IC Markets Review in 2025

Written by Miro Nikolov

Miro Nikolov

Miro Nikolov is the co-founder of TradingPedia.com and BestBrokers.com. His mission is to help people make profitable investments by giving them access to educational resources and analytics tools.

, | Updated: November 5, 2025

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• Jump to:
• Regulations
• Trading Instruments
• Trading Platforms
• Payment Methods
• Account Types
• Support
• Conclusion
›

IC Markets is an Australian-founded CFD provider that has grown into a multi-jurisdictional group offering margin trading in forex, indices, commodities, shares, bonds, futures and cryptocurrencies. Launched in 2007, it positions itself as a high-volume, low-cost venue, combining MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader with raw-spread pricing from 0.0 pips and leverage up to 1:500 under its offshore entities. EU and Australian clients face far lower caps (1:30 and 1:30/1:20 respectively).

Account opening is fully digital, with a recommended minimum deposit of $/€200. IC Markets keeps client money in segregated accounts, provides negative balance protection to EEA customers and claims no dealing-desk intervention. Notable omissions include the absence of a statutory compensation scheme for Australian, Seychelles and Bahamian clients.

Regulations

IC Markets operates through four separately regulated entities. The Australian arm, International Capital Markets Pty Ltd (ACN 123 289 109), holds ASIC Australian Financial Services Licence 335692 (issued 30 June 2008) and lists its registered office as Level 6, 309 Kent Street, Sydney NSW 2000.

EU clients contract with IC Markets (EU) Ltd (HE 356877), authorised by CySEC under Licence 362/18 since 24 August 2018. Its head office is 141 Omonoias Avenue, Oval Building, 4th Floor, 3045 Limassol, Cyprus.

Global retail business outside Australia and the EEA is mainly booked through Raw Trading Ltd (company no. 8398165-1), regulated by the Seychelles FSA with Securities Dealer Licence SD018. A second offshore company, also named Raw Trading Ltd (reg. 205126 B), is authorised by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas under Licence SIA-F214.

The broker states that client funds are held in segregated trust accounts at AA-rated banks and that negative balance protection is applied to EEA retail traders. Only the CySEC entity is covered by an investor compensation scheme (ICF up to €20,000). No equivalent scheme exists for Australian, Seychelles or Bahamian clients. The group does not accept residents of the US, Canada, Israel, New Zealand and a few other restricted jurisdictions.

Trading platforms

Platforms	PC / MAC	Smartphones	Tablets
MetaTrader 4
MetaTrader 5
cTrader

Trading Information
Trading Platforms	cTrader, IC Social, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, ZuluTrade
Demo Account
Hedging
Scalping
US Traders
Arabic Traders

IC Markets offers all three major third-party suites – MT4, MT5 and cTrader – across desktop, web and mobile. All support algorithmic trading, one-click order entry and depth-of-book (platform dependent). VPS hosting is available through third-party partners, while MAM/PAMM structures cater for money managers. Copy trading is accessible via Myfxbook AutoTrade, ZuluTrade, cTrader Copy and the broker’s IC Social app.

MetaTrader 4

MT4 remains the broker’s most popular venue for forex and CFD trading. Traders get 9 time-frames, 30 built-in indicators, unlimited charts and automated strategies via Expert Advisors (EAs). IC Markets adds one-click trade panels, depth-of-market and several proprietary indicators. Both Standard and Raw Spread accounts are available, with minimum trade size of 0.01 lot and stop-loss/take-profit allowed at 0 pips from market price.

Order types include market, four pending variants and trailing stops. All 60+ currency pairs, metals, energies, cash indices and cryptocurrencies can be traded on MT4; share CFDs are excluded. Desktop, WebTrader and iOS/Android apps are supported.

MetaTrader 5

MT5 expands the product menu to equities and futures CFDs. It features 21 time-frames, partial order fills, an economic calendar and a multi-threaded strategy tester. Depth-of-Market is level-2, supporting native exchange micro-lot execution where available. Both Standard and Raw Spread accounts apply, with the same $200 minimum deposit. MT5 Copy signals can be linked to live accounts, and IC Markets has configured server-side hedging (no FIFO) for global entities.

cTrader

cTrader delivers a clean UI, 26 time-frames and a choice of normal, advanced and quick-trade modes. The Raw commission is slightly lower ($3 per side per lot) than on MT4/5. cTrader Algo (C#) and Open API allow custom robots, while cTrader Copy lets users follow top providers with granular risk controls. The platform is offered on Windows, browser and native mobile.

Copy trading

Beyond cTrader Copy, clients can link accounts to Myfxbook AutoTrade and ZuluTrade. The IC Social mobile app aggregates signal providers and displays verified metrics such as drawdown, RoI and trade frequency. Copy trades mirror proportionally, and users can set equity stop-outs or manual overrides. Performance fees vary by provider and are disclosed in advance.

