Safety Guide — May 2026
JustMarkets Negative Balance Protection — How It Works, What It Covers & When It Applies 2026
JustMarkets provides negative balance protection globally — your account cannot go below zero regardless of market conditions. This guide explains exactly what negative balance protection means, how it works mechanically, what triggers it, and the important distinction between protection from negative balance and protection from losing your entire deposit.
What Is Negative Balance Protection at JustMarkets?
Negative balance protection is a policy that prevents your trading account from going below zero. It means the maximum you can lose is the amount you have deposited — you cannot end up owing money to JustMarkets under any market conditions.
In normal leveraged trading without this protection, extreme market events can cause your account to become negative. For example: you hold a $100 position open over the weekend. A major news event causes a 500-pip gap at the Monday open. By the time the market reopens and your stop-loss can execute, your account has lost $300 — leaving a -$200 balance. You would owe the broker $200 in addition to losing your deposit.
With JustMarkets' negative balance protection: in the same scenario, your account is reset to $0.00 at no charge to you. The $200 shortfall is absorbed by JustMarkets.
How Negative Balance Protection Works Mechanically
Negative balance protection operates automatically — you do not need to request it, activate it, or pay extra for it. The mechanism:
As your account equity falls, JustMarkets' system monitors your margin level continuously. Margin call triggers at 50% margin level — you receive a warning notification.
If equity continues falling and reaches 20% of required margin, JustMarkets begins automatically closing your positions from the most losing position first.
During a flash crash, gap opening, or extreme slippage, the market may move faster than stop-out execution. Positions may close at significantly worse prices than the stop-out level.
Any negative balance is absorbed by JustMarkets. Your account balance is set to $0.00. No debt is owed.
After a negative balance reset, your account is clean. You can make a new deposit and resume trading with no outstanding debt.
What Triggers Negative Balance — Real Scenarios
Scenario 1: Weekend gap
Most common trigger. You hold a leveraged position over Friday market close. Over the weekend, a major event occurs (central bank statement, geopolitical event, economic data). Markets open Monday with a large gap — price jumps from your stop-loss level to a much worse price. Stop-loss cannot fill at the intended level. Account goes negative.
Scenario 2: Flash crash
Sudden, extreme, and rapid price movement — like the Swiss Franc flash crash (2015) or various crypto flash crashes. Price moves hundreds of pips in seconds. Automated stop-outs cannot execute at normal levels. Multiple traders across the market go negative simultaneously.
Scenario 3: Extreme leverage + small account
Holding 1 standard lot EUR/USD with only $33 in the account (at 1:3,000 leverage). A 3-pip adverse move exhausts margin. In fast market conditions, the stop-out may trigger but execute at a 5-pip adverse move, creating a small negative balance.
| Scenario | Without protection | With JustMarkets protection |
|---|---|---|
| Weekend gap causes -$150 on $100 account | Owe broker $50 | Balance = $0, owe nothing |
| Flash crash causes -$500 on $200 account | Owe broker $300 | Balance = $0, owe nothing |
| Fast market stop-out at 3 pips below zero | Owe broker $30 per lot | Balance = $0, owe nothing |
Margin Call and Stop-Out — The Lines Before Negative Balance
Negative balance is the last line of protection. Before it activates, two prior risk management levels exist:
| Level | Trigger | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Margin call | Equity = 50% of required margin | Warning notification. No automatic closure. Opportunity to add funds or close positions manually. |
| Stop-out | Equity = 20% of required margin | Automatic position closure begins. Most losing position closed first. Continues until margin level returns above 20%. |
| Negative balance protection | Equity < $0.00 | Account reset to $0.00. Remaining positions closed. No debt to JustMarkets. |
What Negative Balance Protection Does NOT Cover
Negative balance protection is frequently misunderstood. It is important to be clear about what it does and does not do:
- ✓Prevents your account from going below zero under any market condition
- ✓Means your maximum possible loss equals your total deposited capital
- ✓Applies automatically — no action required
- ✓Global policy at JustMarkets including offshore entity clients
- ✗Does NOT prevent you from losing your entire deposit — 100% loss is still possible
- ✗Does NOT protect individual trades from loss
- ✗Does NOT guarantee your Stop Loss will execute at your specified price (slippage still occurs)
- ✗Does NOT mean your account will never reach zero — it means it will not go below zero
Open a JustMarkets Account
Negative balance protection global · $10 minimum · Segregated client funds · 5 regulatory licences