Trading glossary

Plain-English definitions of the forex and gold terms you'll see around Expaid and your broker. New here? Start with how cashback works.

Lot

The standard unit of trade size. One standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency. Cashback rebates are usually paid per lot traded.

Mini / Micro lot

Smaller trade sizes: a mini lot is 0.1 lot (10,000 units) and a micro lot is 0.01 lot (1,000 units).

Pip

The smallest standard price move in a currency pair — usually the 4th decimal place (0.0001), or the 2nd decimal for JPY pairs.

Spread

The difference between the buy (ask) and sell (bid) price. It is the main cost of a trade on a standard account.

Commission

A separate per-lot fee some brokers charge (common on raw/ECN accounts) instead of, or on top of, a wider spread.

Rebate (Cashback)

A portion of the broker's spread or commission returned to the trader for each lot traded, paid win or lose. This is what Expaid pays you.

Introducing Broker (IB)

A partner that refers traders to a broker and receives a share of the trading commission in return. Expaid acts as your IB and rebates most of that share to you.

Leverage

Borrowed exposure that lets you control a larger position with a smaller deposit, e.g. 1:100. It magnifies both gains and losses.

Margin

The deposit required to open and hold a leveraged position.

XAUUSD

The ticker for spot gold priced in US dollars. "XAU" is the symbol for one troy ounce of gold.

Forex (FX)

The foreign exchange market, where currencies are traded in pairs such as EURUSD or GBPUSD.

CFD

Contract for Difference — a derivative that lets you speculate on an asset's price (gold, indices, crypto) without owning it.

MT4 / MT5

MetaTrader 4 and 5 — the most widely used trading platforms. Expaid links to your MT4/MT5 account to track volume.

Slippage

The difference between the expected price of a trade and the price it actually executes at, common during fast markets or news.

Swap

The interest charged or paid for holding a leveraged position overnight.

Drawdown

The peak-to-trough drop in account balance or equity, used to gauge risk.

Volume

The total lots traded over a period. Rebates are calculated on volume, not profit.

Base / Quote currency

In a pair like EURUSD, EUR is the base currency and USD is the quote currency — the price is how much quote buys one unit of base.

Bid / Ask

Bid is the price you can sell at; ask is the price you can buy at. The gap between them is the spread.

Scalping

A short-term style of taking many small trades for small moves — high volume, which can mean more cashback.