Trade gold with FxPro

Platforms for gold

FxPro offers gold trading on MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader and FxPro Edge. All four platforms let you trade XAU/USD with one-click execution, advanced charts and a full set of order types. MT4 and MT5 are the most popular for gold because of their Expert Advisors and extensive indicator libraries.

The choice of platform is personal. MT4 is simpler and has the most community tools; MT5 has more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar; cTrader is known for fast execution and a clean interface; FxPro Edge is the broker's own web platform. You can try each with a demo account before funding.

Funding from South Africa

You can fund your FxPro account in ZAR using local cards and bank transfers (EFT). E-wallets are also supported. Deposits in ZAR are converted to your account currency, usually USD, at the prevailing rate. Withdrawals are returned to the same method you used to deposit.

There is no minimum deposit stated here, so check FxPro's website for the current requirement. The key point is that you can start small and scale up as you learn. Always fund only with money you can afford to lose, because trading gold on leverage can result in losses that exceed your deposit.

Risk and regulation

FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, and an FxPro entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa — check which entity your own account is opened with. The entity that serves South Africa is FxPro Markets Direct Costa Rica Latam SRL. This matters because different entities have different protections and leverage limits.

Maximum leverage in South Africa is up to 1:200 for retail clients and up to 1:500 for eligible or professional clients, depending on the instrument. That is a cap, not a target. At 1:200, a 0.10-lot gold position needs about $85.50 margin. Using less leverage gives your trade more room to breathe.

Opening and funding an account

To open an account, go to FxPro's website, choose your platform and account type, and complete the online application. You will need to verify your identity and address with a South African ID or passport and a recent utility bill. The process is usually automated and takes a few minutes.

Once approved, log in to the client portal, choose ZAR as your deposit currency, and fund by card or EFT. Then download your platform, log in with the credentials sent to you, and search for XAU/USD. Start with a demo account if you are new to gold trading. The calculators on this site can help you plan your first trade.

The FxPro entity behind your South African account and what its licensing means for your protections

The FxPro entity that serves South Africa is FxPro Markets Direct Costa Rica Latam SRL, so your client agreement, funding flows and complaint route run through that entity rather than through the UK or Cyprus arms of the group. That matters because the protections attached to an account follow the licensed entity, not the brand name on the platform. Before you deposit rand, confirm on your account documents which entity is named as your counterparty, because the FCA and CySEC licences you may have read about belong to other FxPro companies.

FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, and an FxPro entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa — check which entity your own account is opened with. The FSCA licence is the one South African readers will recognise, and it is the relevant local authorisation when an FxPro entity is registered here. The practical consequence is that your protections depend on the specific entity named in your agreement: an offshore entity can mean different complaint handling and different investor-protection arrangements from an FCA- or CySEC-regulated one.

Your protections are determined by the entity on your contract, so treat the entity name as the first thing you verify and the last thing you assume. If your account is opened with FxPro Markets Direct Costa Rica Latam SRL, your recourse runs through that entity and the FSCA licence held by an FxPro entity in South Africa is the local reference point to check. Keep your account-opening emails and the client agreement, because they name the counterparty you would deal with in a dispute, and that name is what you quote when you check a register.

How the account type you choose changes what a gold trade actually costs you

The account type changes what a gold trade costs because each type bundles a different combination of spread, commission and swap, and the mix shifts the total cost rather than removing it. On gold (XAU/USD), one standard lot is 100 oz and one pip is 0.01, so the cost per trade scales directly with the size you trade and the pricing structure attached to your account. Ask which costs are built into the price and which are charged separately, because that split is what the account type actually controls.

What a gold trade costs depends on the spread, any commission charged separately, and the swap if you hold the position overnight, and the account type is how those three are packaged. A structure that shows a wider spread may carry no separate commission, while another may show a narrower spread and charge commission per lot; you cannot judge one against the other without adding both parts. On a 0.10-lot gold position the pip value is smaller than on a full lot, but the same three cost components apply.

The account type does not change the instrument mechanics, so the arithmetic stays the same across types: cost equals the spread plus commission plus any swap, applied to the size you trade. Because 1 lot is 100 oz and a pip is 0.01, a move of one pip on a 0.10-lot position is a fraction of the full-lot value, and your cost per trade should be measured against that. Compare account types by writing down all three components for the gold size you actually intend to trade, not by comparing a single headline figure.

What MT4, MT5, cTrader and FxPro Edge differ in for a gold trader

The platforms differ in charting depth, order types, market-depth display and automation, not in the gold contract itself, because XAU/USD is quoted the same way on all of them. MT4 is the oldest and most widely supported for expert advisors; MT5 adds more timeframes, more order types and a depth-of-market view; cTrader is built around level-two pricing and order-book style execution; FxPro Edge is the broker's own platform. Choose by the tools you will actually use on gold, not by the number of features listed.

