Retail CFD Is Closing In on US Stock Markets. It Gets There by 2028

Retail traders now generate over $1.3 trillion in daily CFD volume, equivalent to 14% of the entire global FX market, up from just 2.7% five years ago. FMIntel new metric, the Retail Intensity Ratio, captures this seismic shift for the first time, revealing that the retail segment grew 442% over five years while institutional FX expanded just 28%. At this pace, retail CFD could match the structural weight of US equity retail trading by 2028, and the institutional world can no longer afford to look away.

A Finance Magnates analysis of broker data against the latest BIS Triennial Survey shows retail CFD trading has quietly become a structural force in global foreign exchange markets, growing nearly five times faster than institutional volumes.