EightCap Review
Why EightCap Sucks In 50 Words?
Their maximum leverage is 1:500. Now you might be wondering “How is that a bad thing?”… well, it’s not, but at the same time, it is. A newbie can destroy a trading account in minutes with that leverage but an experienced trader will know how to make it work in his favor. So depending on how you look at it, it can suck or not.
Why EightCap Doesn’t Suck In 50 Words?
Regulation! There you go, I’ve done it in one word, not 50. After the binary options mania was over, many of the old (and some shady) brokers have transitioned into CFDs, Crypto and FX, without changing much apart from their name. That’s why we see a lot of unregulated CFD brokers and that’s why regulation is a positive extra.
Is EightCap A Scam?
As a rule of thumb, a broker that is regulated by a major financial watchdog such as ASIC, is not considered a scam by us. Of course, there may be exceptions so please keep your eyes open at all times. For the time being EightCap doesn’t have any of the warning signs associated with a scam broker. It must be mentioned that their ASIC license allows them to offer financial services to people in Australia, not all over the globe, thus many clients will be served by their Vanuatu branch, which is also regulated.
The company has been around since 2009 but the broker and website were founded in 2015; however, we can call this an experienced broker/company and this adds extra peace of mind.
Should I Open An Account With EightCap?
EightCap is an Australian broker that deals in FX and CFDs on Crypto, Indices and Commodities. The owning and operating company is EightCap Pty Ltd, regulated by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) with (ABN 73 139 495 944). Eightcap Global Ltd is their Vanuatu branch, regulated by the VFSC.
The owning company is in business since 2009 and the broker itself is active since 2015. Regulated by ASIC, with a Demo account that’s easy and free to get, Meta Trader 4 and Meta Trader 5 (plus MT5 web version) as trading platforms and CFDs on cryptocurrencies. Basically, it ticks all the boxes in my book.
The minimum deposit is 100 account units (AUD, USD, GBP, and EUR) and they offer two types of accounts: Standard and Raw. The main difference between the two is that Raw has much tighter spreads (ex: average spread 0.27 for AUD/USD) but you will have to pay a commission of $3.5 per lot traded. The spreads for the Standard are also very competitive compared to other CFD brokers: lowest spread is 1 pip for EUR/USD (floating – can change according to market conditions).
The education section is comprehensive and contains strategies, tutorials, market updates, and analysis. Although these things won’t make you an expert, they are helpful enough and we believe that every broker should offer them.
Overall EightCap looks and feels like a reliable broker, with a great choice of trading platforms and solid regulation. However, newbies and traders coming from the old binary options world will have a somewhat steep learning curve because Meta Trader is one of the more complex platforms, especially compared to the ones offered by binary brokers (now turned CFD brokers).
EightCap’s registered address is Level 6, 360 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia. Eightcap Global Ltd (Vanuatu) lists the address Govant Building, Bp 1276, Port Vila, Vanuatu. They can be contacted at phone + 61385922375 and email [email protected].
EightCap Complaints
Surprisingly (or maybe not so much), I couldn’t find a huge number of negative posts or complaints about this broker. Many users rate them above average but in some isolated cases, users have complained about connection speeds, spread increases, and bad fills during news announcements. Some voices call them scammers but unfortunately these claims are not sustained by solid proof, thus we cannot say for sure if those clients are simply angry due to their losses or legit complainers. Take it with a pinch of salt but their Trustpilot score is 4.5 out of 5 stars and their Google Review score is 4.7 out of 5, so it looks like people are very happy with the service provided by EightCap.
EightCap Regulatory Warnings And Announcements
At the time of writing we couldn’t find any warnings against EightCap coming from a regulatory body. As always, we will keep monitoring and will update accordingly.
EightCap Bonus
EightCap used to offer $100 for referring a friend who opens and funds an account. However, at the time of our latest visit, we couldn’t locate this promotion anymore.
EightCap Withdrawal
Withdrawals will be processed by EightCap usually within 24 hours The rest will depend on how fast banks can process the transaction but at least on EightCap’s side, things are very fast. The receiving times are 2 – 5 business days for cards and 2 – 3 business days for e-wallets. The methods are Visa, Mastercard, China Union Pay, Skrill, Neteller, and wire transfer.
EightCap Extras
Apart from regulation and great trading platforms, EightCap offers a MAM solution. The letters stand for Multi-Account Manager, which is software that allows a trader to manage more than one account from the same screen. This is especially helpful for people who trade on behalf of others.
EightCap Ratings
User Friendliness 16/20
Information is well organized and easy to access, Demo accounts are available and the website is translated into 10 languages. The trading platforms are very easy to use if you are already familiar with them (MT4 and MT5) but if you are completely new to Meta Trader, it will take some time to get used to. US Traders are not accepted, Demo accounts are available.
Range Of Markets, Spreads And Leverage 17/20
Currently, EitghtCap offers over 40 currency pairs, more than 10 indices, as well as commodities, metals, and 6 cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Litecoin). The spreads are very tight (lowest spread is 1 pip for EUR/USD for the Standard account and average 0.27 pips for AUD/USD for the Raw account). Note that these can change according to market conditions. Leverage goes up 1:500 for fiat currencies (you can use lower leverage).
Deposits and Withdrawals 16/20
The lowest deposit is $100, which is average for a regulated broker and withdrawals are relatively fast (24 business hours for processing and additional time until the funds reach you). The methods are credit cards, wire transfers, and a few e-wallets.
Fees And Support 17/20
There are no fees to open an account and EightCap does not charge withdrawal fees but the payment processors may charge. Support was very helpful, polite, and answered all my questions straightforward.
Extras 15/20
Regulation, MT4, MT5 as well as a web version of MT5, Capitalise.ai (automated trading solution) and Multi-Account Management (MAM) software. However, the latter will only be useful if you are a money manager trading for other people.