MT4 and MT5 differ most in what they show you around execution: MT5 offers more timeframes, additional pending order types and a market-depth window, while MT4 keeps a simpler order set that many automated strategies were written for. cTrader differs by putting level-two pricing and order-book information at the centre of the interface, which suits traders who watch liquidity rather than only the chart. FxPro Edge is the in-house option, so its layout and toolset are particular to FxPro rather than shared with the MetaQuotes or cTrader ecosystems.

The platform you pick matters most for how you manage risk on gold, because 1 lot is 100 oz and a pip is 0.01, so order-entry precision and stop placement are practical concerns rather than cosmetic ones. MT4 and MT5 both support stop and limit orders on XAU/USD, cTrader adds depth-of-market context, and FxPro Edge packages the broker's own workflow. If you plan to automate, check that your chosen platform supports the expert-advisor format you use; if you trade manually, compare chart responsiveness and order tickets across a demo before committing.

Checking the FxPro licence on the regulator's own register, step by step

You verify the licence by going to the regulator's own register rather than the broker's website, finding the entity name that appears on your account agreement, and matching its licence status and permissions. Start with the FSCA register for the South African licence, then check the FCA and CySEC registers for the UK and Cyprus entities if those are relevant to your account. The rule is simple: the register entry must name the same legal entity that your contract names.

For the FSCA step, open the Financial Sector Conduct Authority's register, search for the FxPro entity name, and confirm the licence category and status shown for that entity. For the FCA, use the Financial Services Register and search the firm name, then open the entry and confirm the permissions cover the activities you are using. For CySEC, use its public register in the same way. Record the date you checked and the entity names you found, because licence details can change.

The check is complete only when the entity on the register matches the entity on your account documents, so compare the legal name character by character rather than by brand. FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, and an FxPro entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa — check which entity your own account is opened with, because a licence held by one group company does not automatically cover another. If the names differ, ask the broker in writing which entity holds your account before you fund it.

What leverage of up to 1:200 retail and up to 1:500 for eligible clients means for gold margin

Leverage is a cap on how much position you can control per unit of margin, not a setting you should aim at, and on gold it directly sets the margin a position requires. In South Africa the maximum is up to 1:200 for retail and up to 1:500 for eligible or professional clients depending on the instrument, and that is the ceiling rather than a target. At 1:200, a 0.10-lot gold position needs about $85.50 in margin, which shows how the cap translates into a rand requirement at your account's conversion rate.

The margin figure depends on the leverage cap, the position size and the gold price, so a 0.10-lot position at 1:200 requires about $85.50 while a larger position scales that requirement proportionally. Because 1 lot is 100 oz and a pip is 0.01, the notional value of a gold position is large relative to the margin, which is why the gap between margin and exposure is the real risk. Using the maximum available leverage leaves the least room for adverse moves before a margin call.

The practical reading is that higher leverage lowers the margin required but raises the loss per pip relative to your balance, so the cap should be treated as a limit on what you can do, not an instruction on what to do. South African retail accounts can access up to 1:200, with up to 1:500 for eligible or professional clients depending on the instrument, and the worked 0.10-lot figure of about $85.50 at 1:200 gives you a benchmark for sizing. Fund in rand by local card, bank transfer or e-wallet, and size positions so that margin is a small part of your balance.

How gold (XAU/USD) is priced and what one pip is worth at your position size

Gold is quoted as XAU/USD, one standard lot is 100 oz, and one pip is 0.01, so the pip value depends entirely on the lot size you trade. A reference price of about 4275.0 means a one-pip move is 0.01 in the quoted price, and on a full 100 oz lot that pip is worth 1 unit of the quote currency, scaled down proportionally for smaller sizes. Your rand result then depends on the USD/ZAR rate applied to that dollar figure.

The pip value on gold is not fixed in rand because the instrument is priced in US dollars, so your profit or loss is calculated in USD and converted at your account's rate. With 1 lot equal to 100 oz and a pip of 0.01, a 0.10-lot position carries one-tenth the pip value of a full lot, and a 0.01-lot position one-hundredth. Because the reference price is around 4275.0, small price moves in dollar terms become meaningful rand amounts once multiplied by 100 oz.

Position sizing therefore starts with the pip value at your chosen lot size, not with the leverage cap, because the pip value tells you what a move costs before you place the trade. On gold, 1 lot is 100 oz and 1 pip is 0.01, so a 0.10-lot position has a pip value one-tenth of the full-lot figure, and the rand equivalent moves with USD/ZAR. Work out the rand value of a pip at your size, then decide whether the stop distance you need is affordable within your balance.

FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, and an FxPro entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa — check which entity your own account is opened with. Trading CFDs on gold is high risk and you can lose more than your deposit.