ActivTrades vs XS
A side-by-side comparison built from each broker's own published record — licenses checked against official registers, terms quoted from their own pages, with the source linked on every claim.
| Open account | ||
|---|---|---|
| Regulation | FCA · SCB · FSC · CMVM · BACEN · CSSF | ASIC · CySEC · CMA · FSCA · FSA · LFSA · FSC · MOCI |
| License no. | FCA 434413 (ActivTrades PLC; company reg. England & Wales 05367727) SCB 199667 B (ActivTrades Corp — printed as company 'registration number 199667 B'; SCB licence number not separately printed) FSC GB24203277 (ActivTrades Markets Ltd., Global Business Licence) CMVM 433 (ActivMarkets Empresa de Investimento, S.A.; company reg. 516 929 291) BACEN CNPJ 45.050.917/0001-03 (ActivTrades CCTVM — 'autorizada a funcionar pelo Banco Central do Brasil'; no separate licence number printed) CSSF not published on fetched pages (entity ActivTrades Europe SA and 'Regulated by CSSF' verified on broker site; Luxembourg company reg. B232167 appears in search-indexed broker content but was not directly verified) | ASIC 374409 CySEC 412/22 CMA 20200000339 (licence category not stated on XS's page) FSCA 53199 FSA SD089 LFSA MB/21/0081 FSC GB25204786 MOCI 513918 on the regulations page; the site footer shows MOCI 2024/786 |
| Founded | 2001 | 2010 |
| Minimum deposit | $0 | $0 |
| EUR/USD spread from | 0.5 pips (standard Individual account — broker publishes "Trade With Spreads from 0.5 pips", commission-free; localized spread table shows EURUSD "as low as 0.5") | 0.1 pips average on the Elite account (plus $6 round-turn commission, $500 minimum); 0.7 pips average on Pro ($500 minimum, no commission); 1.1 pips average on Standard (no minimum deposit, no commission) — averages as published by XS |
| Leverage | SCB (Bahamas): 1:400 on forex (0.25% initial margin) CMVM (Portugal): Retail 1:30 on forex (3.33% margin) | not specified on the page: Up to 1:2000 with dynamic leverage; margin call 40%, stop out 20% |
| Gulf Payments | ||
| Platforms | ActivTrader, MetaTrader 5, TradingView, MetaTrader 4 (still named in site copy 'MT4, MT5, ActivTrader and TradingView', but absent from the current Platforms menu) | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, XS Trading App |
| Broker-published claim | Withdrawals are processed "Same day if request by 12:30 (UK Time Zone)"; the Funding And Withdrawals Fact Sheet lists a Standard Timeframe of "Same working day" for bank transfer and "30 min" for credit/debit cards, Neteller, Skrill and crypto — with the caveat that "the specified timeframes are indicative only" and apply after the company has received the transaction. [Source] | Published processing times: Neteller instant; Skrill 1 business day; bank transfer 1-7 working days; Visa & MasterCard 7-10 working days. XS states it charges no internal fees for deposits or withdrawals, but reserves the right to apply a withdrawal fee of up to 3% where there has been no trading activity or it identifies abuse. [Source] |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer, Credit/Debit card, Neteller, Skrill, Crypto (BCH, BTC, ETH, LINK, LTC, USDC, USDT, XLM, XRP, DASH), PayPal (ActivTrades PLC and ActivTrades Europe SA clients only), Instant bank transfer – Volt (entity-dependent) | Bank transfer, Visa & MasterCard, Skrill, Neteller |
| Crypto deposits/withdrawals | Yes | No |
| Islamic Accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Measured by us | Testing in progress | Testing in progress |
| Accepts clients from | Australia, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Singapore, China, Thailand, Mexico, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Germany, India, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Turkey, Mongolia, Kenya, Colombia, Italy, Vietnam, Chile, Peru, Indonesia, Argentina, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain | United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Turkey |
| Open account | Open account |
We do not name a winner here. The two records sit side by side because the right answer depends on where you live, what you trade, and which entity would onboard you — all of which the table shows.
By Country
- ActivTrades + XS: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain
- ActivTrades Yes / XS No: Australia, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Singapore, China, Thailand, Mexico, Taiwan, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Kenya, Colombia, Italy, Vietnam, Chile, Peru, Indonesia, Argentina
Is ActivTrades or XS better?
Neither is better in the abstract. Compare the rows that apply to you: whether each broker accepts clients from your country, which entity and regulator you would be onboarded under, the minimum deposit, and how withdrawals work on the rail you would actually use.
Which is safer, ActivTrades or XS?
Safety follows the entity that holds your money, not the brand. Both records list every regulator and license number each broker publishes — check which entity serves your country, then verify that license on the regulator's own register.