10 Best Forex Brokers: 2020 Fee Comparison by BrokerNotes

A few months ago I came across a way to hold crypto in my RRSP/TFSA and have been answering questions about how to do that in comments, DM's, and Skype consults. I figured it would be helpful to put together one big comprehensive FAQ. Cryptocurrency is treated as a commodity by the CRA and you must pay capital gains taxes on any profits if held outside a TFSA. If bitcoin goes to $1m as some are predicting, the Canadian government is going to be taxing a huge windfall in capital gains taxes.
BACKGROUND
Bitcoin & other crypto cannot be held directly in a RRSP/TFSA, and there are no eligible ETF's in North America yet. However, the ETN COINXBT which trades on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in Sweden (Nasdaq Stockholm) is eligible.
ABOUT COINXBT
COINXBT holds bitcoin directly and its price per share is based on a 0.005 multiple of the current bitcoin price.
For example, if the current price of bitcoin is $10000USD, a share of COINXBT will be worth $50USD (ie: $493 Swedish Kroner)
Company's website and full prospectus at: https://xbtprovider.com/
Price quote / chart: https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/COINXBT:SS
HOW-TO TRADE
Only some Canadian brokerages allow you to trade on eligible international exchanges in your TFSA. Some do not.
Typically placing trades on international exchanges online is not an option and must be made over the phone broker-assisted at a much higher cost than typical North American securities.
CANADIAN BROKERS
I've called pretty much every brokerage to inquire if international securities can be held in a TFSA and what the fee is to transact. You may want to call yourself to see if policies have changed, but here's a summary:

• National Bank: $75 per trade + $0.06 per share (confirmed works)
• TD: Fee dependent on amount traded. Up to $5K is $187, $80K would be $520 per trade (confirmed works)
• CIBC: $250 minimum, based on trade amount. $50K would be about $350 to buy and $350 to sell (confirmed works)
• Scotia iTrade: $250 CAD per trade CAD, unlimited shares & order size (should work)
• BMO Investorline: Fee-based on total trade amount. $50K would be $325 to buy $225 to sell, $50-$60K would be $350 to buy $240 to sell (should work)

Not available, or not available in RRSP/TFSA:

• Interactive Brokers, can trade it, but not in RRSP/TFSA
• Questrade
• Royal Bank
• Credential Direct
• HSBC (has access to almost every exchange other than Stockholm)
• Qtrade
• Virtual Brokers

FAQ's
Are you sure it's legal? I'm quite sure it's illegal.

• This is 100% legal. The Stockholm Stock Exchange is a RRSP/TFSA eligible exchange. Source: https://www.fin.gc.ca/act/fim-imf/dse-bvd-eng.asp

Who is your broker? CAD account?

• I used National Bank Direct Brokerage. The fee's came out to $75 per trade + $0.06 per share.
  For example, the commission for a trade I did for 885 shares of COINXBT was $75 + $53.10 for a total of $128.10. Canadian funds were used to make the purchase and there were no forex fees for converting to Swedish Kroner (SEK)
  

How do I make a trade once I'm ready?

• Call your brokerage and say you want to place a trade on the Stockholm stock exchange. You may be forwarded to a person that specializes in that, and eventually to a broker that deals with placing order on international exchanges. Tell them the symbol to trade is COINXBT and the name of the ETN is "Bitcoin Tracker One".

How do I calculate the number of shares to trade to max out my TFSA?

• The price of COINXBT is in SEK. In my case using NB I took my balance minus anticipated fees divided by the current price to see how many shares I could buy.
  For example: For a $10,000 TFSA, current COINXBT price = $554.77SEK (84.27CAD), would be 117 shares at a cost of $9859.59 + $82.02 commission for a total of $9941.61CAD
  

Market or Limit order?

• The first time I placed an order for COINXBT I tried to place a limit order a little below the market price. Over the next week the price of bitcoin ran up a lot and didn't come down. I ended up buying a lot higher. Since then I've been placing limit orders slightly above the current price or just market orders so that they go through right away. I've had no issues doing it either way.

When can I trade? Is it only possible to make the trade while the Swedish market is open and the TSX are open at the same time? Or can you place the order at any time of day?

• You should be able to place the trade anytime your Canadian broker is open (~9:00 - 17:30 EST). However, it the time is outside Stockholm's trading hours, it will be entered as an after-hours trade and will go live when Stockholm opens the next day. My understanding is that the Stockholm exchange closes at 5:30PM (11:30 EST). Here's a comparison of timezones showing Stockholm trading hours: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/?qm=1&lid=2673730,6077243,5946768&h=2673730&date=2017-10-3&sln=9-18.5

Which number did you use to contact the brokerages?

