Traders decide to purchase and trade CFDs for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they are looking for an easier way to short sell an asset. They may be hoping for a convenient way to access a wider variety of trading products from within one brokerage account. Or, maybe they are just looking for access to lower margin requirements. Below, we'll spell out the reasons why CFDs can be a potential solution for these concerns. Selling short: Under normal circumstances (without CFDs), if a trader expects the price of a given stock to drop (and wants to short sell), they'd need to borrow those shares from their broker and then sell them at the market price. The trader is hoping that the price of the stock does drop so that they can then buy the shares back at a lower price. With CFDs, short selling operates under more or less the same principle, except the trader doesn't have to do any borrowing of any assets. Instead, they can simply create a sell to open order, which will open a new short position in the form of a CFD trade. Then, just like the above example, the trader waits for the price to drop before they buy and (hopefully) close the position with a profit. Of course, if the market moves higher when selling short a CFD and the trader exits the position with a "buy to close" order, that trade would result in a loss. It may be simpler to sell short a CFD than it is for the underlying asset, but that doesn't make it less risky. In fact, the use of leverage can actually make it riskier - more on that next. Leverage: Another reason investors may choose to use CFDs is for the potential leverage, the availability of which varies depending on the product you trade and the country you reside in (and any restrictions or leverage limits). A leverage limit of 10:1 means an investor can control $100,000 worth of CFDs with just $10,000 in their margin account. This lower margin requirement means there is more capital available in their account to use (or risk) for opening additional positions. As one can imagine, with a leverage ratio of 10:1, the potential for both gains and losses is significantly increased. Profits can soar fast, but losses can pile up just as quickly (hence the ever-present disclaimers that detail how risky it is to trade CFDs). Product availability: Forex and CFD brokers are increasingly offering a wider selection of asset classes and a greater total number of available symbols for trading. For example, you might have a trader who wants exposure to the price of Bitcoin but would prefer to avoid owning a cryptocurrency wallet and related exchange account. Instead, they can use a CFD as a means to get that exposure to Bitcoin. It's worth remembering that CFD trading does come with associated fees that may not be present when trading the underlying asset(s).