Glossary of trading terms

Our comprehensive list of all the trading-related terminologies that you need to know.

a
API token

A unique code generated by the API provider, granting users or applications access to specific actions. It serves as an authentication method for different scopes of access such as view, trade, perform payment operation, and admin access.

Account currency

The currency you choose when opening a trading account with Deriv. All trading activities, including profits, losses, deposits, and withdrawals are done in the account currency.You can select your account currency upon sign-up, which can either be in fiat or cryptocurrencies.

Account limits

These are maximum amount of money or trading assets that you're allowed to trade within a specific period. These limits are set by default.

Accumulate (Growth rate)

A feature in accumulator trading. It’s the rate at which you can choose to grow your stake for every tick that stays within the barrier. You can choose a growth rate between 1% and 5%.

Accumulator - Growth start step

A feature in accumulator trading. It’s the minimum number of ticks before your payout starts to grow.

Accumulator - Maximum aggregate open stake

The maximum stake of all open trading positions opened by all traders per each growth rate. When this limit is hit, we’ll freeze the opening of new positions until the total stake drops.

Accumulator Options

A trade type that allows you to grow your potential profit exponentially as long as the price moves within the trade barriers.

Admin fee

It's a type of trading account charges which applies to overnight positions in Deriv MT5 swap-free accounts after a five-day grace period.

Affiliate

A Deriv business partner who introduces Deriv to potential new clients. Affiliates earn commissions based on the relevant plans they have subscribed to.

Allow equals

A feature in the Rise/Fall option trade type that allows you to earn a potential payout when the entry spot equals the exit spot. You'll have to enable it before opening your position.

American Indices

American Indices replicate the performance of the leading publicly traded companies within a particular sector or segment of the US economy.

American options

A derivative contract that can be exercised at any time before the expiry date. Some examples of these options that we offer on SmartTrader are Touch/No Touch and In/Out.

Arbitrage

A trading strategy that involves taking advantage of price discrepancies in different markets or between different instruments to earn a profit.

Asian Indices

Asian Indices replicate the performance of the leading publicly traded companies in the financial markets in Asia and Oceania.

Asians options

A derivative contract that allows you to predict if the exit spot will be higher or lower than the average of all ticks. Some examples of these options that we offer on SmartTrader are Asian Up and Asian Down.

Ask price

The price a seller is willing to sell an asset to a buyer in open trades. It is the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for an asset at a given time.

Asset

Any financial instrument that holds value and can be traded such as forex, commodities, stocks, and indices, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, and derived indices.

Asset class

Also known as an asset group, it refers to a category of financial instruments. It consists of groups of similar assets that share similar characteristics and behave in the same way in a portfolio.

Deriv offers a range of asset classes on our platforms, including:

  • Forex currency pairs
  • Commodities
  • Stocks and stock indices
  • Cryptocurrencies
  • Derived indices, consisting of basket indices, synthetic indices, and derived FX
At the money

A term used in options trading to describe a situation where the strike of an option is equal to the current market price of the underlying asset. In other words, the option is "at the money" when there is no intrinsic value in the option — it is neither in the money nor out of the money.

Australia 200

Also known as the ASX 200 (Australian Securities Exchange 200 Index), Australia 200 tracks the performance of the largest and most actively traded companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

b
Barrier offset

An options feature that allows you to set a target price of an underlying asset. The barrier offset represents the distance between the target and the current price.

Barrier(s)

The target price that you set for an underlying asset on an options trade. This allows you to predict if the market price will go above, below, or remain between your price targets.

Base currency

The first currency listed in a currency pair. It shows how much the base currency is worth as measured against the quote currency.

For more information, check out this blog article.

Base rate

The benchmark interest rate set by a central bank or monetary authority of a country. The base rate serves as the foundation for the interest rates charged by commercial banks when they lend money to customers.

Basis point

A unit of measurement used in finance to describe changes in interest rates or other financial percentages. One basis point is equal to 0.01%, or one hundredth of a percentage point.

Basket indices

Basket indices measure the value of a particular currency against a basket of five global currencies (EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD, USD), each weighted by 20%.Basket trading allows you to trade your favourite currency against a basket of major currencies.

Bear

A bear trader is someone who believes that the market or a particular asset is going to experience a decline in value. This view is known as bearish, and it typically involves selling assets that the trader owns or short selling an asset in anticipation of a market decline.

