read the guide on ",[31,278,280],{"href":279},"\u002Fguides\u002Fverified-vs-unverified-track-records","verified vs unverified track records",{"title":282,"searchDepth":283,"depth":283,"links":284},"",2,[285,286,287,288,289],{"id":16,"depth":283,"text":17},{"id":126,"depth":283,"text":127},{"id":151,"depth":283,"text":152},{"id":189,"depth":283,"text":190},{"id":245,"depth":283,"text":246},"Brokers","2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","A regulated broker operates under a financial authority that enforces segregated funds, leverage caps and compensation schemes. What that does not cover.",true,"md",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-regulated-broker",[298,299,300,301],"what-is-leverage","what-is-a-margin-call","what-is-a-verified-track-record","what-is-a-spread",{"title":5,"description":292},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-regulated-broker","Regulated Broker","Vg-zQ5ytN69NxRR7LB9r-k7i_v0JSwbH3u5aWtX7lY8",[307,535,756,941],{"id":308,"title":309,"body":310,"category":525,"date":291,"description":526,"draft":293,"extension":294,"meta":527,"navigation":293,"path":133,"related":528,"seo":531,"stem":532,"term":533,"updated":291,"__hash__":534},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-margin-call.md","What Is a Margin Call? Formula, Stop Out and Real Data",{"type":7,"value":311,"toc":518},[312,320,322,332,335,338,377,380,394,405,407,410,413,421,423,431,434,437,439,442,478,480,511],[10,313,314,315,319],{},"A margin call is the broker's warning that the equity in your account has fallen too close to the margin locked up by your open positions. It is a threshold on a ratio, not a judgement call: when ",[31,316,318],{"href":317},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-margin-level","equity divided by used margin"," drops below a published level, the warning fires. Ignore it and the stop out follows, closing positions for you.",[14,321,17],{"id":16},[323,324,329],"pre",{"className":325,"code":327,"language":328},[326],"language-text","Equity       = Balance + floating P&L of open positions\nFree margin  = Equity − Used margin\nMargin level = (Equity ÷ Used margin) × 100\n","text",[330,331,327],"code",{"__ignoreMap":282},[10,333,334],{},"Take a $10,000 balance with two positions using $2,000 of margin and a floating loss of $1,500. Equity is $8,500, so margin level is 425%. Let that loss widen to $8,100 and equity is $1,900: margin level 95%, under a typical 100% call threshold.",[10,336,337],{},"Thresholds vary by broker and are always in the contract. The common pair:",[40,339,340,353],{},[43,341,342],{},[46,343,344,347,350],{},[49,345,346],{},"Level",[49,348,349],{},"Typical threshold",[49,351,352],{},"What happens",[59,354,355,366],{},[46,356,357,360,363],{},[64,358,359],{},"Margin call",[64,361,362],{},"100%",[64,364,365],{},"Warning issued, no new positions accepted",[46,367,368,371,374],{},[64,369,370],{},"Stop out",[64,372,373],{},"50%",[64,375,376],{},"The platform closes positions automatically",[10,378,379],{},"The sequence is fixed:",[248,381,382,385,388,391],{},[195,383,384],{},"Floating losses erode equity while used margin stays where it is.",[195,386,387],{},"Margin level crosses the call threshold. Warning. New orders refused.",[195,389,390],{},"Losses continue. Margin level reaches the stop-out level.",[195,392,393],{},"The platform liquidates positions until the ratio is back above the threshold. Most brokers close the largest loser first.",[10,395,396,397,401,402,404],{},"Nothing in that list waits for you to be at your desk: a liquidation at 3am on a thin market prints exactly as if you had chosen it. The ",[31,398,400],{"href":399},"\u002Ftools\u002Fmargin-calculator","margin calculator"," shows how much margin a given size and ",[31,403,34],{"href":33}," will actually freeze before you open anything.",[14,406,127],{"id":126},[10,408,409],{},"The timing is the problem, and it is structural. A margin call arrives at the maximum of the adverse move — that is what the maximum means. Positions are closed at the worst prices of the episode, and the trade that would have recovered is closed before it does. That is the difference between a drawdown you sit through and one realised on your behalf.",[10,411,412],{},"The order makes it worse: closing the largest loser first means the forced exit is the position furthest from its entry.",[10,414,415,416,420],{},"It can also arrive without the price doing anything