How the lots needed to withdraw a bonus are counted
How lot requirements for withdrawing a bonus are worded in each company's terms: trading volume, number of trades and eligible instruments.
Published ・ MyBrokerBonus Editorial
“Trade a number of lots before you can withdraw” is a common way to describe a bonus, but the lot condition inside the terms is worded differently by each company. Some terms fix only a trading volume. Others add a number of trades or the instruments that count. This guide reads the sentences the data holds and sorts out what is written from what is not. Where nothing is written, it says “not in the data”.
The bonuses are offered by the brokers, not by this site. This article does not rank brokers or say which is better. Amounts, numbers of lots and numbers of days are left out of the explanations because brokers change them. The quoted originals carry the figures from when the data was taken. Read each broker’s official page for the current terms.
The offers shown differ between the English and Japanese pages
In this site’s data, the no-deposit offers shown on the English pages are three: AXIORY (the offer made for English-language clients), FXGT and Tickmill. The Japanese pages show six offers made for Japan, and four of those brokers do not appear here. So everything below describes the offers shown on this English page, and no rule is generalised beyond them.
A lot requirement is made of several parts
When terms talk about lots, they may be saying several different things at once. The next figure takes the three no-deposit offers shown in English and marks whether each of five parts is written in the data: the volume, the number of trades, the eligible instruments, a condition for each single trade, and which account counts.
AXIORY
FXGT
Tickmill
Whether a lot is counted per round turn or per side is not in the data for any of these offers. Companies are listed in name order, not by rank. The offers shown differ between the Japanese and English pages.
No offer here has all five parts written. Tickmill’s data holds no lot condition at all, and that is not the same as having no condition. It means only that the data has not recorded one. Tickmill’s offer is also a separate Welcome Account rather than a balance added to your own account.
A volume that unlocks the profit: AXIORY
AXIORY’s offer for English-language clients ties the profit to a first deposit and a minimum volume.
and trades a minimum of 1.0 FX Lot.
AXIORY, official page
What it means. This is the end of one sentence. The first half, which is left out here because it holds an amount, says the profit from the credit becomes withdrawable once the client completes a first deposit of a set size. The end quoted here adds the second condition: a trading volume counted in FX lots. The volume is one condition. There is no number of trades in this sentence. Whether the volume must come from one trade or may be a total over several trades is not in the data. Which account is counted is not in this sentence either.
What happens if you withdraw before the conditions are met: AXIORY
The same offer says what happens to the credit when funds are moved too early.
If a withdrawal of deposited funds or outgoing internal transfer (ITF) occurs before both unlock conditions are completed, all remaining credit will be removed immediately, and any bonus-only profits will be set to zero.
AXIORY, official page
What it means. Withdrawing deposited funds, or sending them out by an internal transfer, before both the deposit condition and the lot condition are done removes all the remaining credit at once. Profit earned only with the bonus is reset to zero. The data’s note adds that after the conditions are met, the credit is reduced in proportion to the balance withdrawn. So the same withdrawal is treated differently before and after the unlock.
Volume and number of trades: FXGT
FXGT’s terms are in Japanese in the data, so the original is quoted and then explained.
8GTロット以上の取引量達成・8回以上のクローズ済みトレード完了が条件となります。
FXGT.com, official page
What it means. Both a trading volume and a number of closed trades are required. The data’s note says the volume is counted in FXGT’s own “GTLots”. How many standard lots a GTLot equals is not in the data, and neither are the eligible instruments. So the lot condition here cannot be compared with another company’s lot condition without that definition.
A formula: Milton Markets
The only formula in the data belongs to Milton Markets’ deposit bonus.
Lot count formula: Required lots = (Bonus received in USD) ÷ 5
Milton Markets, official page
What it means. The lots you must trade are worked out from the bonus you received, divided by a number fixed for the currency. The bigger the bonus, the more lots are required. The next figure shows the shape of that calculation with symbols. The symbols are a made-up example, not one company’s numbers.
- 1. The bonus received: BThe terms use the bonus in the account currency.
- 2. Divide by a number DD is a fixed number the terms state for each currency.
- 3. Required lots: L = B ÷ DA made-up example of the shape only: with the same D, a larger B gives a larger L.
- 4. Trade L, then withdrawThe terms also set the instruments, how long each position is held, and how long the funds stay in the bonus account.
In the data, only one offer states a formula like this: Milton Markets' deposit bonus. The other offers state a fixed volume, or nothing about lots.
The data adds that the instruments are FX pairs and metals, that each position has a minimum holding time, and that the funds must stay for a minimum period. No other offer shown on this page has a formula in the data.
Moving funds before the lots are done: Milton Markets
If you transfer funds out of the bonus account or request a withdrawal before meeting all conditions (90 days + lot requirements), any remaining bonus that has not met the conditions will be removed.
Milton Markets, official page
What it means. Moving funds out of the bonus account, or asking for a withdrawal, before all the conditions are met removes the part of the bonus that has not met them. The lot requirement and the holding period are both counted as conditions. The sentence does not say whether profit already earned is kept or removed.
The next figure puts side by side what the terms say about a withdrawal, for the offers in this article whose terms say how a withdrawal is treated.
AXIORY
What the terms say for a withdrawalBefore the conditions are met: all remaining credit is removed, and profit made only with the bonus is reset to zero.
A different rule after the conditions are metThe credit is reduced in proportion to the amount withdrawn.
FXGT
What the terms say for a withdrawalThe credit is decreased in proportion, at the company's discretion.
A different rule after the conditions are metNot written separately
Milton Markets
What the terms say for a withdrawalBefore the conditions are met: the bonus that has not met them is removed (deposit bonus).
A different rule after the conditions are metNot in the data
Companies are listed in name order, not by rank. Offers whose terms do not say how the bonus is treated at withdrawal, or whose lot condition is not in the data, are not shown here.
Read the figure with care. Only AXIORY’s terms split the rule into “before” and “after” the conditions. For FXGT, the proportional decrease is described as being at the company’s discretion, which is a weaker wording than a flat rule. Tickmill is not in the figure because its data holds no lot condition.
What the data does not say
For every offer shown here, the data does not say the following.
- Whether lots are counted per round turn or per side. No lot sentence for these offers says either.
- Which instruments are counted, for AXIORY and FXGT.
- How many standard lots a GTLot is.
- Any lot condition for Tickmill.
These are not guessed from the data. Check the original wording on the official page, or ask the company, before you open an account.
Point
A lot volume, a number of trades and a holding time are three separate conditions. Meeting one does not meet the others. Read which word in the original points to which condition.
Checklist before you trade with a bonus
- Is the condition only a volume, or does it also fix a number of trades?
- Are the eligible instruments and the account written in the original?
- Does the lot condition unlock the profit, or does it do something else?
- What happens to the bonus and the profit if you withdraw or move funds before the condition is done?
- If there is a formula, does the required volume change with the bonus you receive?
For how withdrawal conditions are laid out overall, read Reading bonus withdrawal conditions. For the lot unit itself, see Lots, pips and currency units.
Risks to keep in mind
Trading with leverage can lose money quickly. Trading more just to build up lots for a withdrawal can make a loss larger. Using a bonus does not remove the loss on a trade. This article does not recommend any broker. Read the broker’s full terms before you open an account, and only trade with money you can afford to lose.
