The Price Is Quoted, Not MatchedNarrow moat

XTB (XTB) — moat facet

There is no order book between XTB and its client, so the price is a decision - and the realised take still swings by a factor of three.

When a client buys a contract for difference on gold, no order goes anywhere. XTB quotes a bid and an offer derived from the underlying market and the client accepts one of them. There is no central order book in which a better price might appear, and no other participant competing to fill the trade.

Profitability per USD 1 million of CFD notional, USDQ3 24Q4 24Q1 25Q2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26Q2 26Posted spreads barely moved across the same eight quarters
The posted price is competitive and stable. The realised take is neither.

This is the cleanest form of pricing power in this collection, and also the most constrained. XTB claims spreads on some instruments that are "among the lowest on the market", charges no commission on shares and exchange-traded funds up to 100 000 euros of turnover, and levies no withdrawal fee.1 Those are the marks of a firm competing hard on the one variable a client can compare across brokers before opening an account.

The distinction worth holding is between the posted price and the realised take. The posted spread is competitive and visible. What XTB actually earns per unit of client activity is neither: 84 US dollars per million of notional in the third quarter of 2025, 238 in the second quarter of 2026, on the same published spreads.2 The difference is not pricing. It is the mix of instruments traded, the volatility of those instruments and which side the clients were on.

So the moat here is narrow and real: XTB sets the price at the point of trade. The qualification is that setting the price is not the same as choosing the revenue.

Profitability per million dollars of notional ranged from 84 to 238 across eight quarters while the posted spreads barely moved.3 Pricing power is real here and it is not what produces the swings.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

XTB has quoted its own prices since 2002 and competes on posted spreads it describes as among the lowest available. Nothing in the mechanism has changed; the realised take moves for reasons that have nothing to do with the posted price.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Profitability per USD 1 million of notional
238 dollars in Q2 2026 against 84 in Q3 2025

XTB quotes the price its client accepts; there is no order book in between. Posted spreads barely moved across two years while the realised take ranged from 84 dollars per million of notional in the third quarter of 2025 to 238 in the second quarter of 2026. Pricing power is real and is not what produces the swings. Watch this against the posted spread, not instead of it.