unusual. ",[31,417,419],{"href":418},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex","Swap"," charged overnight reduces equity, which reduces margin level, on positions you have not touched. A carry-negative basket held for months can walk itself into a call in slow motion.",[14,422,152],{"id":151},[10,424,425,426,430],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), 17.6% have reached a ",[31,427,429],{"href":428},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","deepest drawdown"," of more than 50%. These are accounts published here, not traders in general.",[10,432,433],{},"That figure matters because of where the stop out sits. An account holding positions that use most of its equity as margin is already trading near a 100% margin level; halve the equity and the ratio is at a 50% stop out, whatever the owner intended. A drawdown past 50% does not prove a margin call happened — some of those positions were closed by hand — but it marks the population that got close enough for the broker to have a say.",[10,435,436],{},"Recovery is the other half of the arithmetic. Getting back to flat from −50% requires +100%, against a median time-weighted return of +3.2% across the same accounts.",[14,438,190],{"id":189},[10,440,441],{},"There is no live margin-level gauge on a public account page, but every input that drives one is visible.",[192,443,444,453,459,472],{},[195,445,446,182,449,452],{},[22,447,448],{},"Balance",[22,450,451],{},"Equity"," in the account stats panel. The gap between them is the floating P&L that pushes margin level down. A wide negative gap is an account whose margin level is falling right now.",[195,454,197,455,458],{},[22,456,457],{},"Equity Curve"," in the charts viewer plots both lines together. A near-vertical drop in equity that the balance line then catches up to is a loss being realised — voluntarily or not.",[195,460,461,464,465,471],{},[22,462,463],{},"Drawdown"," versus ",[31,466,468],{"href":467},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance",[22,469,470],{},"DD on Balance"," in the stats panel. The first includes open positions, the second does not. A large equity drawdown that later appears in the balance figure is the moment the floating loss was closed.",[195,473,197,474,477],{},[22,475,476],{},"trades table",", with its Duration and Profit (Gross) columns. A cluster of positions all closing inside the same minute, all at a loss, is the fingerprint of a stop out.",[14,479,246],{"id":245},[192,481,482,488,494,505],{},[195,483,484,487],{},[22,485,486],{},"\"Margin call and stop out are the same thing.\""," They are two thresholds. The call is a warning; the stop out is execution. Some brokers set them close enough together that the gap is not usable.",[195,489,490,493],{},[22,491,492],{},"\"I will just deposit more when it happens.\""," Notification is not a right, and the interval between call and stop out can be seconds in a fast market. Bank transfers clear on banking time, not market time.",[195,495,496,499,500,504],{},[22,497,498],{},"\"A stop loss protects me from a margin call.\""," Only if it fills. Across a weekend gap the market can reopen far past your ",[31,501,503],{"href":502},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-stop-loss","stop loss",", and margin level can be below stop out before the first tick prints.",[195,506,507,510],{},[22,508,509],{},"\"Negative balance protection means I cannot lose more than my deposit.\""," Where it is offered and enforced, it caps the debt, not the loss. You still lose the account.",[10,512,513,514,148],{},"For how equity, balance and drawdown fit together on a live page, read ",[31,515,517],{"href":516},"\u002Fguides\u002Freading-a-trading-account-dashboard","how to read a trading account dashboard",{"title":282,"searchDepth":283,"depth":283,"links":519},[520,521,522,523,524],{"id":16,"depth":283,"text":17},{"id":126,"depth":283,"text":127},{"id":151,"depth":283,"text":152},{"id":189,"depth":283,"text":190},{"id":245,"depth":283,"text":246},"Risk","A margin call is the broker's warning that your equity no longer covers your open positions. The margin level formula, the stop-out sequence, and real data.",{},[298,529,530],"what-is-maximum-drawdown","what-is-position-sizing",{"title":309,"description":526},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-margin-call","Margin Call","VynxA6FNkPfgy4BtWsmmyu4HuFH7a_Ov3jgPAgDjJ70",{"id":536,"title":537,"body":538,"category":743,"date":291,"description":744,"draft":745,"extension":294,"meta":746,"navigation":293,"path":141,"related":747,"seo":752,"stem":753,"term":754,"updated":291,"__hash__":755},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread.md","What