Which currency should my trading account be in? USD, EUR, GBP or BIT

A JAFX trading account can be in USD, EUR, GBP or BIT (bitcoin). When you open an account, you can pick only a currency your wallet holds money in. The other currencies are greyed out until you deposit in them.

The four account currencies

• No other account currency is offered. There is no ZAR account and no ZAR wallet.
• Your account's balance, profit and loss are shown in its base currency.
• You choose the currency in the Base currency field when you open the account. See How to open a live trading account.
• You can hold up to 5 active live trading accounts at a time, so you can have accounts in different currencies. See How many trading accounts can I open?

JAFX does not give advice or make recommendations, including on which currency to choose.

Why you can only pick a currency your wallet holds

Deposits always land in a wallet first. A trading account is funded by a transfer from a wallet. For this reason, the Open trading account window only lets you pick a currency your wallet holds money in.

What you may see:

• Currencies you do not hold are greyed out, for example with "No EUR in your wallet" and "Deposit EUR first".
• If you choose one anyway: "You have no EUR in your wallet. Deposit EUR first, or pick a currency you hold."
• If none of your wallets holds money: "Make a deposit to open your trading account", with a Deposit button instead of the form.
• If your money is in your trading accounts and not in a wallet: "Your wallets have no money in these currencies. Deposit first, or move money back from a trading account to your wallet, then open your account."

To fix it:

1. Deposit in the currency you want, or pick a currency you already hold. See Which wallet can I deposit into? Deposit currencies explained.
2. If your money is in a trading account, transfer it back to your wallet first. See How to transfer funds between your wallet and trading accounts.
3. Open the account again from Accounts → New account.

For other messages when opening an account, see Why can't I open a trading account? Messages you may see.

Funding from a wallet in another currency: the conversion fee

You can fund a trading account from a wallet in a different currency, for example a EUR account from your USD Wallet.

• A transfer between different currencies carries a 2% conversion fee. It is taken from the amount you transfer.
• Before you confirm, the portal shows the exchange rate, the fee and the amount that will be credited. The fee is shown separately.
• The transfer is instant.
• Transfers in the same currency are free.

See Currency conversion on internal transfers.

BIT accounts: bitcoin and bits

The wallet in the same currency as a BIT account is your Bitcoin Wallet.

• In the JAFX Terminal, a BIT account's money is shown in bitcoin (₿) with 8 decimals.
• The account is kept in bits: 1,000,000 bits = ₿1.
• You can download an account statement from the Portfolio page of the JAFX Terminal. The PDF shows bitcoin and the CSV shows bits, which is why the numbers in the CSV are much larger.

See Your JAFX wallets: USD, EUR, GBP and Bitcoin Wallet explained.

Commission in each currency

The trading commission is charged per lot, round trip, in your account's currency. It is charged once, when the trade opens. Nothing more is charged when the trade closes.

The commission scales with the trade size. For example, 0.1 lot on a USD account costs $0.40. The order ticket in the JAFX Terminal shows it on the Commission line. See Trading costs: commission, swaps and spreads.

Need help?

We are available 24/7 via live chat (the Chat button in the client portal) or email at support@jafx.com. Write from your registered email address. We will never ask for your password or a 2FA code.

Trading leveraged derivatives with JAFX carries a high risk of losing money rapidly. It is not suitable for everyone.