To come up with this list, we have tested several forex brokers USA holding registered with the CFTC and the NFA in the United States.

We opened a real account and made deposits with each broker. We placed real trades in each popular market to get the real spreads.

We also reached out to customer support to solve issues that we had encountered. Finally, we withdrew our funds to see if there is any issue with the withdrawal process.

We handpick the best forex brokers based on our trading data and experience as a trader.

US Regulated Forex CFTC Brokers

All regulated forex brokers must be registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and be a member of the National Futures Association (NFA) to legally operate in the United States. The NFA is a self-regulating agency supervising all forex trading activities in the US and is overseen by the CFTC. 

CFTC’s official website is www.cftc.gov, and we recommend investors and traders follow FCA on Twitter, @CFTC, for important regulatory updates. For NFA, please visit www.nfa.futures.org and follow @NFA_News.

The CFTC is deemed one of the top financial markets regulators due to its strict requirements. The agency was established in 1975 and oversees a wider commodities and derivatives market in the United States. Its regulatory power over the swaps market was extended in 2010 by the so-called Dodd-Frank Act, which required the agency to impose various new guidelines on the brokerages.

Though the CFTC does not offer any compensation scheme for the traders, the agency requires brokers to maintain a $20 million security deposit, which is significantly higher than any other global regulator. The agency is very vigilant and actively monitors and busts any operator offering illegal services in the country.

Forex brokers in the United States can offer a maximum leverage of the 50:1.

Some of the limitations of CFTC-regulated forex brokers are:

  • No negative balance protection
  • Hedging is not allowed
  • The mandatory FIFO rule that forces traders to liquidate the oldest multiple open positions on a single currency pair while closing the trades

Some of the key highlights of trading with regulated US brokers:

🏦RegulatorCommodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), National Futures Association (NFA)
📊Max. Leverage50:1
🛡️Is It safe to tradeYes
🔒Negative Balance ProtectionNo
💰Compensation SchemeNone

Best Forex Broker in USA

To select the best United States forex brokers, we have tested and reviewed almost all forex brokers operating in the country. We opened a live account, deposited real money, and placed real trades with each broker. With our test, we got a picture of the real spreads and commissions, trading platforms, deposit and withdrawal conditions, educational resources, and customer services.

  • IG (US) – Best Overall Forex Broker in the US
  • Interactive Brokers – Best Forex Broker for Beginners in the US
  • OANDA – Best MT4 Broker in the US
  • Forex.com– Best Forex Trading Platform in the US
  • TD Ameritrade – Best Forex Broker with Lowest Spread & Trading Fees in the US

Other forex brokers legally operating in the USA are:

  • NADEX
  • ATC Brokers
  • Ally Invest

Best Overall Forex Broker in US

We picked IG as the overall best forex broker in the USA. 

IG is a London-headquartered broker and holds multiple regulatory licenses, including in the United States. It is a publicly listed broker that makes its business transparent and very safe.

It is one of the best trading platforms offering trading services with forex, indices, stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. It offers some of the lowest spreads for forex pairs in the industry. The platform is also easy to use and offers a ton of market research and analysis tools.

Best Forex Broker for Beginners in US

We picked Interactive Brokers as the best broker for beginners in the USA.

Interactive Brokers is one of the largest and well-reputed US brokers. Though most of the US brokerages offer good educational material to new traders, Interactive Brokers’ resources stand out. It offers detailed guides on markets and trading techniques. Traders can also learn from well-explained videos.

It conducts webinars for forex traders. The broker also offers in-depth market commentary and analysis by dozens of professionals. Apart from the beginner-oriented educational resources, Interactive Brokers offers trading services with a wide range of products.

Best MT4 Broker in US

We picked OANDA as the best MT4 broker in the USA.

MT4 is the leading trading platform used for forex trading. Though many brokers offer trading with MT4, we have found OANDA’s offering to be the best. OANDA offers trading services on MT4 clients on desktop, web, and mobile.

As MT4 is the only trading platform offered by OANDA, the broker offers several trading tools on it. Traders can even upgrade their platform to MT4 premium to access additional tools and widgets.

Best Forex Trading Platform in US

We picked Forex.com as the best currency trading platform in the USA.

Forex.com, a brand operated by StoneX-owned Gain Capital, offers excellent trading services when it comes only to forex. It offers trading with 91 forex pairs and has operations globally.

It also provides traders with a range of trading platform choices, including MT4, MT5, and its proprietary platform. It has some excellent indicators and charting tools and offers a social sentiment on currency pairs, which is a unique signal for forex trading. Additionally, forex spreads charged by the broker are also on the lower side of the industry average.