Bear market

A market condition in which prices of assets are falling, and investor confidence is low. It is generally characterised by a consistent decline in market prices, typically by 20% or more, over an extended period of time, often several months or longer.The term "bear" comes from the metaphor of a bear swiping its paws downward to attack its prey, as the downward trend of the market resembles the bear's movement.

Bear market index

A synthetic market that replicate bearish trends with constant volatility.

Bid price

The price at which a buyer is willing to purchase an asset from a seller. The bid price in trading is the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for an asset at a given time.

Bid-Ask spread

The difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay (the "bid") and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept (the "ask") for a financial asset. The bid-ask spread represents the cost of trading and reflects market liquidity, with narrower spreads typically indicating more liquid markets.

Bollinger Bands

A technical analysis indicator used to assess the volatility and potential price levels of a financial instrument. It help traders identify periods of high or low volatility, potential trend changes, and potential breakout points in the price chart.

Breakeven point

The price level at which your position's profit and loss are equal. In other words, the trade has paid for itself and there are no net profits or losses.

Breakout

Breakout in trading refers to a price movement of a trading asset beyond a significant level of support or resistance.

Broker

A person or a firm that acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers of financial instruments. Brokers facilitate trades by connecting buyers and sellers and executing trades on behalf of their clients.

Bug bounty

Our bug bounty programme that offers rewards to individuals who identify and report bugs on our platforms. Rewards are based on the impact and severity of the reported bug.

Bull

A bull trader is someone who believes that the market or a particular asset is going to experience an increase in value. This view is known as bullish, and it typically involves buying assets that the trader believes will increase in price.

Bull market

A market condition in which prices of assets are rising or expected to rise over a prolonged period, and investor confidence is high. The term "bull" comes from the metaphor of a bull attacking its prey by thrusting its horns up into the air.

Bull market index

A synthetic market that replicate bullish trends with constant volatility.

Buy

The act of purchasing a financial instrument with a buy order, with the expectation that its value will increase in the future. When you buy an asset, you are taking a long position in that asset.

Buy limit

A pending order to buy a trading asset at a price lower than the current market price. Buy limit orders give you control over your entry points and help prevent you from overpaying for assets. However, the fulfilment of the order depends on market conditions and the availability of sellers willing to sell at or below the specified limit price.

Buy price (CFDs)

The price at which a buyer is willing to purchase an asset. Buy price is also known as the ask price, and it is typically displayed on the right side of a quote.

Buy price (Options/Multipliers)

The amount you pay to open a trade position. With options, you won’t ever lose more than this amount. Also known as a premium, it’s the price you pay to purchase an options contract. Factors that influence the buy price, including the asset price, strike, expiry time, market volatility, and interest rates.

Buy stop

A stop order that triggers a market buy order when the price trades at or above a specified stop price level. It is used to either close out short positions or enter new long positions if the price rises to the predefined trigger level.

Buy stop limit

A conditional order that combines a stop price and a limit price. When the market reaches the stop price, the order becomes a limit order to buy at or at better than the specified limit price, allowing you to control both the entry price and execution conditions.

c
Call option

An option trade contract that allows you to speculate on the price of an underlying asset without owning the asset itself. You’ll open a call option if you predict that the market price will rise within a specific time period.

Candlestick

A type of chart used to display the price movements of an asset. For more information, check out this blog article.

Capital

The amount of money that is available for trading.

Central bank

A financial institution that is responsible for managing a country's monetary policy and regulating its banking system.

Closed position

A closed position is when you complete a trade by conducting an opposite transaction, which terminates your exposure, eliminating any further potential risk or profit or loss associated with the trading asset.

Closing price

Also known as close price, this refers to the last traded price of an asset at the end of a trading session.The closing price is often used as a key parameter in technical analysis.

Commission

The fee we charge for executing a trade on our trading platforms. The amount we charge depends on the asset, market conditions, and other factors.

Commodities

A commodity is a basic raw material that can be bought, sold, and traded on exchanges around the world.When trading commodities such as metals and energy on Deriv, you'll predict the commodity prices without owning the underlying asset.

Consolidation

This refers to a period of price movement in which the price of a financial asset remains within a defined price range, without making significant moves in either direction.

