TitanTrade

TitanTrade was launched in late 2013 however we do not know who’s the owning company. On their contact page they list only an address but no company name, so for the time being we don’t know who actually owns titantrade.com. The listed address is 35 Barrack Road, Third Floor, Belize City, Belize. The payment service provider is Titan Trade Solutions Ltd (again). The listed address is NWMS Center, 31 Southampton Row, London, UK. This company is not monitored by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK. They are not regulated so we cannot provide a license number or the name of a regulatory agency.

Update 2017: The vagueness continues: at the bottom of their website a new company name appears: DOM Technology Services Ltd. According to the same source, the company is located at NWMS Center, 31 Southampton Row, London, UK. It is also said that copyright belongs to tradettn.com, a website that I couldn’t access. DOM Technology Services is not regulated by the British FCA or other financial watchdog. Their Contact page lists the address 35 Barrack Road, Third Floor, Belize City, Belize C.A. but the financial regulator of Belize claims the company is not located at said address (see Regulatory Warnings and Announcements below for more information).

Is Titan Trade a Scam?

Looking at this Hugh number of complaints TitanTrade received, traders should be very cautions dealing with this broker. TitanTrade has been in business for quite sometimes now. Their address is not transparent and their new payment service provider doesn’t really fit the description of a trustworthy partner (see ASIC’s warning here). Other very worrying facts like the growing number of complaints do affect our overall scoring. As time goes by, the number of complaints picks. We always need to be more cautions when dealing with a non regulated broker. Make periodical withdrawals, check your balance and expired trades, contact your support every once in a while, and most importantly – keep us updated if you encounter any issues with TitanTrade!

Update 2016: They have changed payment service providers again (maybe due to ASIC’s warning), their owning company is hard to identify and it all looks like a tangled web of names and addresses. Some of the addresses provided are virtual offices and basically, we don’t know who we are dealing with. On top of all that, financial watchdogs warn against doing business with them and clients complain more and more. I don’t know if that’s a scam but it does look like a bad brokerage.

Update 2017: New company name at the bottom of their website, copyright belongs to another website, which cannot be accessed, not regulated by FCA or any other regulatory agency and terrible user reviews anywhere you look on the internet. What can I say… is this a scam? I don’t know but I recommend caution. It must be noted that titantrade.com has been dropping in traffic constantly: in September 2016 they had 250K visits (which is not the most I’ve seen but it’s OK) and only 60K in February 2017, with about 30% of visitors coming from the UK and approximately 19% from Russia. This big drop is another warning sign. So many warning signs…

Editor’s Note – Why does Titan Trade Suck in 50 Words?

At the top of their homepage it stands written “Earn limitless wealth trading stocks, commodities, currencies & indices…”. Come on, there’s no such thing as limitless wealth! And what about the risks involved? Tell us about those, not only about the upside. I am aware of the risks of trading but then again, I’ve been trading for lots of years and I am sure that new traders think more about what they have to gain than what they have to lose.

Why TitanTrade doesn’t Suck in 50 Words?

It’s nice to see they keep an up to date Daily Market Review. However, their most recent Weekly Market Review dates back to December 2016 so I don’t know if the old Weekly sucks more than the fresh Daily. Well, at least you get some fresh data, which is not the case with most brokers.

Should I Open An Account With TitanTrade?

The always-popular SpotOption platform is the “weapon of choice” for Titan Trade; of course, there’s no need to download or install any software as everything is 100% web based and on top of that, SpotOption is a platform known for its ease of use, intuitive interface and almost flawless functionality. Choosing the most well known platform in the industry allows a lot of traders to start trading right away, without having to learn all the features of a new platform and also creates a trading environment with [hopefully] no software problems. *Update: Titan Trade now uses SpotOption 2.0, an improved version of the old platform but the software was never their problem so if they want to improve their service they should start in other places.

The website is well organized and has the right amount of marketing material, without being too intrusive or annoying. Most of the information is easy to access and during my time spent on titantrade.com I didn’t have any big issues when trying to find answers to my questions. It is true that similar material is found on other websites as well, but after all, trading is an exact “science” (the basics at least) and it’s normal to see similarities between different people trying to explain the same thing. Overall I think they did a good job in the educational department (compared with others), offering a lot of videos, tutorials and even quizzes on the most important aspects of trading. There’s also an e-book which can be downloaded for free from their “Academy” section; you won’t find any ground-breaking stuff in there, but the general idea of Binary Options trading is explained well enough. Unfortunately, their “Trading Strategies” section needs a lot of improvement and creates some confusion; I can only hope their Account Managers don’t use the strategies depicted there to trade your money or to give you trading tips… but then again, you shouldn’t take trading advice from your account manager.