• Contact numbers for various Canadian brokers: http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/canadian-online-discount-stock-brokerage-comparison/

What happens when there is a fork?

• XBT Provider has said they will monitor forks for 3-months and then decide what action to take. In the case of Bitcoin Cash, they sold the forked coins and distributed it as a dividend to anyone that held ETN shares on the fork date.

What about other cryptocurrencies?

• An ethereum ETN was recently launched: COINETH that also trades on the Stockholm exchange. https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/COINETH:SS
  Other than that, I am not aware of any other eligible crypto securities that can be held in a RRSP/TFSA
  

How is the price of COINXBT determined?

• It's based on the average price of the top 3 exchanges

Why not just buy GBTC?

• GBTC is traded on the OTC exchange in the US and is not RRSP/TFSA eligible

Why can't I place a trade online myself?

• For now, there are no crypto ETF's on North American exchanges. They have been in the works for years in the US, but no approvals yet. Evolve funds recently said they plan to launch a Canadian Bitcoin ETF.
  Trading COINXBT is a bit of a hassle, but you're getting in ahead of everyone else that are not willing to put in the time/effort.
  Once the Canadian/US ETF launches, it will probably be worth it to sell COINXBT and switch to the North American one which should be easy to trade online just like other ETF's.
  

Feedback
If you've managed to get crypto into your RRSP/TFSA in any other ways than listed above please do leave a comment and I'll update the post. Thanks!