Consumer price index (CPI)

This index is an economic indicator that evaluates inflationary trends in the market, measuring changes in the prices of goods and services over time. It is used to track market inflation and to understand the purchasing power of consumers.As the prices of goods and services increase over time, the CPI will also rise, indicating a decrease in the purchasing power of each currency unit.

Continuous indices

These indices correspond to simulated markets with constant volatilities of 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%.One tick is generated every two seconds for volatility indices 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100.One tick is generated every second for volatility indices 10 (1s), 25 (1s), 50 (1s), 75 (1s), and 100 (1s)

Contract duration

The time frame between the opening of a trade contract and its expiry. This can range from a few seconds to months or even years, depending on the trade type.

Contract for difference (CFD)

A type of trading that allows you to speculate on the rise or fall of an underlying asset and profit from the difference between the contract's entry price and exit price without actually owning the asset.

Contract size

The standardised quantity or volume of a financial instrument that is traded in a single contract.

For more information, check out our trading specifications.

Contract value

The current value of a trade contract based on the initial buy price and the current profit/loss. The contract value depends on the instrument type.

For CFDs, the contract value is determined by the size of the contract and the current price of the underlying asset.

For options, the contract value is influenced by the strike, the current price of the underlying asset, and the number of contracts held.

Conversion rate

The exchange rate used by a payment processor to convert funds from one currency to another, similar to currency exchange.

Copy trading

A trading strategy in which a trader can copy trades from others, typically more experienced and successful traders.

You can use this feature on Deriv MT5 and Deriv cTrader to automatically replicate the trades of your favourite expert traders.

Corporate account

An account that is opened and maintained by a company, to manage trading accounts and activities.

Crash/Boom Indices

These synthetic indices are designed to produce an average of one price drop (crash) or spike (boom) event in a series of 300, 500, or 1,000 ticks.

A "boom" market is when the price of the underlying asset is expected to rapidly increase, while a "crash" market is when the price of the underlying asset is expected to rapidly decrease.

You can trade multipliers and CFDs on these indices.

Crypto account

A trading account with cryptocurrency as the account currency.

You may have multiple cryptocurrencies accounts with Deriv, registered under a single email.

Crypto wallet

A digital wallet that allows traders to transfer cryptocurrencies into their Deriv crypto account and vice versa.

Cryptocurrencies

In trading, cryptocurrencies are digital assets that can be bought and sold on cryptocurrency exchanges. Unlike traditional currencies, they operate on decentralised, peer-to-peer networks, which means that they are not controlled by any central authority or government.

Cryptocurrency trading on Deriv involves speculating on the price movements of various digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, without owning the underlying asset.

Crystallisation

The act of converting unrealised profits or losses into actual realised profits or losses by selling the assets.

Currency appreciation

Currency appreciation is when one currency gains value in relation to another currency in the foreign exchange market. This results in the ability of one unit of the appreciating currency to purchase more units of the other currency than before.

Currency depreciation

Currency depreciation happens when a currency loses its value compared to another currency in the foreign exchange market. This means that it requires more of the depreciating currency to buy one unit of the other currency than it did before.

Currency pair

A currency pair is the quotation of two different currencies, with the value of one currency being expressed in terms of the other.

Current stake

This refers to the current stake amount of a trade contract based on the current total profit/loss.

Cut-off time

The deadline by which a trade must be executed or submitted for processing within a specific trading day for it to be considered for that day's trading activities. The cut-off time may vary depending on the financial market traded.

DEX Indices

DEX indices reflect simulated markets where asset prices react swiftly to news events, characterised by frequent small movements and occasional significant spikes or drops every 600/900/1500 seconds on average.

d
Daily reset indices

A synthetic market that replicate bullish trends with constant volatility.

Day order

A type of order in financial trading that instructs a broker to buy or sell a financial instrument at a specified price during regular trading hours on a particular trading day. The order is valid for that day only and will expire at the end of the trading day if not executed.

Day trading

A trading strategy in which traders buy and sell trade within the same day, with the aim of profiting from short-term price movements. Day traders don't hold any trade positions overnight, and all trades are closed before the market closes for the day.

Deal

A trading deal is a transaction that is executed on the platform when an order is filled.

