OANDA Welcome Bonus: $250 Cash for a $1,000 Deposit and $1M Traded (US and Canada)

OANDA's Q3 2026 welcome bonus pays cash to new clients of OANDA Corporation (US) and OANDA (Canada) Corporation ULC who register for the promotion between August 1 and October 31, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. New York time. There are three tiers, and each one needs a deposit and a trading volume target, both met within 90 days of registering. Tier 1 pays $250 for a deposit of $1,000 to $9,999.99 plus $1,000,000 in notional trade volume. Tier 2 pays $2,500 for $10,000 to $49,999.99 plus $10,000,000 in volume. Tier 3 pays $25,000 for a deposit of $50,000 or more plus $100,000,000 in volume. The realistic figure for most people is the $250 tier.

The catch is the volume. Notional volume counts both the opening and the closing side of every trade. By OANDA's own example, one standard lot (100,000 units) of EUR/USD opened and closed adds roughly $234,000, so $1 million is a little over 4 standard lots traded round trip. On a $1,000 account under US leverage limits you cannot open a full standard lot of EUR/USD in one go, so in practice it means a dozen or so smaller round trips, each one paying the spread and carrying real risk of loss. For the $25,000 tier, OANDA itself says about 45 round trips of 10 lots each are needed. The deposit must stay in the account for at least 60 days, and the bonus is credited 60 days after every requirement is met, so the money arrives roughly two to five months after you start. The US landing page mentions a 30-day deposit hold, but the terms PDF and the Canadian page both say 60 days, so plan for 60. Once credited, the bonus is cash you can trade or withdraw.

Eligibility is narrow. You must have started your OANDA application after January 1, 2026 and not funded or traded before August 1, 2026, unless OANDA invites you by email, and you must register through the promotion page. It is limited to one account per household. Joint accounts, accounts under a power of attorney and anyone who has received an OANDA bonus before are excluded, and it cannot be combined with other OANDA offers. Canadian clients who deposit in CAD are paid in CAD. The terms leave taxes to you: they say you are responsible for any tax on the bonus and do not mention any tax form, so treat it as taxable income and keep your own records. OANDA can take the bonus back if a deposit is charged back or returned, or if it finds abusive trading such as very tight stop-loss or take-profit levels used only to build volume.