Crypto copy trading on MT4 and MT5

How crypto CFD copying works

Crypto on MetaTrader is a CFD: you trade the price, not the coin. Copying works exactly as for forex: the source position is mirrored on your account at your broker's price and every later change is followed. The copier can run all weekend; whether a weekend trade is actually placed depends on both brokers having the symbol open at that moment.

If the source broker trades crypto at the weekend and yours does not, weekend entries are rejected by your broker and logged in History. A source close that happens while your symbol is closed is retried when your market reopens only if the position is still linked; check History on Monday morning.

Notional, minimum lots and contract sizes

One lot of BTCUSD is usually one bitcoin, so even 0.01 lot carries several hundred dollars of exposure and moves about $0.01 per $1. That is fine for a $10,000 account and a problem for a $300 one.

When risk-based sizing returns less than your broker's minimum lot, the copier opens the minimum by default. On crypto that minimum can be several times the risk you asked for. On small accounts, turn minimum-lot forcing off so undersized trades are skipped, or accept the larger risk knowingly.

Different contract sizes between brokers (1 BTC vs 0.1 BTC per lot) break lot-for-lot copying in the same way as index contracts. Risk percent reads your broker's own tick value and avoids it.

Leverage, margin and financing

Regulators treat crypto CFDs as the riskiest retail product. In the EU retail leverage on crypto is capped at 1:2, so a 0.10 lot BTCUSD position at $64,000 needs about $3,200 of margin. In the UK, retail clients of FCA-regulated brokers cannot trade crypto CFDs at all. Offshore brokers may offer much more leverage, which raises the stakes rather than the edge.

Financing (swap) on crypto CFDs is typically far higher than on currency pairs and is often charged every night including Saturday and Sunday. A strategy that holds positions for weeks can lose a meaningful share of its gains to swaps. Use the margin calculator to see what a copied position ties up before you size it.

Weekend liquidity and gaps

Weekend crypto CFD prices come from thinner markets. Spreads widen, and moves of several percent in an hour are not unusual. Brokers that close crypto at the weekend reopen it on Monday at whatever the price is, which can be far through your stop.

• Use a time filter if you only want new crypto entries Monday to Friday.
• Keep a max lot cap: a source that sizes up on a weekend breakout should not take your account with it.
• An EquityShield daily-loss rule keeps working at the weekend too.

Crypto symbol mapping

BITCOIN and XBTUSD are built-in aliases for BTCUSD; suffixes like .m, m or + are stripped, and BTCUSDT resolves to BTCUSD. Coins quoted in something other than USD (for example BTCEUR) are a different instrument and are not matched to a USD symbol. Add a manual mapping only if you understand the price difference.