Titan Trade offers 4 types of accounts, with minimum investment ranging from $350 (for the Mini account), the next account type is the Standard (deposit sum is $5,000+), then $35,000+ for the Deluxe and finally finishing with $50,000+ (for the Platinum account). Of course, there are added benefits for a larger deposit but some of them are not really justified. But don’t let my bickering put you off. Although there are some things that can be improved, Titan Trade seems to be a professional and reliable broker, but only time will tell if they can become a titan of this industry. *Update: Well, guys, time did tell, but the story is not one that favors Titan Trade. Traders around the world complain about not being able to get their money out, their Credit Cards being charged without their permission and bonuses added without their consent just to tie the money to the platform until the required trading volume is reached. Overall they now have a bad reputation and we recommend caution if dealing with this brokerage.

Update September 2016: Since our last visit, not much has changed in Titan Trade’s offering but a lot has changed concerning the clients’ perception of this brokerage. In the beginning they were viewed as a good and reliable broker but soon they started to go downhill and now people have lost almost all trust in them. In its current state Titan Trade is a bad broker from my perspective and I hope they start working their way up again, but it will take a lot of work… you could say it’s a titan of a job.

Titan Trade Complaints

As always, our team is doing the job for you. We search the web for any complaints, comments, feedback from clients, summarize them and try to bring the truth behind them. When it comes to TitanTrade, we found tons of complaints regarding Titan Trade’s services. We have quite a few complaints right here on BOTS, most of those complaints are accusing support for being unreachable. We are worried about the growing number of complaints, and that definitely affects TitanTrade Overall score. Our team will keep monitoring and will update this review if any major complaints emerge. *Update: Our Comments section, Forum and Scam Watch series are filled with unsatisfied customers and this vibe persists throughout many of the well-known online forums. Heck, people scream SCAM! even on YouTube videos about Titan Trade, so yea, it’s safe to say you can find lots of complaints about them.

Update September 2016: Same old, same old. People complain about all sorts of stuff and TitanTrade makes it to our Scam Watch series with regularity. Some complaints stem from the fact that clients don’t read the Terms and Conditions but most of them are due to the brokerage’s overall unprofessionalism. For more details, check the 31 pages of comments/complaints below this review.

Update March 2017: Yup, nothing changed in the last few months. People still complain they are being mistreated by TitanTrade and their funds are disappearing into thin air. The difference is that now we have 32 pages of *mostly* complaints. Be cautious around this brokerage if you don’t want to be on the 33rd page.

TitanTrade Regulatory Warnings and Announcements

20.02.2017: The International Financial Services Commission Belize (IFSC) issued a Warning Notice, informing that the entity calling itself ‘TitanTrade’ is falsely claiming to be located at address 35 Barrack Road, Third Floor, Belize City, Belize C.A. The regulator also confirmed that TitanTrade is not registered as a company nor licenced by them (IFSC) or by any other competent authority in Belize. Source: IFSC Warning Notice.

14.02.2017: UK Companies House issued a notice that DOM Technology Services Limited “will be struck off the register and the company will be dissolved, unless cause is shown to the contrary, at the expiration of 2 months from the above date”. Source: Company Overview; Source: Notice for compulsory strike-off

04.08.2016: The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) warned the public “not to click on any advertising being marketed under the brand ‘Titantrade’”. ASIC also mentioned they are concerned that the promoters/operators of the website are offering unlicensed financial services in Australia. The same document mentions that on 26/07/2016 ASIC “took action in the Federal Court of Australia to restrain the operators of the Website from carrying on a financial services business whilst unlicensed”. Source: ASIC Media Release 16-246MR.

Titan Trade Bonus

The Bonus percentage depends on the type of account you open and can go as high as 75% of the initial deposit for the Platinum account. In order to withdraw the Bonus, the client must first complete a turnover of 20 times the deposit plus bonus (deposit amount + bonus amount)*20 according to their terms and conditions.

Update September 2016: The Deluxe Account comes with a 75% bonus. As far as the Platinum account is concerned, the bonus is “tailor made”. The turnover is still (deposit + bonus) x 20 and must be achieved before a withdrawal can be made.

Titan Trade Withdrawal

Before making any withdrawals, the client has to provide Titan Trade with the required identification documents. Once this one-time process is completed, withdrawals can be made via credit/debit cards and wire transfer. Once a withdrawal request is processed, it takes about 7 working days until the money reaches your account. Minimum withdrawal amount for credit card is 50 units (depending on account currency). Also, they state on the website that “There is no fee for a credit/debit card withdrawal.” But in their Terms and Conditions they clearly say “The Company charges a fee for transfers of funds standing to the credit of a Trading Account from the Company to the Client, currently equivalent to USD 35 units per transfer.” This is typical broker behavior.

