ForTrade Review
Why Does Fortrade Suck In 50 Words
Because the amount of information available on their website is so big, it can be a bit overwhelming at first. Actually, when I started this review I had some trouble locating the information I needed but don’t get me wrong, it’s not something that bad and will go away in a few minutes. Just that first impression is “Whoa, that’s a lot of info!”. You’ll get used to it quite easily.
Why Fortrade Doesn’t Suck In 50 Words
Regulated by a bunch of financial watchdogs, Fortrade offers 6 trading platforms, a Demo account, multiple asset classes including cryptocurrencies, technical analysis from Trading Central (free of charge), strategies, educational articles, and videos. Should I keep going? This broker has all the ingredients of a professional and trustworthy venue.
Is Fortrade A Scam?
Judging by their long time in business (since 2013) and the solid regulation described above, I don’t see any chance that Fortrade is a scam. However, keep in mind some FX/CFD brokers have been around for 10+ years, so Fortrade could be considered by some still “young” compared to the leading FX brokers. We definitely don’t consider them “young” and the supervision of FCA, CySEC, ASIC, NBRB and IIROC (for parts of Canada) together with a professional website makes us believe strongly that we are not dealing with a scam.
Should I Open An Account With Fortrade?
Fortrade is a well-respected online broker that offers CFD services on a multitude of asset classes, including currencies, indices, stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. The broker is owned and operated by Fortrade Limited, established in 2013 and licensed by the British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with reference number 609970. Since 2020, Fortrade Cyprus Ltd is also regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), with license number 385/20.
Regional branches of Fortrade include:
Fort Securities LLC. authorized and regulated in Belarus by the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB), Reference Number 193075810.
Fort Securities Australia Pty Ltd, licensed and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), ABN: 33 614 683 831 | AFSL number: 493520. As a more recent development, Fortrade Canada Limited is regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) for parts of Canada.
Fortrade offers a proprietary web platform, which is quite easy to use but doesn’t have any fancy features such as custom indicators or advanced orders (for example limit orders). However, if that’s your thing, they also offer Meta Trader 4, which is one of the best and most complex platforms out there (and hands down the most popular). Meta Trader 4 is available as a web platform (no download), desktop, and mobile. Their proprietary platform is available in the same versions as MT4.
The recommended deposit is $500 but the minimum they allow is $100. There are no account tiers, meaning that you won’t get any special perks if you deposit more; of course, a higher sum allows better money management strategies, but I am not saying that you should deposit a big sum.
The education section is huge and I can safely say it’s one of the biggest I’ve seen on a brokerage. The information there is very newbie-friendly and is organized in an easy-to-digest manner. You’ll find written tutorials, videos, strategies, e-books, and daily market updates/reviews, as well as an extended FAQ section, where you will probably find an answer to most of your questions. Part of their education is a Demo account, with no strings attached and a very easy opening procedure.
Overall this looks to me as a legit and solid broker, so the answer to the title question is pretty much Yes, especially if you are looking for a CFD brokerage that offers leveraged trading on Bitcoin and altcoins. That being said, please always remember that our reviews shouldn’t be a substitute for your own research on the brokerage that you are about to give your money to.
Fortrade Limited lists the address Michelin House 81, Fulham Road, London SW3 6RD, UNITED KINGDOM. Fort Securities LLC. is located at 144 Mayakovsky St., 220028, Minsk, Republic of Belarus. Fort Securities Australia Pty Ltd. is located at Level 5, 20 Bond Street, Sydney NSW 2000. Fortrade Canada Limited is located at 1200 Waterfront Centre, 200 Burrard Street, P.O. Box 48600, Vancouver BC V7X 1T2, Canada. Fortrade Cyprus Ltd. is located at office 504, 79 Athinon Street 3040 Limassol, Cyprus. The broker can be contacted at email: [email protected] and phone number +44 203 966 4506.
Fortrade Complaints
I managed to find two complaints about not being able to withdraw. However, the clients then said that Fortrade returned their balances, so I don’t think there’s such a big problem here. Another client complained that some of his profitable trades were closed by the brokerage and there was no follow-up from Fortrade. This type of behavior is a big problem but the user didn’t continue writing about it so I have no idea how it concluded (maybe they solved the issue privately, not on a Forum). Overall, there’s not a ton of bad press surrounding Fortrade.
Fortrade Regulatory Warnings And Announcements
At the time of writing, we couldn’t locate any fines against Fortrade or any other type of warnings regarding this broker. If this will change in the future, we will update our review accordingly.
Fortrade Bonus
There are two types of bonuses offered by this brokerage: Balance Bonus and Credit Bonus. The former is received only after document verification and the amount is at their discretion. In order to withdraw it, you will need to trade 0.1 lot for every 1 USD/GBP/EUR received as a bonus. Lot size depends on the asset traded (for example, it is 10,000 Pounds for FX, 1,000 barrels for Crude Oil, etc.).
The Credit Bonus is a bit more complicated and I recommend you thoroughly read their Bonus Terms And Conditions. Never accept a bonus unless you are sure you fully understand the conditions.
Fortrade Withdrawal
They allow credit/debit card and wire withdrawals but the time it takes for the money to reach the client is too long in my opinion: up to 15 working days for cards and 3-5 days for wires. It can take less, but these are the usual periods stated by Fortrade. There’s also the option to use Skrill or Neteller but the procedure is somewhat rudimentary: you will have to send them an email with the sum you wish to withdraw and the email address linked to your Skrill account or your Neteller Account ID. An automated process of withdrawing would be nice.
Trading Bitcoin And Altcoins With Fortrade
Their basket of cryptocurrencies is rather limited and includes only Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. The leverage is 1:2 for Bitcoin and Litecoin and 1:1 for the others. Spreads are pretty high (average $120 for Bitcoin and between $5 – $7 for the others) but are recalculated every three months and are also floating, meaning they can change without notice.
Fortrade Ratings
User Friendliness: 16/20
At first, the amount of information available on their website can get a bit confusing but give it a little time and you will get used to it. The website is available in 2 languages (English and Russian) and the platform in 10 languages, Demo accounts are available, as well as mobile versions of their trading platforms. US clients are not accepted.
Range of Markets, Spreads, And Leverage 17/20
Their trading basket is composed of hundreds of assets ranging from fiat currencies to cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Dash, Litecoin, and Ethereum), to stocks, indices, commodities, US Treasuries, and ETFs. Overall it’s a wide choice but I would like to see more cryptos. The spreads are floating (they change according to market conditions) and somewhere in the medium range (approx. 2 pips for EUR/USD). The leverage for fiat currencies goes up to 1:200, for Bitcoin it’s 1:5 and 1:1 for the other cryptos.
Deposit And Withdrawals 18/20
The minimum deposit is $100 but they recommend at least $500; withdrawals can be made via credit/debit card (up to 15 days for the money to reach you), wire transfers (3-5 days) as well as Skrill and Neteller (which will take shorter time).
Fees and Support 17/20
There are no fees to open an account (just like anywhere else) but inactive accounts will be deducted a $10 fee every 30 days after a period of 180 days of inactivity. Support was quick to respond and answered my questions in a professional manner.
Extras 17/20
Fully regulated by the British FCA, CySEC, ASIC, and the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB), as well as IIROC (for parts of Canada) huge amount of educational material, 6 trading platforms, technical analysis from Trading Central. Also, they are among the few CFD brokerages to offer a bonus.
Fortrade Ratings (85) + Regulated (+3) = 88/100