Ninety-One Per Cent Runs on xStationNarrow moat

XTB (XTB) — moat facet

Owning the code is why a Cash ISA, spot crypto and extended hours all shipped inside six months.

Proprietary software in a retail brokerage buys three things, in descending order of importance.

Shipped in the first half of 2026Cash ISA, United KingdomGBP 20 000 limit, no leverageSpot crypto, Cyprus then Chile46 currencies, MiCA rulesExtended European hours07:30 to 22:00, ~1 000 sharesMedia sentiment moduleAI, across shares and CFDsPosition selectionReplaces automatic FIFOIKE and IKZE on desktopPolish retirement accountsFour of the six move the product away from leveraged derivatives
Owning the code is why six things shipped in six months.

The first is what gets built. A firm on licensed software ships what the licensor ships. XTB shipped a Cash ISA for British clients in the first quarter of 2026, spot cryptocurrency trading in Cyprus and then Chile under the European crypto-asset regime, extended European trading hours, and desktop management of Polish retirement accounts, all inside six months.1 None of those is a trading feature; all of them are the product widening away from leveraged derivatives, which is the direction the whole company is trying to move in. That widening is only available to a firm that controls its own code.

The second is the data. Every quote shown, every position opened and every hesitation before a click sits inside XTB's own systems rather than a vendor's. That is what makes the acquisition machine measurable: the company can state an acquisition cost of about 600 złoty per client per quarter because it can see the funnel end to end.

The third is cost. A licensed platform charges per seat or per volume, so the software bill grows with the business. XTB's grows with headcount instead, and headcount rose 22 per cent in 2025, to 1,516, against revenue growth of 15.2

Turnover on xStation and its mobile app was 91 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, and has not once reached 95 in the eight quarters XTB has published it.3 That residual is the part of the book with nothing holding it.

Moat trajectory: Widening

Six significant features shipped in the first half of 2026, four of which move the product away from leveraged derivatives. Every one of them was available because XTB controls its own code rather than a vendor's roadmap.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
CFD turnover in lots, first half of 2026
4,154,831, down 1,8%

Most new features move clients away from leveraged contracts. Turnover in CFDs falling while clients grow is that shift on XTB's own platform; it also removes the business that pays best.

Source: XTB results presentation, first half of 2026 ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
MetaTrader Is Still Nine Per Cent
A tenth of the turnover runs on the one platform every rival also offers, and that share has not fallen in two years.
References
  1. ReportedXTB shipped a Cash ISA for British clients in the first quarter of 2026, spot cryptocurrency trading in Cyprus and then Chile under the European crypto-asset regime, extended European trading hours, and desktop management of Polish retirement accounts, all inside six months.
    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 ↗
  2. ReportedXTB's grows with headcount instead, and headcount rose 22 per cent in 2025, to 1,516, against revenue growth of 15.
    XTB Group consolidated financial statements for 2025, balance sheet, off-balance-sheet items, employment, capital and shareholders - nominal value of derivative financial instruments at 31 December 2025 and 31 December 2024: Index CFDs 3 933 252 and 3 766 277; Commodity CFDs 6 216 958 and 3 705 548; Currency CFDs 3 284 496 and 2 952 168; Stock and ETF CFDs 1 615 397 and 1 169 077; Bond CFDs 1 553 and 11 126; total 15 051 656 and 11 604 196, of which transactions with brokers represent 16% at 31 December 2025 and 14% at 31 December 2024; clients' financial instruments held in brokerage accounts: listed stocks and rights to stocks 15 138 542 and 7 907 437; ETFs 12 144 808 and 5 773 953; other securities 207 and 207; total 27 283 557 and 13 681 597; contributions made to the compensation scheme with an opening balance of 17 923 and a closing balance of 23 981; total employment in the Group at 31 December 2025 of 1 516 people against 1 245 at 31 December 2024, including persons under employment contract and other forms of civil law contract including B2B; the Parent Company supervised by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority under a permit dated 8 November 2005, No. DDM-M-4021-57-1/2005, registered in the National Court Register under KRS 0000217580 with its seat at ul. Prosta 67, 00-838 Warszawa; foreign branches in the Czech Republic, Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Germany, France and Portugal; subsidiaries including XTB International Ltd (Belize), XTB MENA Limited and XTB Financial Services L.L.C (United Arab Emirates), PT XTB Indonesia Berjangka (90%), XTB Agente de Valores SpA (Chile), XTB Services Limited (Cyprus), X Open Hub Sp. z o.o. (Poland), XTB S.C. Limited (Seychelles), XTB Africa (PTY) Ltd (South Africa) and a Turkish entity in liquidation, with XTB Digital Ltd of Cyprus liquidated in September 2025; share capital of 117 383 635 series A shares and 185 616 series B shares of nominal value PLN 0,05, each carrying one vote with no preference; XXZW Investment Group S.A. of Luxembourg, controlled by Jakub Zablocki, holding 51 472 869 shares or 43,78% at 1 January 2025 and 42 067 329 shares or 35,78% at 31 December 2025, which gives the company control even though it holds less than 50%; dividends of 640 753 thousand złoty paid during 2025 — FY2025 · publ. March 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedTurnover on xStation and its mobile app was 91 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, and has not once reached 95 in the eight quarters XTB has published it.
    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