If you do not live in the USA, there is no obvious reason to trade with the list of the brokerage represented below, because you have a much larger selection of best internationally regulated brokers to compare and choose from, hence you are welcome to go through our global brokers list we have composed for you. the brokers listed below may not be regulated in your country. For our list of best internationally regulated brokers, see our global brokers list 2023.
Can US citizens Trade Forex?
Yes, USA citizens can trade Forex legally. To escape these restrictions and to benefit from trading conditions like leverage more than 1:50, No FIFO Rule, Card Deposit Options, Hedging/Scalping, EA Trading, many US traders opting to open Forex Trading account with offshore Forex Brokers.
Is Forex illegal in USA?
Forex is completely legal in the United States. Unlike the securities and futures markets, the foreign exchange market is not controlled by any central governing body, there are no clearing houses and there is no arbitration panel. All members trade with each other based on credit agreements.
If you are US citizen searching for a place to start your currency trading career, you have an option of choosing from the following selection of US Forex brokers, however as you may have noticed, the options are rather limited and the trading conditions are very strict compared to various international offshore brokerage companies. US Forex brokers have a very tough life, because they must be regulated by the NFA or CFTC. And it doesn’t end at just getting those license and regulation approved – a set of extremely uptight rules and requirements must be followed in order to operated and allow US traders register trading accounts. One of the example of the strict ruling is that NFA regulated brokers must minimize their optimal leverage to just 50:1. There is also requirement for on time reporting and detailed record keeping. Not following any of the rules results in almost immediate cancellation of the licenses and permits to act as a forex trading brokerage firm in America.
With all that being said, there is a number of NFA regulated Forex brokers in the USA that bring you reliable and user-friendly trading experience and professional platforms. Keep in mind that there are also US-based Forex brokers working within the borders of the country without necessary regulation received.
Our team of skilled and experienced traders have checked and tried out the trading platforms and features, got in touch with customer support with various tricky questions to test the quality of assistance and overall performance of the top US Forex brokers. We have written down our opinion and summarized the trading conditions of each to help you make a decision when choosing the NFA regulated broker.
Once again, we do recommend to seek a Forex broker outside of the United States in case you are not actually located in the country at the moment. You can browse our Forex brokers reviews list to choose broker that suits your financial and trading skills the most.
Top US Forex Brokers
| Broker | Rating | Demo | Leverage | Bonus | Platforms | Min Deposit | Payments | US Accepted |
| BlackBull Markets | 9 | yes | 1:500 | Metatrader 4, Metatrader 5 | 200 | Bank Transfer, Credit Card Payments (Visa, MasterCard), Skrill, Neteller, China Union Pay, FasaPay | yes | |
| InstaForex | 7 | yes | 1:1,000 | $100 No Deposit Bonus | MetaTrader 4, Metatrader 5, Webtrader | 1 | Some local Bank transfers, PayCo, AstroPay, Cryptocurrency | yes |
| FXCM | 5 | yes | 1:200 | – | Trading Station II, MetaTrader 4, Active Trader, Forex System Selector | 250 | Credit/Debit card, Online Check, Bank Wire, Paper Check | yes |
| Forex.com | 4 | yes | 1:200 | – | ForexTrader platform (in-house), MetaTrader 4 | 50 | wire transfer, Credit/Debit Card, Check | yes |
| Trade Nation | 4 | yes | 1:30; 1:200 | in-house web-based platform, Metatrader 4 MT4 | 1 | Credit Card, Srill | yes | |
| FXDD | 3 | yes | 1:200 | – | MetaTrader4, FXDD Trader, Power Trader, FXDD Auto, MTXtreme | 100 | Wire, PayPal, Check, BPS | yes |
| Oanda | 3 | yes | 1:50 | Metatrader 4, FXtrade | 1 | check, Credit cards, PayPal, Wire transfer | yes | |
| Pepperstone | 3 | yes | 1:500 | 100% Match Bonus | Metatrader 4, Metatrader 5, cTrader, cAlgo, cMirror | 200 | bPay, credit cards, Paypal | yes |
| Alpari | 2 | yes | 1:500 | 50% Welcome | MetaTrader 4 | 1 | Debit or Credit Card, Wire Transfer | yes |
| LMFX | 1 | yes | 1:1,000 | 100% match bonus, 15% recovery | Metatrader 4, Webtrader | 50 | credit cards, Fasapay, neteller, okpay, skrill, wire transfer | yes |
| Pricemarkets | 1 | yes | 1:400 | MetaTrader 4 ECN, Currenex ECN, Integral FX, Liquid-x, Hotspot FX | 500 | wire transfer, credit cards | yes | |
| Rallytade | 1 | yes | 1;1,000 | Metatrader 4, xStation (web-based), xSocial, xOptions | 100 | credit cards, neteller, skrill, Interswitch, Pocketmoni, etraszact, perfectMoney, WebMoney, VoguePay | yes | |
| TurnkeyForex | 1 | yes | 1:200 | 00% deposit bonus; 30 days of commission-free trading; 30% rescue bonus | MetaTrader 4, Trade Station | 5 | credit cards, wire transfer, neteller | yes |
| FxGlory | 0 | yes | 1:3,000 | 50% up to $1,000 | MetaTrader4, Mobile | 1 | Credit/debit cards, Paypal, Bitcoin | yes |
| GrandCapital | 0 | yes | 500:1 | $500 no deposit | MetaTrader 4, WebTrader | 10 | Credit card, Neteller, Webmoney, CashU, Fasapay, Scrill, Webmoney | yes |
| Tiger Brokers | 0 | Up to 4x (day trade), Up to 2x (next day) | Tiger Trade | 0 | Bank Wire Transfer, FAST, DDA, PayNow | yes |
USA Forex brokers must be licensed as futures commission merchants (FCM) and must have retail foreign exchange dealer (RFED) license. FCM and RFED are licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the National Futures Association (NFA).
