Automated tradingUpdated 2 min readBy the FXNOD team
Are trading bots legal?
In most countries, using a trading bot on your own account is legal where trading that product is legal and your broker permits automation. What can be unlawful is market manipulation, managing other people's money without a licence, and trading a product your country restricts. This is general information, not legal advice: check your own country's rules.
Three separate questions
| Question | Who decides |
|---|---|
| Is this product legal for me to trade? | Your country's law and regulator |
| Does my broker allow bots? | The broker's terms |
| Is what the bot does lawful? | Market abuse and financial services law |
What brokers allow
Many brokers support automation and publish an API for it. Deriv provides its own bot builder and an API that third-party tools use. Brokers still set limits: request rates, one account per person, and no abuse of pricing errors. Breaking the terms is not a crime, but it can close your account.
What is not allowed
- Manipulating a real market, for example by placing orders you do not intend to fill.
- Trading other people's money, or selling signals as advice, without the licence your country requires.
- Using someone else's account, or letting someone use yours.
- Getting round a country restriction with a VPN or false details.
- Promising returns to attract deposits.
By country
Rules differ on the product more than on the bot. Some countries restrict or ban binary-style options or leveraged CFDs for retail clients, and some require brokers to be locally licensed. A bot does not make a restricted product permitted. Look up your regulator's position on the product and on the broker.
Are AI trading bots legal?
The same rules apply whatever technology makes the decision. The legal risk with products sold as AI bots is usually the selling: guaranteed returns and unlicensed management of client money are unlawful in many places.
Tax
Automated or not, trading profits may be taxable where you live. Keep your statements, and ask a qualified adviser.
FXNOD
FXNOD provides tools that place trades on your own Deriv account, through Deriv's own login and API. It does not hold your trading balance, trade on your behalf at its own discretion, or give investment advice. Whether you may trade Deriv's products where you live is for you to check.
Questions people ask
- Is automated trading legal?
- Generally yes on your own account, where the product is legal for you and the broker allows it. Check your own country's rules.
- Does Deriv allow trading bots?
- Deriv offers its own bot builder and an API used by third-party tools.
- Is it legal to sell a trading bot?
- Selling software is usually lawful. Promising returns, or managing clients' money, can require a licence and can be unlawful without one.
- Can I run a bot on someone else's account?
- Brokers' terms generally forbid it, and managing another person's money can require a licence.
Run a bot that keeps its limits
FXNOD's bots run on its servers and will not start without a stop loss, so your limits hold when your device is off. Build one in Bot Forge or start a ready-made one in Auto Hub, on your Deriv demo account first.
Get started