The Customer Is Also the CounterpartyThin moat

XTB (XTB) — moat facet

The only company in this collection whose revenue rises when its customers do badly, and it has to print the proportion.

Every other company in this collection sells something and the customer decides whether it was worth the price. Here the customer buys a position and XTB takes the other side of it, so the two parties are in direct financial opposition on every transaction. When the client is right, XTB pays.

How XTB gets paidClientopensa CFDXTBquotesthe priceXTBtakes theother side8 pc laidoff withbrokers74 pc ofaccountslose2 035m złgross gainThe mandatory disclosure and the revenue line describe the same transactions
Revenue that rises when the customers do badly, printed on the homepage.

The regulator requires the outcome to be published in XTB's own marketing: "74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider", printed beside the offer, alongside the warning that contracts for difference "are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage".1 No other business here has to describe its customers that way.

The relationship this creates is not adversarial in the way it first sounds. XTB has every commercial reason to want clients to survive: a client who loses their balance stops depositing, and the whole model depends on a growing base of people who keep coming back. The education programme, the risk tools, the appropriateness testing are all real, and all pull in the direction of longevity.

But the arithmetic does not change. The 2 035 million złoty of gross gain on contracts for difference in 2025 is, by construction, what those accounts did not keep.2 And the market maker decides how much of that exposure to hedge: 8 per cent of notional was transacted with outside brokers at the end of June 2026.3

XTB has to recalculate and republish the disclosed loss rate. Seventy-four per cent is what a prospective client sees at the moment of decision, and it is also, arithmetically, where the revenue comes from.4

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

The disclosed loss rate is unchanged at 74 per cent and the model has been the same since 2002. What moved is the hedge ratio, from 16 per cent of notional to 8, which makes the opposition sharper without changing its nature.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Gross gain on contracts for difference
2 035m zł in 2025 - the money the accounts did not keep

XTB takes the other side of every contract for difference its clients open, so the 2 035 million złoty of gross gain in 2025 is arithmetically what those accounts lost. European rules require the proportion to be published in XTB's own marketing: 74 per cent. No other business in this collection has to describe its customers that way, and the hedge that would soften the opposition covered 8 per cent of notional at the end of June 2026.

Source: XTB Group consolidated annual report for 2025 ↗
References
  1. ReportedThe regulator requires the outcome to be published in XTB's own marketing: "74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider", printed beside the offer, alongside the warning that contracts for difference "are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage".
    XTB mandatory risk disclosure on xtb.com - "74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider." and "CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage." — September 2026 · publ. 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedThe 2 035 million złoty of gross gain on contracts for difference in 2025 is, by construction, what those accounts did not keep.
    XTB Group consolidated financial statements for 2025, comprehensive income statement and revenue notes - total operating income 2 146 056 against 1 873 436; income from fees and charges 20 287 against 12 291; other income 3 198; marketing (584 898) against (344 808); salaries and employee benefits (413 019) against (311 574); commission expenses (107 415) against (97 289); other external services (132 846) against (79 226); amortisation and depreciation (25 405) against (19 905); taxes and fees (15 955) against (13 109); costs of maintenance and lease of buildings (10 559) against (7 999); other costs (23 580) against (12 791); total operating expenses (1 313 677) against (886 701); profit on operating activities 832 379 against 986 735; finance income 39 603 against 62 845 including interest income on financial instruments at amortized cost 26 538 and income on bonds 12 744 against 26 138 and foreign exchange gains of nil against 10 307; finance costs (94 594) against (1 129), of which foreign exchange losses (93 125) against nil, relating to unrealised differences on the measurement of balance sheet items denominated in a currency other than the functional currency; profit before tax 777 388 against 1 048 451; income tax (133 189) against (191 595); net profit 644 199 against 856 856; basic earnings per share 5,48 against 7,29. Result of operations in financial instruments by class for 2025 and 2024: Commodity CFDs 923 714 and 896 672; Index CFDs 760 736 and 622 728; Currency CFDs 290 408 and 272 276; Stock and ETP CFDs 60 047 and 44 762; Bond CFDs 101 and 735; total CFDs 2 035 006 and 1 837 173; Stocks and ETPs 78 310 and 30 654; gross gain on transactions in financial instruments 2 113 316 and 1 867 827; bonuses and discounts paid to customers (17 328) and (12 629); commission paid to cooperating brokers (51 406) and (54 623); net gain on transactions in financial instruments 2 044 582 and 1 800 575; interest income on client funds 140 129 and interest paid to clients (62 140), giving net interest income of 77 989 and 58 989 — FY2025 · publ. March 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedAnd the market maker decides how much of that exposure to hedge: 8 per cent of notional was transacted with outside brokers at the end of June 2026.
    XTB Group half-year report for the first half of 2026, notes - nominal value of derivative financial instruments at 30 June 2026 and 31 December 2025: Index CFDs 3 642 905 and 3 933 252; Commodity CFDs 3 967 775 and 6 216 958; Currency CFDs 2 204 780 and 3 284 496; Stock and ETF CFDs 1 767 315 and 1 615 397; Bond CFDs 4 118 and 1 553; Options 125 478 and nil; total 11 712 371 and 15 051 656, and as at 30 June 2026 transactions with brokers represent 8% of the total nominal value of instruments against 16% at 31 December 2025; clients' financial instruments at 30 June 2026 and 31 December 2025: listed stocks and rights to stocks 23 345 382 and 15 138 542; ETFs 20 018 050 and 12 144 808; other securities 207 and 207; total 43 363 639 and 27 283 557; amounts due to clients: retail 7 023 586 and 6 428 875, institutional 100 955 and 99 348, total 7 124 541 and 6 528 223; contributions to the compensation scheme with a closing balance of 28 338 against 23 981; total employment at 30 June 2026 of 1 548 people against 1 516 at 31 December 2025; XXZW Investment Group S.A. holding 42 067 329 shares or 35,78% at 30 June 2026; XTB Lithuania UAB incorporated with no operations yet; dividends of 478 507 thousand złoty paid in the period — H1 2026 · publ. 28 August 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedSeventy-four per cent is what a prospective client sees at the moment of decision, and it is also, arithmetically, where the revenue comes from.
    XTB mandatory risk disclosure on xtb.com - "74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider." and "CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage." — September 2026 · publ. 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026