Source: XTB results presentation for H1 2026, 28 August 2026 ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
Best Execution Is a Standard Somebody Else Sets
When the venue is your own book, best execution is a comparison against reference prices you selected yourself.
References
  1. ReportedXTB claims spreads on some instruments that are "among the lowest on the market", charges no commission on shares and exchange-traded funds up to 100 000 euros of turnover, and levies no withdrawal fee.
    XTB Group Management Board report on activities in 2025, business model and competitive landscape - the model "combines the features of an agency model with a market maker model, in which the Company is a party to transactions concluded and initiated by clients"; "XTB operates as a market-maker, meaning it is the counterparty to a client's transaction"; "XTB executes all transactions in shares, ETFs, and CFDs based on these assets directly on regulated markets or alternative trading systems. XTB is not a market maker for this class of instruments"; the competitive environment divided into trading platform providers (eToro, Trading 212, Robinhood), fintech companies (Trade Republic, Scalable Capital, Revolut) and CFD-only brokers (Plus500, IG Group, CMC Markets, Saxo Bank), with Polish bank-affiliated brokerages named as mBank Biuro Maklerskie, Santander Biuro Maklerskie, Dom Maklerski Banku Ochrony Srodowiska (BOSSA), PKO BP Biuro Maklerskie, ING Securities and Bank Pekao S.A. Biuro Maklerskie, and XTB described as a market leader in Poland; the planned European ban on the payment-for-order-flow model from 2026; key competitive advantages listed as a wide product range including stocks, ETFs, Investment Plans and CFDs plus interest on free funds, an eWallet with a multi-currency card and long-term savings accounts IKE (Poland), ISA (United Kingdom) and PEA (France); the proprietary xStation platform and XTB mobile app; no commissions up to EUR 100 000 turnover on stocks and ETFs and no withdrawal fees; operations in over 15 countries; regulation by nine financial authorities including the FCA and KNF; client fund segregation; 24/5 support; and the XTB Academy. Brand ambassadors Mads Mikkelsen (2016-2018), Conor McGregor and Iker Casillas (2022-2024) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2024-2026); nearly PLN 585 million allocated to marketing in 2025, up 69,6%, including the largest campaign in the group's history launched in September 2025 across 13 markets including Poland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, the Middle East and Indonesia, and sponsorship at Roland Garros and Wimbledon; the XTB brand dating from 2009 and the word "trading" replaced by "investing" in 2023 — FY2025 · publ. March 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedWhat XTB actually earns per unit of client activity is neither: 84 US dollars per million of notional in the third quarter of 2025, 238 in the second quarter of 2026, on the same published spreads.
    XTB results presentation for the first half of 2026, operational data - quarterly series for Q2 2026, Q1 2026, Q4 2025, Q3 2025, Q2 2025, Q1 2025, Q4 2024 and Q3 2024 in that order: total operating income 992 558, 1 094 018, 609 344, 375 821, 580 597, 580 294, 465 416 and 470 234 thousand złoty; transaction volume in CFD instruments in nominal value 1 029 179, 1 333 410, 1 605 005, 1 118 278, 1 144 554, 937 867, 727 854 and 695 315 million dollars; profitability for USD 1 million of transaction volume 238, 216, 93, 84, 128, 144, 147 and 167 dollars; transaction volume in CFD instruments 1 831 627, 2 323 204, 2 542 526, 2 094 296, 2 321 584, 1 907 974, 1 657 390 and 1 627 978 lots; profitability per lot 484, 439, 208, 152, 229, 277, 253 and 272 złoty; marketing expenses 200 081, 235 429, 179 195, 141 495, 123 322, 141 034, 116 855 and 71 613 thousand złoty with client acquisition cost 0,7, 0,9, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7 and 0,6 thousand złoty; structure of the gross result in H1 2026 Commodity CFDs 75,3%, Index CFDs 13,9%, Currency CFDs 5,0% and other 5,8%, against H1 2025 Index CFDs 46,3%, Commodity CFDs 33,1%, Currency CFDs 15,6% and other 5,0%; share of CFD turnover by trading platform for the same eight quarters: xStation 30, 29, 29, 27, 35, 37, 36 and 38 per cent, xStation Mobile 61, 60, 64, 62, 59, 56, 56 and 57 per cent and MT4 9, 11, 7, 11, 6, 7, 9 and 8 per cent; own cash 2 934 090 at 30 June 2026 against 1 994 027 at 31 December 2025, up 47,1%, with no bonds; dividend per share of 1,5 for 2021, 4,86 for 2022, 5,02 for 2023, 5,45 for 2024 and 4,07 for 2025, the 2025 dividend being PLN 478,5 million or 75% of standalone net profit with a record date of 15 June 2026 and payment on 24 June 2026 — Q3 2024 - Q2 2026 · publ. 28 August 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedProfitability per million dollars of notional ranged from 84 to 238 across eight quarters while the posted spreads barely moved.
    XTB results presentation for the first half of 2026, operational data - quarterly series for Q2 2026, Q1 2026, Q4 2025, Q3 2025, Q2 2025, Q1 2025, Q4 2024 and Q3 2024 in that order: total operating income 992 558, 1 094 018, 609 344, 375 821, 580 597, 580 294, 465 416 and 470 234 thousand złoty; transaction volume in CFD instruments in nominal value 1 029 179, 1 333 410, 1 605 005, 1 118 278, 1 144 554, 937 867, 727 854 and 695 315 million dollars; profitability for USD 1 million of transaction volume 238, 216, 93, 84, 128, 144, 147 and 167 dollars; transaction volume in CFD instruments 1 831 627, 2 323 204, 2 542 526, 2 094 296, 2 321 584, 1 907 974, 1 657 390 and 1 627 978 lots; profitability per lot 484, 439, 208, 152, 229, 277, 253 and 272 złoty; marketing expenses 200 081, 235 429, 179 195, 141 495, 123 322, 141 034, 116 855 and 71 613 thousand złoty with client acquisition cost 0,7, 0,9, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7 and 0,6 thousand złoty; structure of the gross result in H1 2026 Commodity CFDs 75,3%, Index CFDs 13,9%, Currency CFDs 5,0% and other 5,8%, against H1 2025 Index CFDs 46,3%, Commodity CFDs 33,1%, Currency CFDs 15,6% and other 5,0%; share of CFD turnover by trading platform for the same eight quarters: xStation 30, 29, 29, 27, 35, 37, 36 and 38 per cent, xStation Mobile 61, 60, 64, 62, 59, 56, 56 and 57 per cent and MT4 9, 11, 7, 11, 6, 7, 9 and 8 per cent; own cash 2 934 090 at 30 June 2026 against 1 994 027 at 31 December 2025, up 47,1%, with no bonds; dividend per share of 1,5 for 2021, 4,86 for 2022, 5,02 for 2023, 5,45 for 2024 and 4,07 for 2025, the 2025 dividend being PLN 478,5 million or 75% of standalone net profit with a record date of 15 June 2026 and payment on 24 June 2026 — Q3 2024 - Q2 2026 · publ. 28 August 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026