Launched in 2011, OctaFX is indeed a brokerage with an impressive reputation – by online Forex brokerage standards, that is. What that means in essence is that it has an impressive number of positive reviews, not just from review portals (that may have a vested interest in pushing its stock) but from actual traders/users as well.
The Trustpilot review profile of the operation is great – quite an accomplishment in and of itself. On the other hand, there are quite a few user complaints posted at Forex Peace Army, regarding slippage, spread-abuse and stop-loss hunting by the broker. It is obvious that OctaFX have done their best to address all those problems though. One also has to bear in mind that review boards such as these are usually quite heavily slanted towards negative reviews, because traders content with a service seldom ever bother to post, while those displeased for whatever reason are naturally highly motivated to do so.
The corporate entity behind the OctaFX brand is Octa Markets Incorporated. Based at Suite 305, Griffith Corporate Centre, Beachmont, Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Octa Markets Inc is a registered company. Its business license number is 19776 IBC 2011. While operating out of an island nation is not exactly trust-inspiring, besides a Caribbean Financial Services (FSA) license, which gives it the right to legally peddle its deals to residents of quite a few different countries. The main focus of the operation seems to be on Vietnam, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh, where various local payment methods are supported. The US is excluded from the list of accepted countries.
Indeed, most of the trader feedback regarding OctaFX’s services seems to come from the above mentioned countries.
In addition to the legitimacy established through the above said regulatory protocols and outstanding reputation, OctaFX has also enjoyed solid peer recognition over the years, highlighted every now and then by the granting of various awards.
Indeed, in 2017, the operator picked up the Best Forex ECN Broker award, and every year before that, various other awards trickled in. In 2016, the Best Trading Conditions Award, from Forex Report Magazine landed in the trophy-case of the broker, preceded by the Best Islamic Account Forex broker award in 2015.
OctaFX’s 50% Deposit Bonus
While offering generous bonuses used to be rather standard MO for online Forex brokers in the past, lately, the practice has been mostly outlawed due to abuse and a generally toxic reputation that such bonus deals have garnered.
Unlike most of their peers, who do not offer bonuses and promotions of any kind these days, OctaFX have stuck to their guns though.
The bonus is awarded for every deposit made by traders, and it radically improves the overall trading conditions, beginning with the free margin and the required margin and wrapping up with the volume and eventually: the profit.
To fulfill the bonus withdrawal requirements, traders have to trade a number of standard lots equal to half the bonus amount.
Any other reasons why you should make OctaFX your primary trading destination?
In addition to the above detailed perks, OctaFX keep their traders’ funds in segregated accounts, they offer a SSL-protected personal area and feature secure withdrawal rules, with email confirmation.
Allegedly, the OctaFX trading environment is monitored 24/7 by a human crew, consisting of security specialists and programmers.
The trading conditions seem to be good at the site too and their trading platform selection is rather impressive as well.
Trading Instruments
The CFD trading section is the centerpiece of the OctaFX offer. In this respect, the broker offers 1:50 maximum leverage, no commissions, no swaps and low spreads. Seems like a good recipe for bigger profits indeed.
The CFD section covers metals, indices, as well as cryptocurrencies.
In regards to cryptos, Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum are supported, more precisely the pairs that these currencies make with the USD. There do not seem to be any crypto/crypto pairs available.
The maximum available leverage on this asset class is 1:2, which may not be much compared to other tradable assets, but which is indeed quite impressive compared to what other brokers offer in this regard (no leverage for the most part).
The crypto spreads are rather steep – well within the limits of reason given the volatility of this asset-class though.
With commodities, the maximum leverage shoots up to 1:100. Gold dominates this tradable asset-segment, but silver is supported as well.
The commodity spreads are indeed low as well and there are no turn-around commissions charged on them.
The spreads are the tightest on popular FX pairs, such as the EUR/USD. With the minimum set to 0.4 pips, one has to bear in mind that the spreads are variable, and as such, they may indeed far exceed the minimum mark. Detailed information in this regard is available on the Trading Conditions page of the OctaFX website.
Account Types
There are three account types available at OctaFX, defined mostly by the platform on which that have been made available.
The “basic” account is the MT4-based one, which is aimed at beginners. Requiring a minimum deposit of just $100, the Micro account features floating spreads starting from 0.4 pips, and fixed ones, starting from 2 pips.
There are no commissions and the maximum available leverage is 1:500 on currency pairs, 1:200 on commodities and 1:2 on cryptos.
The available asset-selection is somewhat limited though: 28 currency pairs, 4 indices, 3 cryptos and 2 metals (gold and silver) are available.
The Pro account is based off the MT5 platform and it requires a minimum deposit of $500. It only features floating spreads, starting from 0.4 pips. The tradable asset selection is a tad more varied and hedging, scalping as well as the use of EAs are allowed.
The ECN account uses the cTrader platform. The floating spreads on this account start from 0 pips. The minimum required deposit is $100 on this one too, and the asset-selection is limited to 28 currency pairs, plus gold and silver. Hedging, scalping and EAs are available for this account as well.
Platforms
As already made clear above, OctaFX feature three trading platform options: MT4, MT5 and cTrader.
MT4 is available for download at the OctaFX site, for free of course, in no fewer than 4 different versions. In addition to its “normal” desktop version, it comes in a Web-based version, as well as two mobile-focused versions (iOS and Android).
The same goes for MT5, which is in essence an evolutionary iteration of MT4. Both platforms support the use of Expert Advisors, as does cTrader.
Detailed installation guides are available on every one of these platforms.
Deposits/Withdrawals
Interestingly, in addition to credit cards such as VISA and MasterCard, and ewallets such as Neteller and Skrill, OctaFX accept bitcoin deposits too. No commissions are charged on any of these deposit methods.
Conclusion
OctaFX seems like a more than decent trading destination. While – for the most part – its reputation seems to be outstanding, there are a few hiccups in this regard here and there.
While the trading conditions offered by the brokerage are indeed decent, its tradable asset-selection could be better.
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