If you can’t go long (open a ‘buy’ position) on cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin or ether, the most likely reason is we have reached our internal limits on these products, and so the market is set to ‘unlongable’. This means we are unable to accept any new long trades either by phone or online – but you’ll still be able to close existing positions.
Due to the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, there’s a limit to the total amount of physical cryptocurrency we can hold as a business. When this limit is reached, we are unable to purchase more cryptocurrency to hedge your position.
This is when a market will be set to unlongable. And because we don’t know when we’ll be off of our limits, it’s not possible for us to estimate when the market may become available to trade again.
Where to see if a cryptocurrency is currently unlongable
The best way to find out if a product has any trading restrictions is via the special info area on the deal ticket.
If you are trading on one of our mobile apps, you can see this in the ‘market info’ section. In the special information at the bottom it will display whether it is possible to take long positions on the given market.
If you are using the IG Trading platform you will need to open a deal ticket and click on the information symbol. On the old platform you will need to click on the downward facing arrow and click on the ‘get info’ section.