Is a Spread in Forex? Definition and Real Costs",{"type":7,"value":539,"toc":736},[540,543,545,548,554,562,573,587,589,597,600,602,609,616,622,629,635,637,694,696,729],[10,541,542],{},"A spread is the difference between the bid price, at which you can sell, and the ask price, at which you can buy. It is what the broker charges for filling your order, and you pay it on every trade whether that trade wins or loses. On most retail accounts it is the largest single cost of trading and the only one that never appears as a line item on the statement.",[14,544,17],{"id":16},[10,546,547],{},"If EUR\u002FUSD is quoted 1.08432 \u002F 1.08442, the spread is 1.0 pip. You buy at the ask and sell at the bid, so the position opens showing a loss equal to the spread. The trade has to cover that distance before it is flat.",[323,549,552],{"className":550,"code":551,"language":328},[326],"Spread (pips)   = (Ask − Bid) \u002F Pip size\nCost per trade  = Spread (pips) × Pip value × Lots\n",[330,553,551],{"__ignoreMap":282},[10,555,556,557,561],{},"On a standard lot of EUR\u002FUSD the ",[31,558,560],{"href":559},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-pip","pip value"," is $10, so a 1.0 pip spread costs $10 per lot, charged once on the round turn.",[10,563,564,565,568,569,572],{},"There are two ways brokers price it. ",[22,566,567],{},"Spread-only"," accounts widen the quote and charge nothing else — the cost is buried in your fill price. ",[22,570,571],{},"Raw spread plus commission"," accounts quote close to the interbank price and bill the difference separately. The total can be identical; only the second model makes the cost visible.",[10,574,575,576,579,580,583,584,586],{},"Spreads are either ",[22,577,578],{},"fixed"," (constant, usually wider, quoted by a dealing desk) or ",[22,581,582],{},"variable"," (tracking real liquidity). Variable spreads sit near zero on majors during the London–New York overlap and widen sharply at economic releases, in the thin hour around the daily rollover, and at the Sunday open. The widening happens precisely when your ",[31,585,503],{"href":502}," is most likely to be hit.",[14,588,127],{"id":126},[10,590,591,592,596],{},"Spread scales with turnover, not with skill. A system targeting 5 pips per trade gives away ",[31,593,595],{"href":594},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage","20% of its gross edge"," to a 1-pip spread; a system targeting 200 pips gives away 0.5%. That single ratio decides whether a strategy survives at one broker and dies at another while the logic stays identical.",[10,598,599],{},"It also compounds invisibly. The median account published on ShowMyTrades closes 171 trades. One extra pip of spread across 171 standard lots is $1,710 — money that never shows anywhere except as a slightly worse equity curve.",[14,601,152],{"id":151},[10,603,604,605,608],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), traders have paid ",[22,606,607],{},"$4,782,670 in commissions",". That is only the visible half of execution cost: the spread portion cannot be totalled the same way, because it is priced into the fill rather than charged as a separate line.",[10,610,611],{},[612,613],"img",{"alt":614,"src":615},"The three broker cost lines: spread charged on every entry and exit and invisible in the P&L column, commission printed per trade, swap charged for time held — $4,782,670 in commissions and $862,547 in swap across public ShowMyTrades accounts","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fwhere-costs-hide.svg",[10,617,618],{},[619,620,621],"em",{},"Only one of the three arrives with a number attached to it.",[10,623,624,625,628],{},"The scale of that hidden half is easy to bound. Those accounts have traded ",[22,626,627],{},"1,724,575 lots",". On a $10-per-pip instrument, a difference of just 0.2 pips in average spread across that volume is roughly $3.4 million — more than two thirds of all commissions ever recorded on the platform.",[10,630,631,632,634],{},"And the conditions genuinely differ: those accounts connect through ",[22,633,158],{},", and 429 users run accounts at more than one broker precisely to compare them.",[14,636,190],{"id":189},[192,638,639,659,669,689],{},[195,640,641,644,645,226,648,182,651,654,655,658],{},[22,642,643],{},"Advanced Statistics"," shows ",[22,646,647],{},"Total Commissions",[22,649,650],{},"Total