Update September 2016: The processing time for a withdrawal is up to 7 business days, except for the Deluxe account (5 days) and Platinum (immediate). Keep in mind this is only the processing time and additional time will pass until the money reaches you. A fee of 35 account units is charged for each withdrawal request and the minimum withdrawal by credit card is still 50 account units, while wire transfer withdrawals have a minimum of 100 account units.

Update March 2017: Credit card withdrawals are free according to their FAQ section but there’s a minimum of 100 account units. All wire withdrawals carry a fee of 25 account units. According to their Withdrawal Process page, a fee of 35 account units will be charged for each withdrawal request. As you can see, the information provided by TitanTrade is not consistent so I recommend you ask for clarifications from them.

Titan Trade Extras

Some features could be considered Extras back in 2013 when this brokerage was launched. However, now all brokers that use SpotOption as a trading platform offer the same options and features so we cannot find anything that stands out with Titan Trade. FX/CFD trading was recently introduced, but again, this is a SpotOption feature.

TitanTrade Ratings

User Friendly 18/20

The platform used is one of the best available, being both intuitive and efficient. The website is well structured, polished, and available in 9 languages. This is an improvement, considering that previously only English and Russian were supported. Spot 2.0 is a great platform.

Update September 2016: The website is now available in 10 languages (previously 9) but other than that, no major improvements have been made.

Number of assets and expiry times 15/20

Their trading basket includes 12 currency pairs, 7 commodities, 20 indices, 19 stocks and only Gold vs. Silver as Pairs. We have to note that since our last visit, their Asset index has decreased overall. The assets we’ve just mentioned are the updated ones (Dec 2015). Also, not all assets are available for One Touch Trading, 60 seconds trading or Long Term trades. Expiry times range from 60 seconds to 15 minutes to end of trading day and Long Term options can be even set for the end of the year. Expiry sometimes sucks.

Update March 2017: Although the asset offering has remained the same according to their Asset Index page, on the platform I could find 24 currency pairs, 2 commodities, 5 indices and 11 stocks, so they have more currency pairs and less everything else. Some markets were closed at the time of my visit so that may be the reason why their platform showed less assets.

Commissions, Support and Effective return 12/20

There are no fees related to account opening but a 35 units fee will be charged for transfers of money from the company to the client (if you have a GBP account, the fee will be 35 GBP; if you have a USD account, the fee will be 35 USD, etc.). Unfortunately, when I tried to contact live chat support, all I got was an option to send them an e-mail. Their effective return averages around 74%, which is not impressive at all.

Update September 2016: Live Chat support was reachable but they weren’t of much help. I simply asked what company owns titantrade.com and didn’t manage to get a straightforward answer.

Update March 2017: Live chat was offline on two separate visits. I have to mention that I visited their website on two consecutive days for the purpose of updating this review, both times during regular working hours (GMT time). Maybe they’ve given up on live chat altogether.

Deposit, Payment and Bonus 14/20

The minimum deposit is $350 which we consider to be medium-to-high for the industry. Credit/debit cards and wire transfers can be used to deposit funds with Titan Trade and the same method will be used for withdrawals (minimum withdrawal is 50 units), which can take up to 7 working days before being available in your account. The bonus is 50% for the Standard account (deposits from $5001 to $35,000) and 75% for the Platinum account. The smallest account (Mini) does not benefit from a Bonus (which is not a bad thing in our view). The turnover needed to withdraw is (deposit + bonus) x20.

Update September 2016: The processing time for withdrawals is 7 business days (for most accounts) but this doesn’t means that you will have your money in 7 business days. The minimum withdrawal is 50 units for credit cards and 100 units for wire transfers. The bonus is 50% for the Standard account, 75% for the Deluxe and “tailor made” for the Platinum account; the required turnover is still the same.

Website Extras 10/20

Pair trading is an innovative new way to trade binary options and we consider it a positive extra feature but unfortunately our last visit revealed that only one (1) pair is available. There are quite many interesting option types! Very long list of available trading methods and copy trading (spot 2.0). Good School Academy, Builder, Touch Options. US availability is always an extra.

Update September 2016: US traders are no longer accepted and now all of the features that could be considered Extra are simply a standard of the SpotOption platform, including FX/CFD trading.

Titan Trade Overall Ratings (69) – *Low User Rating (-5)= 64/100