"How much do I need to start?" is one of beginners' first questions — and one of the worst-answered, because marketing loves to make people dream. Here's an honest answer, with no magic number, so you can decide like an adult.
There is no magic amount
No threshold "unlocks" success. Trading with an Expert Advisor is possible with small accounts as with large ones. What really changes with capital is the margin for error and the ratio between costs and account size.
The real question: what risk per trade?
Everything flows from the 1% rule. If you risk 1% per position, your capital determines the absolute value of that 1%. On a very small account, 1% may be below the minimum lot size at some brokers — a sign you should start more cautiously, or in demo.
Three principles more useful than an amount
- Only risk money you can afford to lose. That's rule number one, and it's non-negotiable. Trading capital must never be your rent.
- Start small (or in demo). The first months are for learning the process, not "making money". A small real account teaches the emotional discipline a demo can't.
- Think in relative costs. Spread, commissions and a possible VPS weigh more, proportionally, on a small account.
The leverage trap
Leverage gives the illusion that small capital is enough to trade "big". It's a trap: leverage amplifies losses as much as gains. A small, over-leveraged account empties fast. Risk management always trumps account size.
Beware promises
If someone tells you "with $X and this bot, you'll make $Y per month", run. No one can promise a return — not a bot, not a human. Adestto AI makes no promise of gain: we publish tools and education; the result depends on the market and your discipline.
Starting on the right foot
Before talking amounts, talk method and risk. Follow the learning resources, internalize the 1% rule, and test in demo via the MT5 bots guide.
Educational content. Adestto AI is a software and educational-content publisher — not a broker or an investment adviser. No return is guaranteed; trading involves risk.