How to Trade Gold in the US

Why this is so confusing

You read a gold strategy guide. It talks about XAU/USD. You open your US broker, search XAUUSD — nothing. Meanwhile the same broker happily offers you EUR/USD.

That inconsistency is the whole puzzle, and it has a precise answer: US law treats currencies and commodities differently, and gold is a commodity. Almost every page ranking for this question is written by a broker or an affiliate, so you get a product pitch instead of the rule. Here is the rule.

What the law actually says

The relevant provision is section 2(c)(2)(D) of the Commodity Exchange Act, introduced by the Dodd-Frank Act. In substance it covers any agreement, contract or transaction in any commodity entered into with — or offered to — a person who is not an eligible contract participant (in plain terms, a retail customer) on a leveraged, margined or financed basis.

Transactions caught by that provision must be conducted on a regulated exchange, and they fall under the CFTC's anti-fraud authority.

There is a narrow exception. Under section 2(c)(2)(D)(ii)(III)(aa), a contract of sale is excepted where it "results in actual delivery within 28 days". That is the carve-out for genuine physical dealing — it is not a loophole for leveraged speculation, and the CFTC has brought numerous enforcement actions against precious-metals firms that offered leveraged off-exchange metals without delivering.

Separately, offering contracts for difference to retail customers off-exchange is unlawful unless the counterparty is one of the regulated entities enumerated in section 2(c)(2)(B)(ii) — such as a registered futures commission merchant (FCM) or retail foreign exchange dealer (RFED).

So why can you trade EUR/USD?

Because currency is not gold, legally speaking.

Retail off-exchange foreign exchange has its own regime. US retail forex is offered by firms registered with the CFTC and members of the National Futures Association — typically FCMs and RFEDs — under rules written specifically for retail forex.

Spot gold does not sit inside that regime. Retail commodity transactions in gold and silver are subject to section 4(a) of the Act as if they were contracts of sale of a commodity for future delivery — which points you back to the exchange.

So the split you are seeing is not arbitrary: EUR/USD travels the retail-forex road; XAU/USD travels the commodity road, and that road runs through an exchange.

The four routes that are actually open

1. Exchange-traded gold futures. The direct equivalent of what you were trying to do. Gold futures trade on a US regulated exchange through a registered FCM, with standardised contracts and central clearing. Smaller contract sizes exist for retail-sized accounts, so this is not only for institutions. Futures carry their own complexity — expiry, rollover, contract specifications — but this is the route the law actually points at.

2. Gold ETFs. Exchange-traded funds that hold physical gold, or track its price, trade like shares in an ordinary brokerage account under SEC regulation. Simple, familiar, no expiry to manage. The trade-offs are an annual expense ratio and — for physically-backed funds — that you are holding a fund's claim structure, not metal in your hand.

3. Gold mining equities. Shares in gold producers. These are not a clean proxy for the gold price: they carry company risk, jurisdiction risk, cost inflation and management quality on top of the metal. They can amplify moves in both directions.

4. Physical gold. Coins and bars from a dealer. No leverage, no counterparty exposure to a trading firm, but spreads, storage and insurance costs — and it is an asset you hold, not something you trade actively.

We name no specific funds, brokers or products anywhere on this site. We take no commissions and run no affiliate links, so choosing between these is your decision to research.

The offshore broker temptation

Search for long enough and you will find offshore brokers happy to open a XAU/USD account for a US resident, often advertising leverage far beyond anything available domestically.

Think carefully about what you are actually buying. Solicitation of US retail customers for these products by unregistered firms is the precise conduct the CFTC pursues. More practically: if that firm freezes your withdrawals or fails, you are outside the US regulatory perimeter. There is no CFTC-registered counterparty, no NFA arbitration, and realistically very little recourse.

You can check whether a firm is registered using NFA BASIC, the National Futures Association's free public background database. If a firm soliciting you does not appear there, that is the answer. The patterns in broker red flags and how to spot a forex scam apply with extra force here — an entity that is already ignoring registration rules has little reason to respect your withdrawal request.

Your gold analysis still works

Worth saying, because people conclude the opposite: the instrument changed, the market did not.

Everything that drives the gold price still drives it. Real yields, the Fed, the dollar, safe-haven flows, inflation data — all of it applies whether your exposure sits in a futures contract, an ETF or a coin. So does risk management, and so does the fact that most retail traders lose money.

What changes is the mechanics: contract sizes, expiry, financing costs and tax treatment differ across the four routes, and those details deserve their own research. Start with futures versus ETFs.

The necessary caveat

This is general education, not legal, tax or investment advice, and it reflects our reading of publicly available CFTC material as at 20 July 2026. Regulation changes, and how a rule applies depends on the specific product, counterparty and your own status.

Verify anything you intend to act on with the CFTC and the NFA directly, and take professional advice for your situation. We would rather point you at the primary source than have you rely on a website — including this one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you trade XAU/USD in the US?

Not as a spot CFD through a US retail broker. Under CEA section 2(c)(2)(D), leveraged commodity transactions offered to retail customers must be executed on a regulated exchange unless there is actual delivery within 28 days. US traders access gold through exchange-traded futures, ETFs, mining equities or physical metal.

Why can I trade EUR/USD but not XAU/USD in the US?

Because gold is treated as a commodity rather than a currency. Retail off-exchange foreign exchange has its own regime, offered by CFTC-registered FCMs and RFEDs. Retail commodity transactions in gold are instead subject to section 4(a) of the Act as if they were futures, which points to the exchange.

What is the best way to trade gold in the USA?

There is no single best way and we recommend no products. Exchange-traded gold futures are the closest equivalent to spot trading; gold ETFs are the simplest to access; mining shares add company risk; physical metal removes leverage entirely. Each has different costs, mechanics and tax treatment.

Is it illegal for me to trade gold CFDs with an offshore broker?

The provisions target firms offering these products to US retail customers rather than the customer. The practical risk is what matters: with an unregistered offshore counterparty you sit outside the US regulatory perimeter, with no CFTC-registered counterparty and little recourse if withdrawals stall. This is not legal advice.

How do I check if a US futures or forex firm is registered?

Use NFA BASIC, the National Futures Association's free public background database, to check a firm's registration and disciplinary history. If a firm soliciting you does not appear, treat that as decisive.