We all remember how wild the financial markets became when the world first learned about the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, recent global trade war tensions appear to have surpassed that chaotic period, with brokers experiencing unprecedented user activity.

One of them was the publicly listed, Warsaw-based XTB (WSE: XTB), whose trading volumes surged to three times the levels seen during the pandemic.

XTB Reports Record Trading Activity Amid Trump’s Tariff Tensions

The recent escalation in trade tensions between the United States and global trading partners has triggered exceptional volatility in financial markets, driving record user engagement on XTB's trading platform.

"At its peak on Monday, April 7th, the number of active users was three times higher than what we observed during the COVID-19 pandemic announcement," Filip Kaczmarzyk, the Head of Trading and member of XTB's Management Board told FinanceMagnates.com "This resulted in nearly triple the number of open positions compared to that period."

The surge in activity comes as markets respond to recent tariff announcements that sent shockwaves through global exchanges. Despite the platform handling significantly higher traffic volumes, executives emphasized that system stability remained unaffected.

"In those turbulent times, temporary unavailability of trading platforms was a reality at some global players," Kaczmarzyk noted, highlighting that XTB maintained operational continuity throughout the market turbulence.

Transaction Size and XTB Share Grows Amid Volatility

Perhaps most notable was that despite the dramatic increase in user activity, the average size of individual transactions actually increased by 34% compared to levels seen during the early pandemic period, according to the company.

This pattern suggests that both retail and more sophisticated traders are actively positioning themselves in response to market conditions, rather than simply reacting with smaller, defensive trades.

Although XTB shares initially fell to their yearly lows on April 7, they rebounded by 6% during the same session, kicking off a rally that pushed the stock to new all-time highs. The current peak stands at PLN 78.74, a level first tested on April 15 and revisited again today, Thursday, April 17, 2025.

„First and foremost, I want to underscore that XTB’s stock market valuation is not merely a metric for us - it serves as a powerful indicator of our strategic execution and the positive perception investors have of our company,” Omar Arnaout the XTB’s CEO, told FinanceMagnates.com. “Over the past few years, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with both investors (institutional and individual) and analysts consistently recognizing our significant potential.”

Industry-Wide Trading Surge

XTB is not alone in experiencing heightened activity. Other financial services providers have reported similar surges as traders respond to market volatility.

“Following President Trump's April 2 announcement of new tariffs, referred to as 'Liberation Day', GCEX has recorded some of its strongest trading days to date,” said Lars Holst, Founder and CEO of GCEX.

GCEX, a prime brokerage services provider, recently disclosed a nearly 250% increase in FX spot trading volumes following the tariff announcements.

Similarly, trading technology provider Gold-i reported a tenfold increase in FX and equity index price rates, along with five times their normal trading activity.

“We saw a tenfold increase in FX and Equity Index price rates and about five times as much trading activity,” said Tom Higgins, CEO of Gold-i.

The market volatility has been extreme, with the S&P 500 index initially losing $6.6 trillion in value across two trading sessions before experiencing its largest single-day gain since the 2008 financial crisis after a temporary pause in the tariff implementation was announced.