Edit: For those who down-vote but do not debate.
​
https://preview.redd.it/yc7ak1jvbp821.png?width=473&format=png&auto=webp&s=48dd3f89f1e580c20198c32e48655a2da34ac99e
​
I want to cover points made in a recent post. You can see full here.
https://www.reddit.com/Forexnoobs/comments/ac068f/i_got_banned_from_rforex/
​
It raises the points that I think people who have a gripe with what I am doing are feeling. I want to openly, and cordially, discuss/debate these points. With the OP, or anyone else of their thinking.
Lies hide in darkness. I am here to talk in the light, baby.
I have messaged the OP to invite them here. Let's talk. We might just both be on the same side.
(Edit: The OP has declined to opportunity to further discuss this matter).
​
Ask questions. Do not make assumptions. The truth will out.
​
I will go through this comment in sections, but here it is in it’s entirety so you can see nothing is quoted out of context.
​
https://preview.redd.it/4xwr9fmnyk821.png?width=603&format=png&auto=webp&s=71396b76baa76504bd8d1a8a1c97134d7d9bf0ee
​
​
https://preview.redd.it/rmuiq8lqyk821.png?width=552&format=png&auto=webp&s=10c6f5caabf29cbbb8730b2b3ca93446dbb05ec2
This is not about /Forex, it is about prejudice. forex is old news for me now.
​
​
https://preview.redd.it/6ep95q9uyk821.png?width=606&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a29ac2ab7eb7028dccc30465df4b5f15bdcb932
I am not. I could cite so many examples to show I am not. If you go to the MQL5 site, you will find thousands of people telling you they have a way to make money in Forex and telling you how you can use it. None of these people are purporting to be financial advisors, nor required to be so. Start going to the websites of anywhere offering Forex tools or tips, scroll to the bottom of the page and read the risk disclaimer.
This is something that is clearly stated in ForexCopy. It is a bread and butter thing in this industry. 100,000s of thousands of services do what I am doing (and charge). Anyone who cares to know, can go and verify the things I have said. Everything is provided for educational purposes only. I do not know anyone well enough to make any sort of suggestions as to what they should do with their personal money. I am saying what I am doing … you do you.
​
​
https://preview.redd.it/0jlbrd4xyk821.png?width=590&format=png&auto=webp&s=bde05a5133bdd59055c2dec3fbfcaeaebaba3626
​
Okay. I did update the FX Blue, though. Didn’t I? I showed the results. Everyone can see the results, everyone has fair information to make their choice on that. User set risk settings. I can blow my account without copiers doing so, if they choose. Anyone can clearly prevent ultra-high risk trading with these settings, and this account shows them why that could be worth doing.
​
​
https://preview.redd.it/axdy6o20zk821.png?width=625&format=png&auto=webp&s=74d442182ad91486cea459324b9175f79d77c85e
I tell people to trade with IC Markets because they are the best. Tell me a better broker if you disagree. Let’s do a proper comparison. If that broker is better, I will duly adjust the broker I say is the best to trade with.
​
​
https://preview.redd.it/tkyicch2zk821.png?width=571&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a824a961dec575f25b60a5766d819d1731d4b48
It does matter. If they were to lose with trading 0.1 lots, for example, I would make maybe $0.20 from each person. $20 per a hundred. Sometimes we should not ask questions in case we get the answers to them, but do I really seem like I could not work out a way to make this sort of money not fucking anyone over? It’s not a bank job.
However, if they win … and maybe even if they read all my posts in here and get some trader knows, they will have a bankroll in IC markets, know how to conserve and increase that and keep trading. In which case … this is awesome for me. This is my win. This is my payout end game. I am doing this to help people, if I do it right; that is how I benefit. It does matter if they win or lose if my main concern is making money. I stop making money if they lose. Then there is ethics, but we are talking only things that individuals can personally logic check, so fuck it, let’s just say I am a prick. Still matters. Matters muchy.
On a side note, I have explained the strategy fully. So if I was to "commission whore" by opening and closing trades just for the sake of it, this would be quickly obvious. I post analysis and reasoning for all my trades. I post the risk taken in the trade. https://www.reddit.com/Forexnoobs/comments/acggwp/trading_journal_for_medium_risk_single_shot_copy/
If I do things that are conflicts of interest, or show lack of care for clients funds; these things will be seen. Clearly seen. I have provided all the data. People can log directly into the trading account. There is no-where to hide sneakiness. I designed it this way.
​
​
https://preview.redd.it/klrxtiaozk821.png?width=482&format=png&auto=webp&s=28f801062a2cc2cead1d611e23582fae93dda261
Name a deception or case of dishonesty. My losses are posted publicly. My affiliation clearly disclosed, and you are literally only basing deception on the idea you think I am flippant about them losing money. Which is unfounded.
​
​
https://preview.redd.it/gguvp0gqzk821.png?width=641&format=png&auto=webp&s=303d7507a27f9649381daa198ddcd895d6b56fbf
If I was selfish and greedy, I would do this and I’d do it with a broker paying me 500% more. Want to test this? Go to brokers websites and start emailing them and asking them what they pay their IBs. Find out how greedy I am being. I know all my options.
If I am only manipulating naive people, I can sign them up to a terrible broker the same as a good one? Why would I take this big cut in my profit margin? Especially if I didn’t care of they lost and wanted the most upfront?
This does not actually make sense. Why would I not do it in a model where I could place their trades so I could trade bigger lots? Why would I let them control that? I certainly know how to do that. It would be more profitable for me. This is the least profitable way this can be done. I am not even forcing people to join ICM. Terribly inefficient brutal capitalism.
​
​
https://preview.redd.it/f24yzbxszk821.png?width=674&format=png&auto=webp&s=78fe684a32262f334126990a3bc7cc781a94da89
I do not want ignorant followers. I do not even want followers. I want a crowd of thinkers. Let’s think. Be rational. Have healthy scepticism without corrosive cynicism. I post everything. All my trades. Why I take them. How I developed the strategies. If people are ignorant, I hope they leave. I want people who are observant, and make use of the things I take the time to do for them.
​
​
https://preview.redd.it/lfzyfaoxzk821.png?width=617&format=png&auto=webp&s=4b82479ff93a627ac2e92db3c59f5a806b3792dd
My only advice to people is to think for themselves. Do their own diligence and make prudent and conscious decisions.
​
​
UPDATE;
​
Unless anyone can raise any unique points , backed up with facts, logic and common sense, I think I've now said everything I have to say on this.
​
From here, I talk with results. I invite anyone else to do so also. They are the only thing that matter.
https://www.reddit.com/ForexCopy/comments/acg7ux/fifo_high_and_medium_risk_single_shot_strategies/
forexcopy
https://www.myfxbook.com/members/inweedwetrust
​
And with music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ&list=RDZT9CZ4QbdCU&index=27
​
From now on, if people talk without actually using any logic or facts to back up what they are saying, since it will appear to me you have neglected to come up with an actual original idea, I will just respond to that by posting song lyrics. I consider them to be equally valuable.
​

I've been trading on Robinhood for a year and have been enjoying it quite a bit. It's obviously great for basic trades and what not, but I'm starting to get to a point where I would like to be able to do some things that are currently beyond what the app offers.
Primarily, I'd like to be able to purchase OTC ADRs (or the actual foreign listing) and start doing some basic option trades, potentially getting into some limited Forex trading in the future.
Some cursory research has me thinking etrade, td ameritrade, optionshouse, or scottrade are probably the best bets,
but was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or recommendations on what they feel would be a good "next step" after Robinhood?