Start from zero. See the real numbers first.

How much do you really need?

A broker's minimum deposit tells you what the payment system accepts, not what a sensible first trade needs. The honest way to size an account is from the loss you accept on one trade: decide where the stop-loss goes, see what that costs at your position size, and ask how big the account must be for that cost to stay small.

The arithmetic follows from the contract size, not from a broker table: one lot is 100,000 units, the smallest order is 0.01 lots, so a 0.0001 move on a USD-quoted pair is worth 0.10 USD at the minimum size. The smallest payment the broker accepts is 50 EUR by card or e-wallet, 100 EUR by SEPA and 100 USD by SWIFT — a payment rule, not a recommendation for a first account. Accounts run in USD or EUR only, so a deposit from Malaysia converts from ringgit. Lot size, margin and the position ceiling in full →

Margin is a different number. Leverage on EUR/USD reaches 1:2000 at this broker, so a 0.01-lot position can block roughly half a euro of margin. That figure tells you what you are allowed to open, not what you can afford to lose — which is why this calculator starts from the stop-loss instead.

Why most beginners lose

The number is not about bad luck. The same five habits show up again and again, and none of them needs money to fix:

1. Sizing the trade from margin instead of from the loss

   High leverage makes almost any position affordable to open. Whether you can afford to be wrong about it is a separate question — the calculator above answers that one.

2. Trading without a stop-loss, or moving it "just this once"

   A stop placed before the order is a decision. A stop moved during the trade is a hope.

3. Using the leverage because it is there

   1:2000 is a ceiling the broker allows on a few major pairs, not a setting anyone has to use. Gold is capped at 1:200 and energies at 1:10 for a reason.

4. No written rule

   Entries by feeling and exits by hope cannot be checked afterwards. A rule written in one sentence can. Turn an idea into a written rule you can test →

5. Skipping the demo stage

   Every mistake above is free on a demo account and paid for on a live one. The order of the two is the only part that is fully under your control.

Two protections are worth knowing, and neither replaces the habits above: the broker states negative balance protection in its Terms of Business, so an account cannot go below zero, and it sets a minimum interval of 300 seconds between opening and closing a trade.

Your first hour on a demo account

Free demo account on cTrader and MetaTrader 4 — no deposit and no card. Six steps of about ten minutes each. The goal of the hour is modest on purpose: learn the buttons and one risk rule, then decide whether you want a second hour.

1. Open the demo account

   Register for a demo on the broker's site and pick cTrader or MetaTrader 4. The balance you see is virtual. What the registration form asks for →

2. Find EUR/USD and read both prices

   There are always two: the price you can sell at and the price you can buy at. The gap between them is the spread — the cost you pay on every trade. Spreads measured on a demo account →

3. Set the volume to 0.01 lots

   It is the smallest order the broker accepts. At that size one pip on EUR/USD is worth 0.10 USD, so a mistake costs cents, even in virtual money.

4. Place the stop-loss before you press buy or sell

   Thirty pips away is 3 USD at 0.01 lots. Setting it first is the one habit from this hour worth keeping for good.

5. Open the trade and leave it alone

   Watch how the running result moves with every pip. Do not touch the stop. At this broker a position has to stay open for at least 300 seconds, so use the wait to watch.

6. Close it and read the result line

   Note the result, the spread you paid and the time in the trade. Then write one sentence: what was the rule behind this trade? If there was none, that is the most useful finding of the hour.

After the hour you know the buttons and one risk rule — not a profession. Look first, then decide.