How a broker is checked before it is ranked

The first filter: can you actually use it here

A broker is only considered if a resident of the Philippines can open an account, fund it through the rails available here such as GCash or bank transfer, and withdraw without a step that blocks local customers. A platform that works beautifully in another country but cannot take a Filipino client is not a candidate, however good its screenshots look.

This is the check that removes the most names, and it is deliberately first. Everything else, from platform quality to how positions are sized, only matters after a reader can genuinely reach the account and get money back out of it.

What happens when two sources disagree

When two sources disagree, the primary source wins. For broker facts, the primary source is the broker's own official documentation: legal terms, product schedules, and regulatory disclosures. A third-party review site, a forum post or an affiliate page is a secondary source and is used only to prompt a check, never to settle a fact. If the broker's documentation says one thing and a secondary source says another, we publish the broker's version and note the discrepancy internally. We do not average the two or present both as equally valid.

For market data, the primary source is the consolidated feed that powers the live price. If two feeds disagree by more than a trivial amount, we display the consolidated feed's value and do not show a range. The reference price of 77000.0 used in worked examples is a snapshot from that feed, not a consensus of every exchange. If the feed itself is ambiguous, for example during a flash move, the calculator may briefly show a stale value with a timestamp. We prefer a clearly timestamped stale value to a silently smoothed one.

When sources disagree on a calculated figure, we recompute from the formula and the stated inputs. The $385.00 margin example, for instance, is not taken from any source; it is derived from 0.10 lots, a reference price of 77000.0 and the applicable leverage cap. If a reader computes a different number, the disagreement is usually in the inputs, not the formula. We publish the formula in words so you can see where the difference arises. We do not adjust a calculated figure to match an external source; we show the inputs and let the arithmetic stand.

What refreshes automatically and what a human reviews

Live prices and currency conversions refresh automatically. The BTC/USD reference price and the USD/PHP rate update from their feeds at intervals measured in seconds, so the numbers you see in the calculators reflect the market at the moment you load the page. These automatic updates are not reviewed by a person before they appear; they are raw feed data. If a feed goes down, the last known value remains on screen with a timestamp, and the calculators will use that stale value until the feed recovers. We do not smooth or interpolate missing prices.

Broker specifications and regulatory caveats are reviewed by hand. The maximum leverage cap for the entity serving the Philippines, the list of platforms (MT4, MT5, cTrader and the FxPro app), and the statement that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC but not by the SEC of the Philippines are checked against the broker's official documentation before publication. These facts do not change often, but when they do, the change is material. A human editor confirms the change at the source, updates the page, and records the date of the review. Automated feeds are never allowed to overwrite a broker fact.

Worked examples are calculated by hand and then checked by a second person. The $385.00 margin figure for a 0.10-lot BTC/USD position, for instance, is recomputed from the formula using the reference price and the applicable leverage cap. If the reference price moves, the example is not automatically updated; it remains as a static illustration with its original inputs. This is deliberate: a worked example that silently changes with the market is harder to audit. When we update an example, we change the reference price explicitly and note the new inputs, so you can see exactly what was used.

How a broker fact is dated and re-checked

Every broker fact on the site carries a review date in its metadata, even if the date is not always displayed next to the sentence. The date records the day a human editor last confirmed the fact against the broker's official documentation. For the leverage cap that applies to the entity serving the Philippines, for example, the editor checks the broker's legal page and product schedule, not a marketing summary. If the documentation has not changed, the review date is updated to show the fact was re-confirmed. If it has changed, the fact is rewritten and the new date is recorded.

Re-checks are triggered by three events: a scheduled quarterly review, a change detected in the broker's documentation, or a reader report that a fact appears out of date. The quarterly review is a calendar reminder, not an automated scrape. A change in documentation might be a new leverage notice, a platform update, or a regulatory disclosure. A reader report is treated as a tip, not a source; the editor still verifies at the primary source before changing anything. No broker fact is updated solely because a reader or a third-party site says it has changed.

The regulator caveat that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC but not by the SEC of the Philippines is re-checked at the same time as the leverage cap because the two are related. The entity that serves the Philippines determines which leverage cap applies, and the licence list determines what protections you can expect. If the broker changes its entity structure for the Philippines, both facts would need updating together. We do not publish a broker fact without a review date, and we do not remove a review date to make a fact look timeless.