NFA-regulated forex brokers have to follow various restrictions and requirements to continue their operation in the country:
- NFA registered brokers have to maintain a net capital of at least $20 million in order to back up clients positions at all times.
- FIFO (first in, first out) is a platform requirement which doesn’t allow traders to have more than one open position on the same currency pair.
- Leverage restriction requires US brokers to minimize the available leverage to maximum of 1:50. Do note that brokers outside US can easily offer up to 1:1000 and do not have any restrictions on trading styles while:
- NFA forex brokers cannot allow hedging
To make things even more complicated, NFA has a rules on disclosure of transaction data where US regulated brokerages must offer the clients an access to specific transaction execution data for best transparency.
So while it might sound attractive to have one of the most secure trading environment, the US forex trading industry is extremely up tight. Despite the high level of trust US brokers receive, the lack of flexibility with the leverage and hedging, for example, is a big time downer for many traders around the world, making the clients outside US seek alternative companies. There is an overwhelming demand for brokers (outside the US) which accept US customers.
Many forex traders consider US Brokers to be a sample of reliable and quality forex trading. Based on these assumptions, big investors prefer transatlantic brokers working in the forex market for a long time. Whether this makes sense or not, each trader decides for himself; however, US forex regulators, such as CFTC, assign to forex brokers USA quality status and guarantee a broker’s reliability. Choosing a best forex broker in USA you should consider all the alternatives. Once the broker is US-based and appears to be trustworthy, this might be a good choice. Most of the top forex brokers in USA have multilingual websites and are willing to obtain clients from around the globe, therefore forex trading brokers in USA provide high-level quality support in the clients’ native languages. US forex brokers listed below are reputable companies with years of work in the forex market. Read our detailed guide Best US-Regulated Forex Brokers to find out the best forex broker in USA.
Can US citizens trade forex overseas?
Yes, USA citizens can trade Forex Legally. But, NFA & CFTC has imposed a lot of restrictions on US Forex Brokers, and because of these restrictions US traders are losing competitive edge over traders from Europe.
Do forex brokers report to IRS?
FOREX. FOREX (Foreign Exchange Market) trades are not reported to the IRS the same as stocks and options, or futures. FOREX trades are considered by the IRS as simple interest and the gain or loss is reported as “other income” on Form 1040 (line 21).
Can you use a foreign forex broker?
US citizens may not be able to open an offshore Forex trading account. As the name suggests, an offshore Forex broker is a professional that operates from overseas, in a place where there are fewer regulations and constraints, therefore making it easy to trade foreign currencies.
Sometimes, regulated international Forex brokers don’t accept clients from the United States and this is all due to the restrictions imposed by the US Government. It’s worth mentioning the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which affects the financial service industry. According to the federal statute, Forex brokerage companies that wish to do business with US residents have to be registered with the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) and NFA (National Futures Association).
The good news is that the vast majority of offshore Forex brokers are regulated, so you’ve got nothing to worry about. Countries don’t want to defy the over-reaching regulatory authorities. If you are from the United States, the likelihood is that you can open a trading account without much difficulty.
The ways we rank and review
For our 2023 Forex Broker Review we went over, tested, rated, and ranked over 300+ international forex brokers. Each broker was given a score based on trading conditions and various provided features compared to highest standards and reputable conditions.
About The Forex Brokers USA Review
Our experts at Forex Explore have checked for accuracy all the data provided through the Forex brokers USA Review. We use the latest updated information about US FX brokers to rank and review. Our methodology took into consideration factors such as:
- Regulation and licensing
- Price competitiveness (spreads)
- Software technology (trading platforms)
- Accessibility (minimum deposit and available funding methods)
- Range of currency pairs
- Beginner friendly and easy-to-use platforms
- Customer support service
LIMITATIONS AND COMPARISON TO OTHER COUNTRIES/SCAMS
Forex trading regulations in the United States of America are not the same as those enforced in many parts of the globe. These laws are quite stringent and this explains why the US has few brokers licensed by the NFA.
Some of the US Forex regulations that are different from those in other nations include:
- Leverage
- Hedging
- Ability to authenticate the broker
Forex trading in the United States is vastly different from anywhere else in the world. Mostly, because Forex brokerage services must adhere to more stringent financial regulations.
In Europe, the regulatory environment for brokers is relatively straightforward and simple. The broker applies for a license from the European regulators which allows it to accept traders across the EU.
Essentially, a broker that is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK can proceed to accrue traders from Ireland, Germany, Bulgaria and Italy, along with all other member states of the EU.
In contrast, The US Forex market is not so flexible. Brokers with an EU license cannot accept clients in the US. Namely, because US citizens are protected by stronger regulations, and therefore, brokers registered with the concerned US authority (The NFA) must comply with more strict regulations, and face harsher penalties, than anywhere else.
Quick Note
Brokers are always welcome to contact us and provide the freshly updated details which then is thoroughly checked and reviewed. After the data has been collected, our team makes sure the information is accurate to the date of the review. The validation process provides our visitors with latest quality details and ranking.
