Why most "welcome bonus" offers aren't what they look like
A broker welcome bonus reads simply on the landing page: deposit $200, get $100 free. What the landing page rarely spells out with equal size is the condition attached — a trade-volume requirement you must clear, inside a time limit, before any of that bonus becomes usable at all. Miss the deadline or the volume, and the bonus is typically clawed back automatically.
This isn't unique to any one broker; it's the standard structure of the promotion type across the industry, which is exactly why tier-one regulators have moved to restrict it for retail clients in their jurisdictions. We'll walk through how to read the terms below, then look at which of our five ranked brokers run this kind of promotion at all.
Decoding a typical bonus offer
Bonus terms are written in the broker's language, not the trader's. Here's what the common clauses actually mean in practice, translated line by line.
Typical welcome bonus terms, decoded
| Clause | What it usually says | What it actually means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Trade volume requirement | "Trade X standard lots to unlock the bonus" | Often several lots per $1 of bonus — on a small account this can mean turning over tens of thousands of dollars in notional volume, which means real spread and commission cost paid to reach it |
| Time limit | "Complete the requirement within 30/60/90 days" | Miss the window and the unmet bonus, and sometimes any profit tied to it, is removed from your account automatically |
| Bonus withdrawability | "Bonus funds cannot be withdrawn" | The bonus amount itself is usually never cash you can take out — only profit made while using it, and only up to a stated cap |
| Profit cap | "Withdrawable profit capped at $X" | Even a successful trading run using the bonus may only let you withdraw a fixed maximum, not everything you made |
| Minimum hold period | "Deposit must remain for X days" | Withdraw your own original deposit too early and the bonus, and sometimes attached profit, can be voided |
A checklist for reading any bonus offer before you accept it
If a broker cannot answer all six of these in writing before you deposit, treat the offer as effectively unwithdrawable until proven otherwise. This is the same due-diligence habit worth applying before verifying any broker's licence — see our guide to verifying a broker's licence for the parallel check on regulation.
- What is the exact trade-volume requirement, in lots, and by what date?
- Is the bonus amount itself ever withdrawable, or only profit made using it?
- Is there a cap on how much profit you can actually withdraw?
- What happens to open profit if you withdraw your own deposit early?
- Is the promotion available to clients under your specific regulated entity, or only in unregulated regions?
- Does accepting the bonus change your leverage, margin or account type in ways you didn't ask for?
Do Pepperstone, Capital.com, XM and ActivTrades run bonus promotions?
Generally, no — and this is a factual point about regulation, not a knock on any of the four. Pepperstone is regulated by the FCA and ASIC, among other authorities, and runs on cTrader, MT4, MT5 and TradingView; regulated brokers under FCA and ASIC oversight do not typically offer deposit-matching bonuses to retail clients, because those regulators specifically restrict the practice as a client-protection measure.
Capital.com runs MT4 and TradingView alongside its own native app — it does not offer MT5 — and is regulated across multiple tier-one jurisdictions including the FCA and ASIC, which again means no bonus-matching promotions for regulated-entity clients. XM and ActivTrades follow the same pattern under their own FCA, CySEC, ASIC and DFSA licences. If you see a large deposit-bonus offer attached to any of these four brand names, check carefully which entity and jurisdiction it applies to — it is very unlikely to be the regulated one your own country routes you to.