Market Structure
Standard Lot
A position of 100,000 units of the base currency, the benchmark trade size in forex.
What Standard Lot means
A standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency and is the reference size against which all other lot sizes are defined. It is shown as 1.00 in the volume field of most platforms. On pairs quoted in US dollars, one standard lot gives a pip value of 10 US dollars, which makes mental arithmetic on risk straightforward: a 30 pip stop equals 300 dollars of risk per lot before costs.
Standard lots demand meaningful capital. At typical retail leverage of 30 to 1 the margin on one standard lot of EUR/USD at 1.0850 is around 3,600 US dollars, and at 500 to 1 offshore it is around 217 dollars - the latter leaving almost no buffer for adverse movement. Sizing in standard lots on a small account is the most common route to a margin call, which is why mini and micro lots exist for finer risk control.
Worked example
One standard lot of EUR/USD at 1.0850 is 100,000 euros, a notional value of 108,500 US dollars, and a 10 pip move produces a 100 US dollar profit or loss.
Related terms
- LotThe standard unit of trade size in forex, measured in units of the base currency.
- Mini LotA position of 10,000 units of the base currency, one tenth of a standard lot.
- Micro LotA position of 1,000 units of the base currency, one hundredth of a standard lot.
- Notional ValueThe full market value of the underlying a position controls, calculated as lots times contract size times price.
- MarginThe portion of account equity a broker sets aside as collateral to open and maintain a leveraged position.
Frequently asked questions
What does Standard Lot mean in forex trading?
A position of 100,000 units of the base currency, the benchmark trade size in forex.
How does Standard Lot work in practice?
Standard lots demand meaningful capital. At typical retail leverage of 30 to 1 the margin on one standard lot of EUR/USD at 1.0850 is around 3,600 US dollars, and at 500 to 1 offshore it is around 217 dollars - the latter leaving almost no buffer for adverse movement. Sizing in standard lots on a small account is the most common route to a margin call, which is why mini and micro lots exist for finer risk control.
What is an example of Standard Lot?
One standard lot of EUR/USD at 1.0850 is 100,000 euros, a notional value of 108,500 US dollars, and a 10 pip move produces a 100 US dollar profit or loss.
Trade with a regulated broker
Understanding the terminology is the cheap part. The expensive part is choosing a counterparty whose execution, financing and withdrawal behaviour match what the marketing implies. Every broker below has been reviewed with a funded live account, and each review states which legal entity and which regulator applies to the account you would actually open.
Check the licence on the regulator's own register before you deposit — our regulators directory explains what each authority enforces, from leverage caps to compensation limits.