How you can reproduce any number on this site

To reproduce the margin figure, take the position size in BTC, multiply by the BTC/USD reference price, and divide by the maximum leverage cap for the entity serving the Philippines. For 0.10 lots at 77000.0, the notional is $7,700.00; divided by the applicable cap, the margin is $385.00. You need the cap from the broker's documentation; we do not state it as a number here because it is a regulatory parameter, not a universal constant. Once you have it, the arithmetic is simple and you can check our result exactly.

To reproduce a pip value in pesos, multiply the number of lots by 1.0 (the pip size for BTC/USD) by the number of pips, giving US dollars. Then multiply by the USD/PHP rate you want to use. For 0.10 lots and a one-pip move, the dollar value is $0.10; at 58.00 pesos per dollar, that is ₱5.80. The site uses a live mid-market rate, so your result will differ if you use a different rate or a rate that includes a conversion cost. The formula is the same; only the rate assumption changes.

To reproduce a position size, start with your account balance in pesos and the percentage you are willing to risk. Convert the risk amount to US dollars at your chosen USD/PHP rate, then divide by the stop distance in pips. Because one pip equals 1.0 and one lot equals 1 BTC, the result is the number of lots. For example, a ₱10,000 risk at 58.00 is about $172.41; with a 500-pip stop, the size is about 0.34 lots. The site's calculator does this automatically, but you can check it with a calculator and the same inputs.

The formula each calculator uses, stated in words

The position-size calculator works backwards from the risk you are willing to take. It takes your account balance in pesos, the percentage of that balance you are prepared to lose on the trade, and the distance in pips between your entry and your stop-loss. It converts the peso risk amount to US dollars using the current USD/PHP rate, then divides that dollar risk by the pip distance. Because one pip on BTC/USD equals 1.0 and one standard lot is 1 BTC, the result is the number of lots that keeps your loss at the chosen percentage if the stop is hit. The calculator does not account for slippage or gaps.

The margin calculator multiplies the position size in BTC by the current BTC/USD price, then divides by the maximum leverage cap that applies to the entity serving the Philippines. For example, 0.10 BTC at a reference price of 77000.0 gives a notional value of $7,700.00; divided by the applicable cap, the margin required is $385.00. The calculator shows the result in US dollars because the contract is denominated in USD, but it also displays the approximate peso equivalent using the current USD/PHP rate. It does not include any broker-specific margin adjustments, which can vary by account type and are set by the broker.

The pip-value calculator converts a price move into pesos. It multiplies the number of lots by the pip size (1.0 for BTC/USD) and by the number of pips moved, giving the profit or loss in US dollars. It then multiplies by the current USD/PHP rate to express the amount in pesos. For a 0.10-lot position, a one-pip move is $0.10, or roughly ₱5.80 at an exchange rate of 58.00. The calculator uses the live mid-market rate, not the rate your broker or GCash will give you, so the peso figure is an estimate. It does not subtract commissions or swaps, which are broker-specific and not published as numbers on this site.

Why the live price can differ from a broker quote

The live price on this site is a consolidated reference, while your broker's quote is specific to the venue and the moment you trade. Bitcoin trades on many exchanges, and no single price is official. A consolidated feed blends several venues, which can produce a value that differs from any one exchange. Your broker quotes the price available on its own liquidity venues, which may include a markup or a different set of counterparties. The difference is usually small, but it is not an error; it reflects where the trade is actually executed.

The difference widens when markets are fast or thin. During a sharp move, the consolidated feed may update at a different cadence than your broker's platform, and the two can appear to diverge for seconds or longer. Liquidity can also fragment, so the best bid on one venue is not the best bid on another. Your broker's quote is the one you can trade at, which is why we never present the site's live price as an executable quote. Use it as a reference, and check your platform for the price you will actually get.

Currency conversion adds another layer for readers in the Philippines. The site's live price is in USD, and any peso figure is converted at a mid-market rate. Your broker may convert at a different rate, and GCash or bank transfers involve their own conversion costs and timing. So even if the BTC/USD price matched exactly, the peso amount you see on the site and the peso amount you settle could differ. We state the conversion rate assumption in the calculators so you can see where the gap comes from.

The limits of what we test

We test what a reader can see from outside: whether registration completes for a Philippine resident, what documents are requested, which platforms are offered, and whether the published terms match what the account screens show. We do not have access to a broker's internal pricing engine, its liquidity arrangements, or its complaint history beyond what is public.

A check is a snapshot, not a guarantee. Terms, entity rules and platform menus change, and a page that was accurate on the date we read it can be out of date later. Treat every figure here as something to confirm with the broker before you commit money.