Lowest Spread & Trading Fees Forex Broker in US

We picked TD Ameritrade as the best forex broker with the lowest spread and trading fees in the USA.

TD Ameritrade was established in 1955 and is one of the United States’ oldest brokerages. It offers forex trading via its platform thinkorswim. It lists 73 forex pairs, and average EUR/USD spreads range from 1.065 pips: the average industry spread for the pair is around 1.6 pips. Apart from spreads, the platform does not charge any commission.

US Forex Brokers List & Review

Here is a list of all the US brokerages offering forex trading services.

Best Regulated Forex Brokers for US Clients

US Forex BrokerCFTC RegulatedVisit platform
IG (US)YesVisit IG (US)
Interactive BrokersYesVisit Interactive Brokers
OANDAYesVisit OANDA
Forex.comYesVisit Forex.com
TD AmeritradeYesVisit TD Ameritrade
NADEXYesVisit NADEX
ATC BrokersYesVisit ATC Brokers
Ally InvestYesVisit Ally Invest

FAQ & More on the US Brokers

Traders usually have many questions related to trading queries. We tried to pick and answer some of the most important queries related to CFTC regulated Forex Brokers USA.

How to Verify a Regulated US Broker?

There are several databases about the financial market players managed by agencies in the United States. Two of the popular such databases (which are not managed by CFTC) are:

CFTC manages the RED List database, which is mostly compiled by consumer tips.

But the most useful database remains NFA’s BASIC database, which is the acronym for Background Status Affiliation Information Center. You can check if an entity or individual has been screened and holds the membership of the association.

NFA's BASIC database
BASIC database

ECN Forex Brokers in US

ECN brokers offer traders direct market access and do not take any positions against the traders. These brokers offer raw market spreads with zero or tight spreads and usually charge a commission as trading fees.

Some of the real ECN forex brokers in the United States are:

  • Forex.com
  • Interactive Brokers
  • ATC Brokers

MT4 Forex Brokers in US

MT4 is the leading trading platform used by forex traders across the world. Despite many limitations, this legacy platform is supported by a large number of market developers with third-party plugins.

MT4 has become an industry-standard trading platform and most of the US brokers offer trading services on MT4.

Some of the best forex brokers with MT4 platform in the US are:

  • IG (US)
  • Forex.com
  • OANDA
  • ATC Brokers

US PayPal Forex Brokers

As traders want fast and easy deposit methods, brokers are in a rush to integrate popular payment modes. PayPal is one of the most sought payment methods sought by traders as deposits can be made almost instantly.

Some of the US forex brokers taking deposits via PayPal are:

  • IG (US)
  • OANDA

Best US Forex Brokers for Beginners

Recently forex brokers are seeing an influx of new retail traders which pushed them to make their platform beginner-friendly. Brookers are adding more educational resources and making the trading platforms easy to understand to lure beginner traders.

Some of the best forex brokers in the US for beginners are:

  • IG (US)
  • Interactive Brokers
  • TD Ameritrade

US Friendly Forex Brokers

In spite of the strict regulatory conditions, there are still US friendly forex brokers that accept US clients to operate their trades. Here is the list of the brokers that offer the best conditions to the US residents:

  • IG
  • Forex.com
  • TD Ameritrade
  • OANDA
  • ATC Brokers

Thus, traders can choose between US friendly forex brokers according to their trading expectations.

Offshore Forex Brokers Accepting US Clients

Several forex brokers holding licenses from off-shore jurisdictions are offering services to United States clients. We highly recommend traders not to open accounts with such brokers as they are operating illegally in the US and might face regulatory actions anytime.

Tax in the USA for Forex Trading

Forex trading in the USA is taxable. Traders in the United States have two options for how they want their trading earnings taxed. They can either file them under Section 988, under an individual’s tax bracket, ranging from 0% to 37%. Section 1258, on the other hand, offers an interesting option for taxation. In this case, 60% of the income will be taxed at a 15% rate. The remaining income will be taxed as ordinary earnings.  

US traders should be careful and responsible for submitting tax forms to the relevant institution of the country. In case of tax avoidance or carelessness, traders will be faced with complications and possible fines for tax avoidance.

Author of this review

By George Rossi

Author of this review

I am a well-rounded financial services professional experienced in fundamental and technical analysis, global macroeconomic research, foreign exchange and commodity markets and an independent trader.

Now I am passionate about reviewing and comparing forex brokers.

Everything you find on BrokerTested is based on reliable data and unbiased information. We combine our 10+ years finance experience with readers feedback. Read more about our methodology

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *