Short On Trading Capital? Trade With Just $1 By Reading This FXOpen Review
FXOpen is a retail Forex broker that offers direct market access to small traders, irrespective of their financial standing. Several leading brokers are notorious for maintaining high initial deposit requirements, especially for ECN accounts, which puts the currency markets out of reach for the layman trader. FXOpen concentrates its efforts on total inclusion by offering trading accounts for as low as a $1 deposit option, and the company has grown from strength to strength to become one of the most successful Forex companies in the entire retail trading market.
FXOpen Regulation & Market Innovation
FXOpen has been active in the Forex brokerage business for more than a decade and has experienced its fair share of market consistencies over the years.
- Offering trading accounts for as low as a $1 deposit option
- Up to 1:400 leverage
Contact Info
- Website: www.fxopen.co.uk/en/
- Support: +44 (0) 203 519 1224
- Address: 80 Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5BJ, UK
The company was primarily founded as a financial research center, which slowly evolved into a full-fledged FX brokerage in 2005. Being primarily based out of Egypt, the company soon moved its headquarters to New Zealand to be regulated by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) of NZ. The move was seen as an attempt by the company to shed off its image as a non-regulated broker, which worked perfectly for a brief period. However, the FMA started facing heavy criticism for their inability in protecting investors from widespread financial scams and instances of consumer abuse. The relative lack of regulatory oversight also enabled several Forex brokers in New Zealand to follow unethical brokerage practices, which started affecting all the legitimate companies operating out of the country. The FMA was forced to intervene through several regulatory reforms, which instantly outlawed a majority of financial businesses that had set up its base in New Zealand. FXOpen was one of the many Forex brokers that were negatively affected by the reforms, which ultimately led to FXOpen pulling out of its NZ operations altogether.
The company moved its entire operations to the UK and Australia and became regulated entities under the careful supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Once the company established itself as a trustworthy and reliable FX broker, FXOpen started enjoying more success among the retail FX traders from all over the globe. Forex trading became intensely popular among the global internet population due to the relative ease of access and the lower investment required to access the markets. During the early 2000s, a Forex trading account would cost at least $50. FXOpen came into the industry by offering standard STP accounts for as low as $1, and regular ECN accounts for as low as $300. The broker witnessed a rapid expansion as more traders joined to take advantage of the low entry costs and a higher leverage, essentially granting market access that was usually reserved for larger traders. Up until recently, FXOpen was one of the very few brokers that offered a trading account for such a small amount of trading capital, but at present, several reputed mainstream brokers have started offering an ECN account for just $1.
Some Basic Facts Of An FXOpen Trading Account
An FXOpen account starts with the Micro account, which can be opened with a minimum deposit of $1 with a maximum leverage of 1:500 until the account equity reaches $3,000. The Micro account is a market maker account that matches orders internally, without connecting directly to a liquidity provider. The Micro account is the most popular trading account at FXOpen due to the higher leverage and lower minimum capital, but the account is susceptible to requotes and higher spreads. FXOpen spreads for the Micro account starts at 2 pips, which is often seen to increase to as high as 6-10 pips for the major currency pairs.
The second type of account is the STP account, which is available for an initial deposit of $10. The STP, or Straight Through Protocol, is designed to offer ECN trading conditions without the associated trading costs. STP accounts typically have no commissions, but the spreads start from 1 pip and can be higher during volatile market conditions. The maximum FXOpen leverage for an STP account is also set at 1:500, which decreases as the equity builds up. An ECN account can be opened for $100, which was once considered to be the lowest for an ECN account. Nowadays, brokers have started offering ECN accounts for as low as $1, but as far as an FXOpen ECN account is concerned, the spreads start from 0 pips at the expense of a commission of 1.5 units per traded lot. ECN accounts connect the trader to a global liquidity provider, which eradicates any instances of requotes, but traders must account for slippage. FXOpen traces its roots back to Egypt by offering Sharia compliant trading accounts to Islamic traders.
Muslim traders are required to conform to certain ethical and moral standards while investing in the markets, which are carefully outlined under the Sharia law. Therefore, FXOpen provides specially customized trading accounts that are solely intended for the Muslim trading crowd by offering SWAP-free accounts that satisfy all Sharia laws governing investments. MT4 functions as the main FXOpen platform for all types of accounts. FXOpen uses a state-of-the-art ECN bridge for its ECN accounts, and the MT4 trading platform works well for all kinds of trading accounts offered by the company. Traders can access from a comprehensive list of currency pairs, precious metals, and commodities, which are available on both desktops as well as FXOpen mobile platforms designed for smartphones and tablets. The MT4 terminal is available for both iOS, as well as Android devices, essentially providing the company with mobile apps for targeting mobile users. The broker also offers a VPS services for automated trading or low-latency trading by paying an extra $30 per month. If you are looking for a free VPS option, you should get in touch with the customer service for a personalized option according to your monthly trading volume.
Traders are entitled to an FXOpen bonus for their deposits as part of seasonal promotions, but traders should be aware that a nominal convenience fee accompanies their deposits and withdrawals. Withdrawals are made instantly, and most payments are made within 24 hours. The broker also supports a wide range of payment options ranging from credit cards, online payment processors, and bank payments, which help in making smooth and secure online transactions according to a trader’s preferences. Overall, FXOpen has an excellent trading platform that is guaranteed to provide the best trading conditions for both amateurs, as well as professional traders.