Payment methods

IC Markets publishes an extensive list of funding rails: international and local bank transfer, Visa/Mastercard, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, UnionPay, FasaPay, POLi, BPay, Klarna (Sofort), RapidPay, broker-to-broker transfer and several regional gateways. Cryptocurrency deposits (Bitcoin, Tether) are accepted via third-party processors for non-EU clients.

The broker recommends a $/€200 minimum but allows smaller top-ups on many wallets. Card, PayPal and most e-wallet deposits are instant; withdrawals are processed within 24 hours but may take 1–5 business days to appear, depending on banking networks or blockchain confirmations. IC Markets itself charges no deposit fees and waives one international bank-wire withdrawal fee above $/€200 per month; however, intermediary banks and wallet providers may levy their own charges.

Accounts can be denominated in up to 10 base currencies including AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, SGD and HKD, reducing FX conversion costs. Regulatory rules require withdrawing back to the original funding source up to the deposited amount before profits can be paid to an alternative method. All accounts undergo KYC/AML checks, and the broker may request proof of source of funds for large transfers.

• Deposit
• Withdrawal

Brand	Minimum	Fees	Processing Time
	$/€20	None	Instant
	$/€20	None	Instant
	$/€200	None	Instant
	$/€200	None	Instant
	$/€200	None	Instant
	$/€200	Bank charges apply	2–5 business days
	¥1,000	None	Same day
	A$200	None	Same day
	$10	None	Instant
	$50	Blockchain fees	1–3 confirmations
	A$200	None	Same day

Brand	Minimum	Fees	Processing Time
	$/€1	None	3–5 business days
	$/€1	None	3–5 business days
	$/€1	None	Same day
	$/€1	None	Same day
	$/€1	None	Same day
	$/€50	First free above $/€200 monthly, otherwise $20	2–5 business days
	¥100	None	1–2 business days
	$50	Blockchain fees	Within 24 h processing; network time varies

Account types

IC Markets’ live offering revolves around two pricing models: Standard (spread-only) and Raw Spread (institutional spreads plus commission). Both require at least $/€200, support MT4 and MT5, and offer leverage dependent on entity: up to 1:30 (EU/AU) or 1:500 (Seychelles/Bahamas). A separate cTrader Raw applies the same spreads with a lower commission. Swap-free/Islamic versions are available on request for global clients but are restricted to certain products. Joint, corporate and trust accounts can be opened via additional documentation.

Standard account

The Standard account folds dealing-costs into the spread, which starts from 0.8 pips on EUR/USD and averages 1.0–1.2 pips under normal conditions. No commissions are added. The model suits discretionary traders and those trading micro-lots where a fixed commission could outweigh the benefit of raw spreads. All platforms except cTrader are eligible, and the full CFD range is available.

Raw Spread account

Raw Spread quotes come directly from the broker’s liquidity pool, with published averages of 0.1 pips on majors and typical lows of 0.0 pips during liquid sessions. MT4/MT5 charge $3.5 per side per 100,000 units (total $7 round turn). High-frequency or volume traders often choose this account because total costs fall below the Standard model once monthly turnover exceeds roughly 15–20 lots. Product coverage is identical to Standard.

cTrader Raw account

On cTrader the commission is marginally lower at $3 per side (total $6). cTrader Raw supports the same leverage bands and executes on NY4 servers co-located with key liquidity providers, offering latency under 2 ms to major ECNs (according to the broker). Strategy developers who code in C# often prefer this environment.

Demo accounts

Demo sign-up takes less than two minutes and provides unlimited practice balance adjustable up to 5 million of any base currency. MT4 and MT5 demos expire after 30 days of inactivity, while cTrader demos remain open indefinitely. Market-depth, swap rates and execution speeds are mirrored from live servers, enabling realistic testing before upgrading to real money.

Support

Customer service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through live chat, email and a Sydney-based telephone line (+61) as well as a Cyprus desk for EU residents. The broker states it supports 18 languages, although only English, Spanish, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Portuguese are staffed on a consistent 24/5 basis. Live chat connects to a bot triage before routing to human agents, with average wait times under one minute in tests conducted during the London session.

A searchable Help Centre covers account setup, platform guides and funding queries, supplemented by video tutorials and weekly webinars. Formal complaints may be escalated to the Compliance Department via a dedicated email, and unresolved EU cases can be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service of Cyprus.

Conclusion

IC Markets blends tight pricing, three institutional-grade platforms and an unusually wide choice of payment methods. Dual top-tier regulation (ASIC, CySEC) offers credibility, though offshore entities account for a large share of global volume and provide no investor compensation. Product depth is attractive – particularly share and bond CFDs on MT5 – but the broker does not yet cater for direct equity ownership or options trading.

Overall, IC Markets suits active FX and CFD traders who value low latency, raw spreads and platform choice. Conservative investors seeking a protected investment scheme or negative balance protection outside Europe may find stronger safeguards elsewhere.