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CFD vs spot FX

How a currency CFD differs from a retail spot forex position: in economics they are nearly identical, and the real differences are in contract wording, costs and regulatory treatment.

Retail spot-fx is already an otc-market contract with the broker that is rolled every day rather than settled, so the gap is narrower than the labels suggest. Both are leveraged, both are cash-settled, and both mark to market continuously.

The differences that matter in practice are three. Charging: spot FX usually pays or receives swap-rate on a rollover basis derived from the interest-rate-differential, while a CFD is typically charged a benchmark rate plus a broker spread, described in overnight-financing-charge. Contract specification: a CFD is defined in the broker's contract note with its own point value rather than in lots. And instrument range: the CFD wrapper extends to shares, indices and commodities, which spot FX does not.

Tax treatment also differs by jurisdiction, and in the UK the distinction between a CFD and a spread bet matters more than either against spot, as covered in spread-betting-tax-uk.

Example: holding 1 standard-lot of EUR/USD overnight might cost $7.20 of negative swap on a spot account, while an equivalent currency CFD might be charged $8.90 as benchmark plus 2.5% on the notional. Same exposure, different plumbing.

Related: cfd, spot-fx, overnight-financing-charge, swap-rate

See it drawn

Original diagrams for the ideas on this page. Illustrative, not real market data.

Bid-ask spread in an order bookSell orders stacked above buy orders with a gap between the best of each.SELLERS (asks)50.0690050.051,40050.0460050.011,10050.002,30049.99800spread = 0.03BUYERS (bids)
The bid-ask spread. Buy orders sit below, sell orders above, and the gap between the best bid (50.01) and best ask (50.04) is the spread you pay to cross. Bar length shows the size resting at each price.

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