What is deliberately not published and why

We do not publish spreads, commissions, swaps or minimum deposits as numbers. These costs are broker-specific and account-specific, and we were not given reliable, current figures that apply to all readers in the Philippines. Publishing a single number would mislead anyone on a different account type or platform. Instead, we describe what each cost consists of and what it depends on, such as the instrument, the account type and market conditions. This is a deliberate limit, not an oversight. If you need exact costs, ask your broker for a current schedule.

We do not publish leverage ratios other than the cap that applies to the entity serving the Philippines. The cap is a regulatory maximum, and quoting other ratios, even as examples, could be read as a suggestion to use them. The worked example of $385.00 margin for a 0.10-lot BTC/USD position uses the applicable cap and a reference price of 77000.0; it does not imply that 0.10 lots is right for you, nor does it open the door to other ratios. The cap is a ceiling, not a setting to aim at.

We do not publish author names, personal biographies or testimonials. The method is what matters, and it should stand on its own without an appeal to authority. We also do not publish promotional bonuses or time-limited offers, because they change frequently and are not part of a stable methodology. The absence of these items is intentional: it keeps the page focused on reproducible arithmetic and verifiable broker facts. If a figure is not here, it is either because it depends on your specific circumstances or because it cannot be stated responsibly as a single number.

Where the numbers come from

Figures on this site come from the broker's own documents, and we record the date we read them. That includes the leverage cap that applies to the entity serving the Philippines, which is a cap rather than a setting to aim at, and any worked margin figure we quote, such as the roughly $385.00 needed for a 0.10-lot bitcoin position at the applicable cap.

We do not quote spreads, commissions, swaps, or minimum deposits as numbers, because those move and because we were not given fixed figures to stand behind. Instead we describe what a cost consists of and what it depends on, so you know which questions to ask the broker directly.

The known limits of this method

The method cannot tell you what your broker will actually charge or require. Spreads, commissions, swaps and minimum deposits are set by the broker and vary by account type, platform and market conditions. We do not publish numbers for these because we were not given reliable, current figures that apply to all readers in the Philippines. Instead, we describe what each cost consists of and what it depends on, so you know what to ask your broker. Any calculator output is an estimate based on the inputs we state, not a quote from FxPro or any other broker.

The method assumes liquid, continuous markets and does not model gaps or slippage. Bitcoin trades 24/7, but liquidity can thin out around major news or during weekends, and a stop-loss may fill at a worse price than you specified. The position-size calculator therefore gives you a maximum loss under normal conditions, not a guaranteed loss. It also assumes the USD/PHP rate you see is the rate you can transact at; in practice, GCash and bank transfers involve their own conversion costs and timing. These are real costs that the calculator does not capture.

The method is not a backtest and does not predict performance. It is a set of arithmetic relationships: position size, margin, pip value and currency conversion. It says nothing about whether a trade will be profitable, and it does not incorporate strategy, timing or market direction. The leverage cap is a regulatory maximum, not a suggestion to use it; trading at the cap magnifies both gains and losses. The worked example of $385.00 margin for 0.10 lots is there to show how the arithmetic works, not to imply that 0.10 lots is a suitable size for your account.

Where each class of figure on the site comes from

Every figure on this site falls into one of three classes: live market data, broker-published specifications, and worked examples we calculate ourselves. Live prices come from a consolidated feed that aggregates quotes from major bitcoin venues; the reference price of 77000.0 shown in our examples is a snapshot from that feed. Broker specifications, such as the maximum leverage cap that applies to the entity serving the Philippines, are taken from the broker's own legal and product documentation. Worked examples, like the $385.00 margin figure for a 0.10-lot BTC/USD position, are derived using the formulas described elsewhere on this page. No figure is copied from a third-party review site or a social media post.

The margin figure of $385.00 for 0.10 lots is a worked example, not a live quote. It is calculated as position size in BTC (0.10) multiplied by the reference price (77000.0) divided by the applicable leverage cap. Because the leverage cap is a fixed regulatory parameter for the entity serving the Philippines, the margin requirement changes only when the price changes. We publish the formula and the reference price so you can recompute it yourself. We do not publish a margin figure for any other lot size because that would imply a leverage setting you might mistake for a recommendation. The cap is a ceiling, not a target.

Broker facts such as the platforms offered (MT4, MT5, cTrader and the FxPro app) and the regulator caveat that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC but not by the SEC of the Philippines are sourced directly from the broker's own disclosures. We do not infer these from marketing pages or affiliate summaries. When a broker fact changes, we update it only after seeing the change in the broker's official documentation. This is why some figures on the site carry a date: it tells you when we last confirmed the fact against the primary source. Figures without a date are either live market data or our own worked examples.