What are the overnight financing costs on crypto CFDs?
Verdict
- Overnight financing on a crypto CFD is a daily charge for holding past rollover; at Pepperstone, our pick for crypto CFDs from Singapore, the crypto rates are not in the pages we verified, so read them in the platform's symbol specification before you hold.
- As a yardstick, Tickmill publishes a 10% yearly charge on long crypto positions in its swap-free account, about $2.74 a day on $10,000; Tickmill does not accept Singapore residents.
- IC Markets' swap-free account charges a flat $41.85 per lot per night on BTCUSD after a grace period; XS's swap-free crypto pairs revert to standard swaps after three days.
- Pepperstone serves Singapore from its Bahamas entity and holds no MAS licence.
Holding a leveraged crypto CFD overnight costs money because the broker is carrying the full position value for you. The charge is usually expressed as a yearly rate and taken daily. Here is how to find Pepperstone's, how to turn any rate into dollars, and what other brokers publish.
Finding Pepperstone's crypto financing rate
We still pick Pepperstone for crypto CFDs from Singapore: no commission on crypto, a published BTC/USD average of 15.15 on Razor, and 44 coins on its Bahamas retail margin table. What the pages we checked do not show is a crypto financing rate. In MT4 or MT5, open the symbol's specification to see the long and short swap values; in cTrader, look in the symbol information. Check the exact coin and direction you plan to hold, as values can differ between them.
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Turning a yearly rate into a daily cost
Divide the yearly rate by 365 and multiply by the position value. Taking Tickmill's published 10% a year on long crypto positions as the example rate:
- A $10,000 long costs $1,000 a year, or about $2.74 a day.
- Held for 30 days, that is about $82.
- Against a one-off spread of $15.15 per BTC at Pepperstone's Razor average, financing becomes the bigger cost on a multi-week hold.
- Even swap-free accounts do not make holding free: as the table below shows, brokers replace swap with fees after a grace period.
What brokers publish about crypto holding charges
These are swap-free terms, shown because they are the clearest published crypto holding charges in our data; standard accounts pay swap instead.
| Broker | Published crypto holding charge | Accepts Singapore residents? |
|---|---|---|
| Pepperstone | Not in the pages we verified; see the symbol specification | Yes |
| XS | Swap-free crypto pairs return to standard swaps after a 3-day grace period | Yes |
| IC Markets | Swap-free BTCUSD: flat $41.85 per lot per night after a grace period of up to 5 days | Unverified |
| Tickmill | Swap-free crypto: 10% a year on long positions after 5 days | No |
Perpetual CFDs pay for holding differently
Pepperstone's perpetual CFDs replace the classic swap with a funding rate set weekly in advance and applied daily at 5 pm New York time, so you know next week's cost before you trade. On the Bahamas retail margin table, though, the perpetuals are gold, WTI, Brent, NAS100 and US500, not crypto, so Singapore clients hold crypto through standard CFDs with overnight financing. Pepperstone has no MAS licence; the Bahamas company (SIA-F217) names no compensation scheme.
Sources
Published holding-cost terms.
Is financing charged on short crypto positions too?
Pepperstone's short rates are not in the pages we verified. A swap can be a charge or a credit on either side, so check both values in the specification.
When is daily financing taken?
At the broker's daily rollover. For Pepperstone's perpetual CFDs that is 5 pm New York, which is 5 or 6 am in Singapore depending on US daylight saving.
Can I avoid crypto financing with a swap-free account?
Pepperstone's swap-free account is limited to residents of 23 listed countries, and Singapore is not one of them. Other brokers' swap-free crypto terms still add charges after a few days.
CFDs are complex leveraged products with a high risk of losing money rapidly, and holding costs can erode a position over time. This page is general information, not investment advice; confirm current rates in your trading platform.