Through the use of leverage, traders are able to invest a small amount of money and trade much larger deal sizes. This is useful because the movement in currency rates can be very small, and larger trades represent larger profits/losses for every pip change in the rate. Leverage allows you to trade with more money than you have in your account, because you effectively “leverage” your free balance to open a larger trade. Leverage is shown as a ratio, for example 1:100. Note that leverage amplifies both potential profits and losses alike.