Interactive Brokers July 2026 Trading Volume Surges 27% Year-Over-Year
FX News Group reports Interactive Brokers logged 4.426 million Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) in July 2026, a 27% year-over-year increase against July 2025 and a 16% decline from June 2026.
Garrett Croft·updated August 04, 2026
Ending client equity reached $906.7 billion, margin loan balances totaled $100.7 billion, and client accounts grew to 5.317 million. For execution-focused traders, the monthly drawdown sits inside a structural expansion: annualized DARTs per account reached 180.
July 2026 Operational Snapshot
| Metric | July 2026 | Y/Y Change | M/M Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| DARTs | 4.426M | +27% | −16% |
| Client Accounts | 5.317M | +34% | +3% |
| Ending Client Equity | $906.7B | +32% | −3% |
| Margin Loan Balances | $100.7B | +49% | −7% |
| Client Credit Balances | $180.5B | +25% | −1% |
Client credit balances include $6.3 billion in insured bank deposit sweeps. IBKR shares traded at $87.03 on the report date, down 1.10% intraday. THE GLOBAL basket—IBKR's 10-major-currency positioning tool—gained 0.26% measured in USD for July, a marginal net-worth contribution.
Per-Order Cost Parameters
- Average commission per cleared Commissionable Order: $2.56 (includes exchange, clearing, regulatory fees)
- US Reg-NMS stock trades: 582 shares average size, $2.13 commission per order
- Equity options: 5.9 contracts average, $3.42 per order
- Futures: 2.8 contracts average, $3.95 per order (exchange + clearing fees ≈54% of total)
- Average US Reg-NMS stock trade size: $23,449 (trade-money calculation)
- IBKR PRO total trading costs: ~4.0 bps in July vs. 2.5 bps trailing-twelve-month average
The 1.5 bps spread between July print and trailing mean is the key execution-cost signal. Slippage components remain undisclosed; variance appears order-mix driven rather than fee-schedule revised. Scalping-cost modeling on IBKR PRO should incorporate the elevated July baseline until the trailing mean reverts.
Parameters To Monitor
1. August DARTs print. Above 4.5M confirms momentum continuity; below 4.0M flags deeper contraction.
2. IBKR PRO bps reversion. Trailing-mean normalization to 2.5 bps remains the cost baseline assumption.
3. Margin loan divergence. +49% Y/Y with −7% M/M warrants leverage-unwind monitoring.
4. Dividend execution. $0.087/share cash dividend, ex-date September 1, 2026.
Binary read: infrastructure holding. Monthly DART softness consistent with summer seasonality, not platform degradation. Margin contraction combined with the elevated July cost print is the divergence to track.