Minimum deposit for copying a signal
A signal that trades 1.5 lots on a large account can wipe out a small account copying it. Enter what the signal did at its worst to see the deposit that survives it.
- Minimum safe deposit
- 3,300
- Margin at the heaviest moment
- 1,650
- Worst drawdown at your lot size
- 1,200
- Set by
- the margin
How it is calculated
margin at the heaviest moment = lots × contract size × price ÷ leverage; minimum safe deposit = 2 × the larger of (worst drawdown, margin) × your lot multiplier.
Why two numbers
A copy account fails in one of two ways. The drawdown takes the equity to zero, or the open positions need more margin than the account holds and the broker closes them first. The deposit has to cover whichever is larger.
The factor of 2 is a buffer. The worst drawdown on record is the worst so far, not the worst possible, and a copy fills later and at worse prices than the signal did.
Where the inputs come from
On a signal page, the worst drawdown is usually shown as a percentage of a balance that changed with deposits; convert it to money at the balance of the time. The most lots open at once is rarely shown at all. Monetio reads both from the trade history: the drawdown from the balance walk and the lots from every moment positions overlapped.