Lots",[22,652,653],{},"Total Pips",". Divide the first by the second and you have ",[31,656,657],{"href":146},"that account's real commission per lot"," — a number brokers rarely publish in a comparable form.",[195,660,661,662,664,665,148],{},"The most useful check is ",[22,663,653],{}," against net profit. When an account is positive in pips but flat or negative in money, execution cost is consuming the edge. ",[31,666,668],{"href":667},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-cost-percentage","That gap is the spread and commission bill",[195,670,197,671,674,675,201,678,681,682,182,685,688],{},[22,672,673],{},"Closed Trades"," table under ",[22,676,677],{},"Trade History & Balance Progression",[22,679,680],{},"Commission"," column per ticket, alongside ",[22,683,684],{},"Open Price",[22,686,687],{},"Close Price",", so you can see what an individual fill actually cost.",[195,690,197,691,693],{},[22,692,200],{}," carries the broker badge, with the trade server name in its tooltip, next to the account currency and leverage. That is what makes two accounts running the same strategy comparable at all.",[14,695,246],{"id":245},[248,697,698,704,710,716],{},[195,699,700,703],{},[22,701,702],{},"\"Zero spread\" does not mean free."," Zero- or raw-spread accounts move the cost into commission. Compare the total, not the headline.",[195,705,706,709],{},[22,707,708],{},"The advertised spread is a best case."," Brokers quote typical or minimum spreads measured in liquid hours. Your fills during a rate decision are a different number.",[195,711,712,715],{},[22,713,714],{},"Spread is not on the statement, so people assume they are not paying it."," It is deducted at entry, before the trade exists as a row.",[195,717,718,721,722,182,724,728],{},[22,719,720],{},"Spread alone does not rank a broker."," ",[31,723,419],{"href":418},[31,725,727],{"href":726},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-slippage","slippage"," belong in the same comparison, and a tight spread with poor execution is the more expensive deal.",[10,730,731,732,148],{},"To put real numbers on your own instrument and lot size, see the ",[31,733,735],{"href":734},"\u002Fguides\u002Fforex-calculators-guide","guide to forex calculators",{"title":282,"searchDepth":283,"depth":283,"links":737},[738,739,740,741,742],{"id":16,"depth":283,"text":17},{"id":126,"depth":283,"text":127},{"id":151,"depth":283,"text":152},{"id":189,"depth":283,"text":190},{"id":245,"depth":283,"text":246},"Costs","A spread is the gap between the bid and ask price, the cost you pay to enter a trade. Here is how it works, what it costs per lot, and why brokers differ.",false,{},[748,749,750,751],"what-is-a-swap-in-forex","what-is-slippage","what-is-a-regulated-broker","what-is-a-profit-factor",{"title":537,"description":744},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","Spread","_HiS3N0q5xG6kWJPv01Kjk02mu226hR7wa-SzSCJ0_U",{"id":757,"title":758,"body":759,"category":930,"date":291,"description":931,"draft":745,"extension":294,"meta":932,"navigation":293,"path":180,"related":933,"seo":937,"stem":938,"term":939,"updated":291,"__hash__":940},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record.md","What Is a Verified Track Record? Definition and Checks",{"type":7,"value":760,"toc":923},[761,764,766,788,794,797,803,808,810,823,826,828,837,853,855,873,884,886,916],[10,762,763],{},"A verified track record is a record of trading results that arrives directly from the broker through a read-only connection, continuously, with no step in the chain where the publisher can edit, delete or re-order anything. It is the difference between a claim and evidence. Two separate questions hide inside the phrase, and most arguments about verification come from confusing them.",[14,765,17],{"id":16},[10,767,768,769,226,773,777,778,782,783,787],{},"The first question is whether the data is real. That is answered by the connection itself: a channel that can read the account but never write to it, running without interruption, so the record is built continuously rather than exported at a convenient moment. On ShowMyTrades that channel is one of four — an Expert Advisor installed in MetaTrader 4 or 5, a direct connection using the ",[31,770,772],{"href":771},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-mt4-investor-password","MT4 investor password",[31,774,776],{"href":775},"\u002Fctrader-account-tracking","cTrader OAuth2 authorisation",", or the ",[31,779,781],{"href":780},"\u002Ftradelocker-tracking","TradeLocker