Headway Leverage Explained
What “unlimited leverage” actually means — and how to use it responsibly
What Leverage Does Headway Offer?
Headway offers leverage ranging from 1:1 up to unlimited, with the higher tiers typically unlocked once an account has traded past a set volume threshold (commonly cited around 5 standard lots). Below that threshold, leverage is capped at a fixed ratio depending on account type and instrument.
How Unlimited Leverage Works in Practice
“Unlimited” leverage means the broker doesn’t cap the ratio between your margin and position size — but your actual exposure is still limited by your account balance and the broker’s margin call / stop-out rules. In practice, this gives active traders more flexibility to size positions without needing to keep large idle balances as margin.
Leverage and Margin Call Risk
Higher leverage shrinks the price move needed to trigger a margin call. A 1:500 position can be wiped out by a much smaller adverse move than a 1:10 position of the same size. If you use high leverage, pairing it with a strict stop loss (see our Stop Loss Strategy guide) isn’t optional — it’s the only thing standing between a bad trade and a blown account.
Recommended Leverage by Experience Level
- ✔ New traders: 1:10–1:50, focus on execution and discipline first
- ✔ Intermediate traders: 1:100–1:200, with strict position sizing
- ✔ Experienced, volume-based strategies: higher tiers, only with proven risk controls
Why Brokers Offer High Leverage
Leverage lets brokers attract traders who don’t have large amounts of capital to deposit, by letting a small margin deposit control a much larger position. It’s a genuine competitive feature — but it doesn’t change the underlying math of the market. The broker isn’t giving you free money; they’re letting you borrow exposure, and that exposure has to be repaid in full regardless of which direction the market moves.
Leverage vs Margin: What’s the Difference?
Leverage is the ratio (like 1:500) describing how much position size your margin can control. Margin is the actual amount of your account balance set aside as collateral for that position. Higher leverage means less margin is required for the same position size — which is exactly why it increases risk: less of your capital is “locked in” as a buffer before a losing trade triggers a margin call.
Real Example: How Leverage Changes Your Position Size
With $500 in your account at 1:100 leverage, you can control a position worth roughly $50,000 (0.5 standard lots). At 1:500, that same $500 could control a position worth $250,000 (2.5 standard lots) — five times the exposure from the same deposit. If the market moves 1% against you at the higher leverage, the dollar loss is five times larger too. This is why leverage is often described as a multiplier for both outcomes, not just the favorable one.
Practical Leverage Guidelines
Rather than asking “what’s the maximum leverage I can use,” ask “what leverage lets me hold a sensible stop loss while risking only 1-2% of my account per trade.” For most retail traders, that answer sits well below Headway’s unlimited ceiling — the unlimited tier exists mainly for high-volume, tightly risk-managed strategies, not as a default setting for every account.
How Leverage Interacts With Your Rebate
Higher leverage lets you open larger positions with the same capital, and since JFRebate’s Headway rebate is calculated as a percentage of spread per trade, larger position sizes can mean a larger absolute rebate per trade too. This is part of why high-leverage, high-volume strategies pair naturally with a rebate program — but it cuts both ways, since larger positions also mean larger dollar swings on both winning and losing trades. Never increase your leverage purely to chase a bigger rebate; the rebate should be a byproduct of your strategy, not the reason for it.