Deal cancellation

A multipliers feature that allows you to cancel trade contracts within a chosen time frame without losing your stake. We charge a small fee for this.

When deal cancellation is active:

  • Stop loss and take profit won’t be available. They will only be available once the deal cancellation period expires.
  • If the market price reaches the stop-out level before the deal cancellation's period expires, we’ll cancel your position and return your stake without profit or loss.
Deal cancellation duration

The time frame in which you can cancel a trade contract without losing your stake.

Deal cancellation fee

A fee we charge for the deal cancellation feature with multipliers. This fee may vary for every trade contract. You can see the fee amount when you choose deal cancellation before opening a position.

Deflation

A decrease in the general price level of goods and services over time. Opposite of inflation.

Demo account

A trading account that allows you to practise trading on Deriv using virtual funds. It is also referred to as virtual account.

Deposit

The action of transferring money from a payment account to the main trading account. Access your cashier to make a deposit.

Deposit limit

The minimum and maximum deposit limits set for a specific payment method that you can use to transfer funds into your Deriv trading account.Visit our payment methods page to learn more on the different minimum and maximum deposit limits for each payment method.

Deriv API

The Deriv Application Programming Interface (API) gives you access to all trading functionalities of our Deriv Trader platform and allows you to build your own trading application using the programming language of choice. You can earn commission on trades and payments performed by your clients via the apps you create with Deriv API.

Deriv Blog

The official trading blog of Deriv, providing market insights, trading tips, educational content, and updates on the platform.

Deriv Bot

This is a platform where you can build your own automated trading bot using drag-and-drop “blocks”, without needing any programming knowledge. Each block contains instructions that determine the bot's behaviour.

Deriv GO

Deriv’s mobile trading app that gives you access to the forex, derived indices, and cryptocurrencies market. Visit the the Deriv GO page to learn more about its features.

Deriv MT5

A popular multi-asset CFD trading platform, developed by MetaQuotes, that gives you access to the forex, stocks & indices, cryptocurrencies, commodities, ETFs, and derived indices markets. Visit the Deriv MT5 page to learn more about its features.

Deriv P2P

A peer-to-peer deposit and withdrawal service for you to buy and sell Deriv credits in exchange for your local currency. Deriv credits can be used for trading activities on our platforms. It is currently available in selected countries only. Visit our FAQs to know more about Deriv P2P.

  • Deriv P2P is unavailable to clients residing in the EU.
Deriv Prime

Deriv Prime is a division of the institutional trading services of Deriv Group, offering liquidity solutions and global market access through a single integration point for institutional clients.

Deriv Trader

A powerful yet easy-to-use trading platform, giving you access to the forex, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and indices market. Visit the Deriv Trader page to know more about it.

Deriv X

A customisable multi-asset trading platform offering CFDs on forex, commodities, exchange-traded funds, stocks & indices, cryptocurrencies, and derived indices. Visit the Deriv X page to know more about this platform.

Deriv cTrader

A multi-asset trading platform offering CFDs. It has various features including copy trading, limit orders, stop orders, chart trading, and custom indicators to enrich your trading experience.

Derivative

A financial contract whose value is derived from the underlying asset or security, such as stocks, commodities, currencies, or market indices. With this type of contract, you can speculate the price movements of these financial instruments without owning them.

Derived FX

Derived FX indices are simulated assets with prices derived from the price movements of real major forex pairs. Our algorithms track real-world currency prices and dampen price fluctuations caused by news events and market sentiment.

Trading derived FX offers you the opportunity to trade on simulated assets that are based on major forex pairs at the volatility level of your choice.

Explore derived FX indices available on Deriv.

Derived indices

Derived indices is a market category that consists of Deriv's in-house developed trading assets. Currently, derived markets include synthetic indices, basket indices, and derived FX. These indices have asset prices derived from real-world and simulated markets.

Explore derived indices available on Deriv.

Digital options

A derivative trading product that allows you to predict the market price movement from 2 possible outcomes. For example, rise or fall. You’ll earn a fixed payout if your prediction is correct. If the market price doesn’t move in your favour, you won’t lose more than your stake. Learn more about the digital options available on Deriv.

Digits - Even/Odd

A digital options trade contract that lets you predict whether the last digit of the last tick will be an even or odd number. View the digital options available on Deriv.

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