REST API",". None of them can place, modify or close an order. Read-only credentials are the industry mechanism for this, and third-party trackers such as ",[31,784,786],{"href":785},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-myfxbook","Myfxbook"," connect MetaTrader accounts the same way.",[323,789,792],{"className":790,"code":791,"language":328},[326],"broker server → read-only connection → ShowMyTrades → public page\n                no editable step anywhere in the chain\n",[330,793,791],{"__ignoreMap":282},[10,795,796],{},"The second question is whether the person publishing the page owns the account. A read-only feed proves the trades exist; it does not prove whose they are, because an investor password can be handed to anyone. Closing that gap requires an action only someone with trading rights can perform: placing a pending order at an unreachable price with the publisher's user ID in the comment field. On cTrader, one OAuth authorisation answers both questions at once.",[10,798,799],{},[612,800],{"alt":801,"src":802},"Track Record Verified answers whether the data arrived from the broker through a channel that cannot place, modify or close an order; Trading Privileges Verified answers whether the publisher controls the account","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Ftwo-badges.svg",[10,804,805],{},[619,806,807],{},"A record can pass one and fail the other, which is why they are counted separately.",[14,809,127],{"id":126},[10,811,812,813,817,818,822],{},"Everything downstream of the connection is arithmetic. If the inputs can be edited, the profit factor, the ",[31,814,816],{"href":815},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown","drawdown"," and the ",[31,819,821],{"href":820},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-equity-curve","equity curve"," are all decoration, no matter how detailed the page looks. A screenshot, a PDF statement and a spreadsheet share the same defect: they are produced by the person asking you to trust them.",[10,824,825],{},"Continuity matters as much as read-only access. A record that can be paused and resumed lets a bad month disappear. When the feed is continuous, an interruption is itself visible on the page — which is information, not an absence of it.",[14,827,152],{"id":151},[10,829,830,831,182,834,836],{},"Verification is opt-in and requires effort, and the numbers reflect that. Across the 10,000+ accounts published on ShowMyTrades (August 2026), only ",[22,832,833],{},"65 carry Track Record Verified",[22,835,185],{},". More accounts prove ownership than prove data provenance, because placing one pending order is easier than changing a password at the broker.",[10,838,839,840,844,845,848,849,852],{},"Verified does not mean good. Across the public accounts with trading history, median ",[31,841,843],{"href":842},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-time-weighted-return","time-weighted return"," is ",[22,846,847],{},"+3.2%",", 63.0% are positive, and the median deepest drawdown is ",[22,850,851],{},"9.7%"," — with 17.6% of accounts having lost more than half their peak value at some point. That distribution, built from 15,436,464 synchronised trades, is what an honest record looks like, and it is nothing like the ones used in advertising.",[14,854,190],{"id":189},[10,856,857,858,861,862,182,864,866,867,869,870,872],{},"Both badges sit in the ",[22,859,860],{},"Certifications"," group in the header of every account page, above the numbers: ",[22,863,235],{},[22,865,238],{},", green when granted and grey when not, each with a tooltip explaining what it certifies for that platform. The same group also shows ",[22,868,208],{}," or ",[22,871,212],{},", derived from the broker server rather than self-declared.",[10,874,875,876,879,880,883],{},"Verification is managed in the account settings, where the ",[22,877,878],{},"Investor Password (Optional)"," field lives — clear it and the Track Record badge turns grey on the same save. Both badges are also rendered inside the ",[22,881,882],{},"Complete Dashboard"," widget, which embeds the account header, so an embed on someone else's site carries its own provenance.",[14,885,246],{"id":245},[192,887,888,898,904,910],{},[195,889,890,721,893,897],{},[22,891,892],{},"A link to a tracking site is not verification.",[31,894,896],{"href":895},"\u002Fguides\u002Fthird-party-verification-explained","Any platform can host an unverified account",". Look for the badge on