XTB Captures 80% of All New Polish Brokerage Accounts

XTB is cementing its dominance in the Polish brokerage market, capturing a stunning four out of every five new accounts opened in October. The company added a massive 58,300 new Polish brokerage accounts during the month, thoroughly eclipsing rivals in a domestic market that signed up 71,700 new clients in total.

The figures, released by Poland’s Central Securities Depository (KDPW), highlight XTB‘s reliance on its home country for global expansion. XTB announced it surpassed the 100,000 mark for new global users in October; the Polish data suggests the domestic market drove the majority of this growth.

This October surge pushed XTB‘s total Polish account count to 716,200, maintaining a commanding lead. In comparison, the second-place finisher, PKO BP’s brokerage arm, attracted 6,500 new accounts, while mBank’s division followed with 4,500.

However, this rapid expansion came at a cost. XTB suffered a system outage last week that the company attributed to infrastructure failing to keep pace with client growth.

XTB Captures 80% of All New Polish Brokerage Accounts

Adam Dubiel, XTB‘s Chief Product & Technology Officer, addressed the issue in an interview. “We developed one component over more than a decade, and it worked great during that time,” Dubiel explained. “Now it’s failed, which also relates to the fact that we keep growing. It does not match the current reality.”

Dubiel noted that most of XTB‘s systems run on newer architecture, but the legacy component caused the problems after recent growth rates overwhelmed it.

The October numbers also offered some bright spots for established players trying to fend off XTB‘s dominance. PKO BP’s brokerage benefited from parent company bond offerings marketed to retail clients, while mBank’s division promoted exchange-traded fund trades.

Poland’s 34 traditional brokerages manage 2.38 million accounts combined (excluding non-Polish-regulated rivals like Revolut). XTB controls roughly 30% of that total, a share that grew steadily as the company added accounts at a 62% clip through August. mBank holds a distant second place among Polish-regulated brokerages with 493,800 accounts.

The surge in account openings reflects broader shifts in how Polish investors approach markets. Recent data shows 27% of investors aged 18 to 24 now view stocks as their primary wealth-building tool, nearly matching the 25% who prioritize real estate.

That generational split marks a departure from older cohorts, where 39% of those aged 34 to 54 still put property first. The younger group also relies heavily on social media for investment ideas, with 21% citing online platforms as their main information source.

However, those digital habits carry risks. Surveys show 29% of traders in the 18-to-24 bracket lost money following online advice.

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