How to open IC Markets Demo Account – Tutorial
Information about IC Markets
IC Markets is one of the largest ECN forex brokers across the world. Its ECN environment offers spread as low as 0.0 pips with no requotes, no price manipulation, and no restrictions. This is why IC Markets has a large number of high-volume traders, robots, and scalpers in its trading community.
The broker was founded in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, and it is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA).
IC Markets Pros and Cons
Pros | Cons |
Raw spread accounts with institutional grade liquidity | Overwhelming choices of platforms and markets for beginner traders |
Commission-free trading | No bonuses or promotions |
MetaTrader and cTrader available on the web, desktop, and mobile | |
A vast range of tradable assets | |
24/7 customer support | |
Impressive library of educational material and videos | |
True ECN trading environment | |
Spreads starting from 0.0 pips | |
Trade size ranging between 1 micro lot and 250 lots | |
State-of-the-art trading tools |
Note: Your capital is at risk
Winning Points of IC Markets
The most powerful points that attract traders are:
- Fast trade order execution: The average execution speed at IC Markets is very impressive; less than 40ms.
- Institutional grade liquidity: IC Markets provides interbank liquidity comprising up to fifty sources of liquidity. Trades worth over $1.5 billion every day are processed by it every day.
- Automated trading: The broker is very popular among traders who prefer automated trading. Its order matching engine based in New York processes over 500,000 traders per day.
- Facts and figures: IC Markets is used by over 60,000 active traders from all over the world. Based on the Finance Magnates Q1 and Q2 2017 Intelligence report, it is the biggest forex broker by forex volume in the world.
- Wide range of markets: This online broker allows traders to trade forex (60 products), stocks (120 products), bonds (5 products), commodities (19 products), and indices (17 products).
- Superior technology: IC Markets has partnered with a few top trading technology companies across the globe to deliver the best trading tools. These tools inbuilt spread monitoring, ladder trading, automated closure of trades with customized templates, dept. of market (DoM).
Open Demo Account – Step by Step Guide
It is very easy for new clients to open a demo account instantly on IC Markets. You may follow these steps:
- Click on the “Try a Free Demo” button on the very top of the homepage of IC Markets.
- You will be redirected to an online application form. You need to enter personal details here, like first and last name, cellphone number, and email address. After completing this information, click on “Register”.
- The form will be submitted, and you will be redirected to the next form. Here, you need to make a set of selections regarding the trading platform, account type, account currency, initial deposit (virtual money), and leverage.
- After selecting the preferred options, you can click on “Proceed”. Once the application is successful, you will be notified. To see the demo trading account details, you have to check your email.
- After you get your account details, you can log in to your demo account and proceed to the download page under the “Trading Tools” tab in the client portal. You can download your preferred trading platforms from here.
Types of Accounts
IC Markets offers various types of accounts to meet the requirements of different types of traders and their various trading styles, such as:
- True ECN Account on MetaTrader: This account features a slightly higher commission than other accounts which is $3.5 per lot per side. The spreads, however, are as low as 0.0 pips.
- True ECN Account on cTrader: The commission for this account is $3 per $100k. the spreads start from 0.0 pips.
- Standard Account on MetaTrader: This account features zero commission but the spreads start from 1.0 pips.
- Islamic Accounts: These true ECN accounts do not allow either credit or debit of interest fees. Islamic accounts are also known as swap-free accounts. IC Markets offers Islamic accounts on both MetaTrader 4 and cTrader platforms. The basic features of an Islamic account include trading of more than 90 instruments, spreads from 0.0 pips, leverage of 1:500, availability on MT4 and MT5 platforms, and no extra costs in place of swaps.
Types of Trading Platform
IC Markets allows trading on the following platforms:
MetaTrader 4
The MetaTrader 4 platform on IC Markets is unique due to the true ECN connectivity. It supports trading on institutional grade liquidity from investment banks and leading hedge funds from various parts of the world. The features of the MetaTrader 4 platform include
- Fast execution of trade orders
- Unrestricted trading
- Wide range of deposit and withdrawal options
- Spreads starting from 0.0 pips
- Flexible sizing of lots
MetaTrader 5
MetaTrader 5 is one of the most preferred trading platforms by active traders. It becomes one of the most powerful trading platforms worldwide due to the true ECN connectivity.
MetaTrader Webtrader
This trading platform allows traders to access their trading accounts right on their browsers without the need of downloading the platform. It is compatible with a wide range of devices and browsers. To put it simply, it supports browser-based trading. The MetaTrader platform is also available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android.
cTrader
The cTrader platform is specially designed for true ECN connectivity. Based on your trading style and preferred devices of trading, you can select one from these cTraderplatforms
- cTrader Android
- cTrader iPhone/iPad
- cTrader Web
- cTrader cAlgo
What to Trade
IC Markets offers a vast range of markets and products for trade. Some of them are displayed in the list below
Forex | Indices | Commodities |
EURUSD | Germany 30 | XAUAUD |
AUDNZD | France 40 | XAGUSD |
CHFJPY | US Small Cap 2000 | Brent Oil Futures |
USDTHB | Australia S&P ASX 200 | Coffee Futures |
Bonds | Cryptos | Stocks |
Euro Bobl | BTCUSD | Commonwealth Bank |
Euro Bund | ETHUSD | |
Japanese 10 YR | XRPUSD | Rio Tinto Ltd |
US 10 YR T-Note | EMCUSD | National Australia Bank |
IC Markets Demo Account Features
By using the IC Markets demo account, you can trade without the risk of losing your money as virtual money is used on this account for trading. So, you can gain enough experience and trade your trading strategy well before putting your money at risk. This is the biggest advantage of a demo account. The rest of the features, however, depend on the trading platform used by the trader. It means that you can access the demo account features through the trading platform. The features also depend on the offering of IC Markets regarding financial instruments, asset classes, leverage, spreads, and more. Main features of demo account include:
- Fully digital sign up
- Quick and hassle-free sign up
- Reliable and user-friendly trading platforms like MT4, MT5, and cTrader.
Demo Account Commissions and Spreads v/s Live Account
As mentioned earlier, spreads on IC markets live accounts start from 0.0 pips. The commission is $3 per $100k on the cTrader account, and $3.5 per lot per side on the MetaTrader account. However, the IC Markets demo account is free to use; it means zero commissions and spreads.
FAQ
A demo account is a practice account that the traders can use to practice trading without the risks of losing money. This account is very useful for beginners and they need to be more experienced in trading before they enter the real-time market. Advanced traders also find it useful when they need to test new trading strategies and explore the offering of a broker before they register a live account.
Yes, IC Markets is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. You can trade with IC Markets without any hesitation because these are the strictest financial bodies across the world.
If you stop using your demo account, it will expire after 30 days of inactivity.
You can reset your demo account from your Backoffice profile. Click on the demo account number under the Accounts tab. You will be redirected to the account overview page. The “Change balance” button is on the right-hand side of the screen. You can click on it and then enter your new balance value.
Yes, you can convert your demo account to a live trading account with IC Markets. You only need to provide ID proof and residence proof with complete personal information. You can do this easily from the Client Portal/Secure Area.
For more please read IC Markets Review
Note: Your capital is at risk