the page, not for the domain in the URL.",[195,899,900,903],{},[22,901,902],{},"Track Record Verified does not prove ownership."," It proves the trades are real. Someone reselling another trader's investor password can produce a genuine feed of trades that are not theirs.",[195,905,906,909],{},[22,907,908],{},"Verified is not the same as profitable."," The badge certifies provenance and nothing else. Read gain and drawdown together afterwards.",[195,911,912,915],{},[22,913,914],{},"A verified demo account is still a demo account."," Demo fills are optimistic in exactly the conditions where live fills hurt.",[10,917,918,919,148],{},"The procedure for both badges, step by step: ",[31,920,922],{"href":921},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-to-verify-your-account","how to verify your trading account",{"title":282,"searchDepth":283,"depth":283,"links":924},[925,926,927,928,929],{"id":16,"depth":283,"text":17},{"id":126,"depth":283,"text":127},{"id":151,"depth":283,"text":152},{"id":189,"depth":283,"text":190},{"id":245,"depth":283,"text":246},"Verification","A verified track record is performance data pulled straight from the broker through a read-only link, continuously, with nothing the publisher can edit.",{},[934,935,936],"what-is-an-mt4-investor-password","what-is-myfxbook","what-is-drawdown",{"title":758,"description":931},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record","Verified Track Record","im3JV0qh8wz_ZbgStl23aUhUUL79OEa_VDXyYyMF254",{"id":942,"title":943,"body":944,"category":525,"date":291,"description":1139,"draft":745,"extension":294,"meta":1140,"navigation":293,"path":33,"related":1141,"seo":1142,"stem":1143,"term":1144,"updated":291,"__hash__":1145},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage.md","What Is Leverage in Forex? Formula and Real Numbers",{"type":7,"value":945,"toc":1132},[946,949,951,954,960,963,1011,1014,1017,1026,1028,1031,1034,1050,1052,1055,1061,1064,1066,1069,1097,1099,1125],[10,947,948],{},"Leverage is the ratio between the size of a position and the capital required to hold it. A broker offering 1:100 lets you control $100,000 of currency with $1,000 of your own money set aside as margin. It is a borrowing facility, not a strategy: it changes how much capital a trade ties up, and nothing else about the trade.",[14,950,17],{"id":16},[10,952,953],{},"Margin is the deposit the broker freezes while a position is open. The arithmetic is short.",[323,955,958],{"className":956,"code":957,"language":328},[326],"Position value  = Contract size × Lots × Price\nRequired margin = Position value ÷ Leverage\n\nEffective leverage = Total open position value ÷ Account equity\n",[330,959,957],{"__ignoreMap":282},[10,961,962],{},"One standard lot of EUR\u002FUSD is 100,000 units. At 1.0850 the position is worth $108,500.",[40,964,965,978],{},[43,966,967],{},[46,968,969,972,975],{},[49,970,971],{},"Account leverage",[49,973,974],{},"Margin frozen",[49,976,977],{},"Cost of a 50-pip adverse move",[59,979,980,991,1001],{},[46,981,982,985,988],{},[64,983,984],{},"1:30",[64,986,987],{},"$3,616.67",[64,989,990],{},"$500",[46,992,993,996,999],{},[64,994,995],{},"1:100",[64,997,998],{},"$1,085.00",[64,1000,990],{},[46,1002,1003,1006,1009],{},[64,1004,1005],{},"1:500",[64,1007,1008],{},"$217.00",[64,1010,990],{},[10,1012,1013],{},"The position is identical in all three rows. Leverage moved the margin, never the risk.",[10,1015,1016],{},"The number that actually describes exposure is effective leverage: the notional value of everything open divided by equity. A trader on a 1:500 account running 0.05 lots on $10,000 sits at 0.54:1 — less exposed than someone who paid cash for the same currency. A trader on a 1:30 account running 2.5 lots on the same $10,000 sits at 27:1, pressed against the ceiling the regulator set. The tier says nothing about either of them; the position size says everything.",[10,1018,1019,1020,817,1024,148],{},"Run it on your own instrument with the ",[31,1021,1023],{"href":1022},"\u002Ftools\u002Fleverage-calculator","leverage calculator",[31,1025,400],{"href":399},[14,1027,127],{"id":126},[10,1029,1030],{},"High leverage does not lose money. It removes the constraint that used to stop you.",[10,1032,1033],{},"On a 1:30 account, $10,000 of equity caps you at about 2.7 standard lots of EUR\u002FUSD before margin runs out — the broker enforces a position-size ceiling on your behalf. On 1:500 the same $10,000 supports 46 lots. Nothing improved; a ceiling was