$20 Capital for Trading?

@Rogi: The answer depends on what type of account the $20 deposit will be traded on. There are 4 types of accounts, namely standard accounts, mini accounts, micro accounts and cent accounts.

With a deposit of $20, you cannot trade on standard and mini accounts because the minimum volume on a standard account is 1 lot while the minimum volume on a mini account is 0.1 lot. The possible choices are micro accounts and cent accounts.

Even using a micro account is still quite risky because the minimum volume used is 0.01 and each movement of 1 pip is worth $0.1. Using $20 means your funds can only withstand 20 pips.

However, there are brokers that are different from typical micro accounts. A volume of 0.01 lot in their micro account is worth $0.01 per pip (not $0.1 as is common). If you use this type of account, then trading is quite safe. With a lot of 0.01, your fund endurance is 200 pips.

Finally, cent accounts are one level lower because the deposit value will be converted to US cent units or multiplied by 100 (as well as when withdrawing, the nominal in the account will be divided by 100). With a deposit of $20, the nominal in the cent account is $20 x 100 = $2000 cent account. By using a minimum volume of 0.01 lot trading in a cent account, a $20 deposit (a nominal of $2000 in the cent account) can withstand 20,000 pips. In this cent account, you can use a volume of 1 lot with a fund endurance of 2,000 pips. Cent accounts are suitable for accounts with a nominal below $10.