Trade.com is a very solid online FX/CFD provider at first glance, however, at a closer look, the reputation of the brokerage leaves quite a bit of room for improvement – to say the least.
While everything seems to work fine for the broker in every other regard, reputation-wise, nothing really clicks.
The corporate operator of the brand is Leadcapital Markets Ltd, a Cyprus-based company whose name is well-known among traders and which is not reputable at all. That said, it is obvious that there is a certain stigma attached to the brokerage from the get-go, and the practices adopted by the operator itself apparently do little to alleviate this state of affairs.
Trader feedback available at various specialized portals seems to be in agreement that not everything is right at Trade.com. The complaints are diverse and some of them present major red flags indeed.
Apparently, some of the Trader.com staff are tasked with calling traders and attempting to spur them into depositing more. The people making these phone calls are allegedly very aggressive, and they won’t refrain from swearing at those whom they can’t bend to their will.
Still more worryingly, there are reports out there that the broker will simply not honor the withdrawals of those who are deemed to be “too profitable”. Everything seems to be OK in the beginning, but as soon as traders amass some profits and they try to make a withdrawal, problems begin surfacing. The Trade.com support staff is allegedly not particularly helpful in such situations either.
Another issue that was complained-about was that the broker allegedly fed its traders random trading signals.
What is the main sales pitch of the broker then, or: why should you register for an account at Trade.com?
Trade.com offers a more then decent selection of trading platforms and trading tools. While it is based on MT4, the platform selection also covers MT5, and a couple of web-trading solutions.
The official website of the operator features an education center, as well as market news and access to Trading Central.
Trade.com is regulated. Based in Cyprus, the broker is a registered CIF (Cyprus Investment Firm) and it is the possessor of CySEC license #227/14. As such, the operation is MiFID-compliant, which means that it has to observe a series of strict rules/standards. For instance, it has to keep the monies deposited by its traders in segregated bank accounts and it has to undergo regular 3rd-party audits, regarding just about every aspect of its business.
The market-coverage of the broker is nothing short of superb. In addition to the usual FX pairs and CFDs, Trade.com also features cryptocurrency-based CFDs. That does not mean however that one can purchase actual cryptos at the broker.
In addition to the above, the broker also features a fair selection of trading accounts, through which every trader category can gain unfettered access to the global markets.
The trading conditions offered by the broker are rather attractive on some of the asset-categories, though they are pretty steep on FX pairs (even the popular ones like the EUR/USD).
Trade.com Account Types
Some 4 account types are offered by the broker, the most basic one of which (the Basic Account) requires a deposit of only $100. While this makes the services of the broker very accessible indeed, $100 does not really make much of a balance for anyone serious about trading.
Basic Account holders get a video tutorial for that money, as well as 24h support and access to the Desktop- as well as Mobile trading platforms. A daily market analysis is part of the picture as well.
As said, those looking for more than just a few short kicks trading-wise, will probably opt for the Classic Account, which requires a deposit of at least $2,500. In addition to getting a more decent account balance, those choosing this account option also gain access to a number of Seminars and Webinars offered by the broker, as well as to the services of a dedicated account manager – in addition of course, to what the Basic Account offers.
While education is never a bad idea, we are not really certain about the dedicated account manager. Such services often turn out to be of dubious quality.
The Gold Account takes the game to an entirely new level. Those looking to set up such an account, will have to deposit at least $10,000. Gold Account holders gain access to Trading Central and they also get Premium Daily Analysis included in their account-package. Obviously, all this is on top of what the Classic Account already covers.
Last but definitely not least, we have the Platinum Account, which requires a minimum balance of $50,000. With such a balance, traders can indeed trade away professionally even, if needed. In addition to what the Gold Account offers, the Platinum one features Premium Customer Support as well, and quite probably – better trading conditions.
Trade.com Trading Conditions
Talking about the trading conditions: surprisingly, they’re not particularly impressive when it comes to FX pairs. The reason we say “surprisingly” is that usually, brokers offer some of their best spreads on currency pair majors such as the EUR/USD. In this instance though, the spread on that same pair is 1.9 pips. Obviously, it gets higher still on pairs that aren’t as popular as the EUR/USD. On the NZD/USD for instance, the spread is 4 pips.
The cryptocurrency market coverage of the broker is certainly interesting. Besides “blue chips”, such as BTC and ETH, the brokerage also features Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Dash and Litecoin.
The spreads are pretty high on these assets too: on BTC for instance, the spread is set to $120, while on LTC, it’s just $8 (this is obviously also dependant on the value of the cryptocurrency in question).
Leveraged trading is allowed on cryptos: the maximum leverage is 1:2.
Obviously, traders cannot purchase actual cryptocurrencies through the brokerage. The assets are traded through CFDs.
On bonds and indices, the spreads are lower and the maximum allowed leverage is higher, making for more attractive trading conditions. The same goes for commodities and stocks, of which there’s a ridiculously generous selection available for trading.
Trade.com Platforms
The broker offers two web-trading options: an MT4-based one and the Sirix Web Trader. Other than that, the trading platform offer is based on MT4, which is indeed the best and most popular option in this regard.
MT4 is a fully customizable trading platform, letting its users pick chart types, scores of time frames and set up chart templates which can then be saved for later use.
While the platform comes with an impressive number of preinstalled technical indicators, traders can add more and they can even create their own from scratch, through the platform.
The same goes for custom scripts and EAs (Expert Advisors) which can be used for the automated execution of preset trading strategies.
In addition to the above mentioned platforms, MT5 is also part of the package. MT4’s direct successor, MT5 brings several improvements to the table, making it easier for experts to code their technical indicators and EAs.
Trade.com Conclusion
Everything considered, Trade.com looks good, though the trader feedback cannot and should not be ignored. So many people complaining about various aspects of the operation is most definitely a red flag, to say the least.