removed.",[10,1035,1036,1037,1041,1042,1046,1047,1049],{},"The chain that empties accounts is always the same. Leverage permits a large position, the large position produces a loss too big to sit through, and the resulting drawdown demands a return arithmetic will not supply — ",[31,1038,1040],{"href":1039},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmaximum-drawdown-explained","a 50% loss needs a 100% gain to get back to flat",". Leverage is where the chain starts, but the link that does the damage is size, which is why ",[31,1043,1045],{"href":1044},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","position sizing"," is the control worth having and the ",[31,1048,134],{"href":133}," is the symptom rather than the cause.",[14,1051,152],{"id":151},[10,1053,1054],{},"The 10,000+ accounts connected to ShowMyTrades (August 2026) sit across 703 distinct broker servers, on MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradeLocker. Effectively every leverage tier on the market is represented somewhere in that set, from a regulated 1:30 cap to offshore 1:500 and beyond.",[10,1056,1057,1058,1060],{},"The outcomes do not sort by tier. Across the public accounts with trading history, the median ",[31,1059,429],{"href":428}," is 9.7% — but 38.5% of them never went more than 5% underwater, while 38.2% gave back more than a fifth of their peak and 17.6% more than half of it.",[10,1062,1063],{},"Two groups of almost identical size, drawn from the same pool of leverage settings, ending an order of magnitude apart. What separates them is not what the broker permitted. These figures describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general, and within that population the variable that moved was size.",[14,1065,190],{"id":189},[10,1067,1068],{},"The leverage the broker granted appears as a badge in the account page header, next to the broker name and the account currency. It is read from the terminal, not typed in by the owner.",[10,1070,1071,1072,1074,1075,1079,1080,182,1082,1086,1087,1091,1092,182,1094,1096],{},"What the trader did with it shows up elsewhere. ",[22,1073,650],{}," in the advanced statistics is the ",[31,1076,1078],{"href":1077},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-volume-analysis","cumulative volume actually traded",". ",[22,1081,463],{},[22,1083,1084],{},[31,1085,470],{"href":467}," in the account stats panel show what that volume cost at the worst moment — the first on equity including open positions, the second on closed balance only. The ",[22,1088,1089],{},[31,1090,457],{"href":820}," in the charts viewer plots ",[22,1093,448],{},[22,1095,451],{}," together, and the gap between the two lines is where an oversized open position hides until it is closed.",[14,1098,246],{"id":245},[192,1100,1101,1107,1113,1119],{},[195,1102,1103,1106],{},[22,1104,1105],{},"\"1:500 is riskier than 1:30.\""," The account setting is not risk. Two accounts holding identical positions carry identical risk whatever the broker permits. Higher leverage only widens the range of sizes you are allowed to choose badly from.",[195,1108,1109,1112],{},[22,1110,1111],{},"\"More leverage means more profit.\""," It means less capital tied up as margin. Profit and loss are set by position size and price movement, both unchanged by the tier.",[195,1114,1115,1118],{},[22,1116,1117],{},"\"Free margin is spare buying power.\""," Free margin is the distance between you and a stop out. Spending it is how a manageable loss becomes a liquidation.",[195,1120,1121,1124],{},[22,1122,1123],{},"\"My broker caps me at 1:30, so I am safe.\""," A regulatory cap limits maximum total size, not the risk on any single trade. An account can still be lost on one badly sized position well inside a 1:30 limit.",[10,1126,1127,1128,1131],{},"Every number above has a calculator behind it — see ",[31,1129,1130],{"href":734},"the guide to forex calculators"," for how they fit together.",{"title":282,"searchDepth":283,"depth":283,"links":1133},[1134,1135,1136,1137,1138],{"id":16,"depth":283,"text":17},{"id":126,"depth":283,"text":127},{"id":151,"depth":283,"text":152},{"id":189,"depth":283,"text":190},{"id":245,"depth":283,"text":246},"Leverage is the ratio between position size and the capital backing it. Here is the margin formula, a worked example, and drawdown data from thousands of accounts.",{},[299,530,529],{"title":943,"description":1139},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage","Leverage","9fzrPGzcUcu5W9wxB-HAiIpCi3gDQHwpcPzkOAH6NtA",1787415692270]