ActivTrades is a forex and Contracts For Difference (CFDs) broker currently headquartered in London, UK. It was founded in Switzerland in 2001 before it moved its headquarters to the UK.
The brokerage firm offers trading services across a wide range of markets including forex, shares, ETFs and cryptocurrencies.
In this review, we shall shed light on how ActivTrades works, its key features, its pros, its cons, and why you should use it for trading before giving our final verdict.
How it works
Being a forex/CFDs brokerage firm, ActivTrades is different from crypto exchanges in that it requires clients to create an account and deposit fiat money for use in trading. Crypto exchanges allow clients to only hold crypto assets in their account
Its product portfolio includes a range of stock indexes, commodity CFDs, ETF CFDs, Bond CFDs, futures CFDs, and cryptocurrencies. When it comes to cryptocurrencies, ActivTrades offers crypto-USD pairs only which are traded similarly to forex.
The account opening process is easy and fast and it takes 24 hours for the account to be verified. The process starts with the selection of country of residence, then adding personal information, selecting the type of trading account and the base currency you want to use, and finally uploading documents that include ID or passport, bank statement or utility bill, and photo.
The key takeaway here is that to note is that there are countries where ActivTrades does not accept clients and you may not be able to create an account if you are from any of those countries. These countries include the USA, Canada, Serbia, Guinea, Iran, Belarus, British Columbia, Islamic Republic of, Iraq, Japan, Poland, Syria, Afghanistan, US Virgin Islands, Yemen, and Zimbabwe among others.
Key features
- ActivTrader Platform – This is ActivTrades’ native trading platform that clients can choose to use besides the normal Metatrader trading platforms (MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5).
- Exclusive Add-Ons – These are the range of add-ons that ActivTrades clients use in their trading platforms. These add-ons include SmartOrder 2, SmartLines, SmartCalculator, SmartTemplate, SmartPlatform, SmartForecast, and the Pivot Points Indicator.
- Negative Balance Protection. – ActivTrades provides negative balance protection to its retail clients with its Balance Protection Policy.
- Webinars – ActivTrades offers plenty of webinars that are constantly updated. These webinars feature guest speakers and other experts.
- Account types – ActivTrades offers three types of real accounts that include Individual Account, Institutional Account, and Islamic Account.
- Order types – ActivTrades allows clients to place Market Orders, Limit Orders, and Stop Orders.
- Order time limits – The broker allows clients to use Good ‘till cancelled (GTC) and Good ‘till time (GTT) order time limits.
Pros and Cons of ActivTrades
Pros
- ActivTrades offers free demo accounts where clients can test the trading platform and also test new trading strategies.
- It offers low trading fees.
- It does not charge fees for depositing and withdrawing funds.
- Withdrawals usually only take a day to be processed.
- The account opening process is seamless and fully digital, taking only a few minutes to complete and 24 hours to be verified.
- ActivTrades offers a well-designed user-friendly mobile trading platform.
- It allows traders to use fully automated trades.
Cons
- It requires a very high minimum deposit, especially for the Individual Account which requires an initial minimum deposit of $/€/£/CHF 500.
- It has a slim product portfolio especially when it comes to cryptocurrencies.
- It only offers USD trading pairs.
- It charges an inactivity fee for any account that ends up not being used for more than one year. The inactivity fee is £10 per month.
- It is not available in certain countries, including the USA.
Why should you trade using ActivTrades?
Besides decades of experience in the industry, ActivTrades allows you to trade cryptocurrency CFDs in a simple user-friendly platform. The broker is a go-to trading partner, especially for cryptocurrency traders looking for something different from what is offered by centralized and decentralized crypto exchanges.
Some of the things you will find of interest with ActivTrades include competitive spreads, top-notch educational tools, the negative balance protection policy, and insurance of clients’ funds by Lloyd’s of London.
According to Alessio Falanga, the Head of Sales at ActivTrades:
“ActivTrades has managed to differentiate itself from the competition thanks to its superior trade execution, both in terms of speed and costs, a vast array of financial instruments available for trading and a multi-language, award-winning customer support.”
According to the CEO, Alex Pusco, ActivTrades’ mission statement is “to be a leading global broker through cutting-edge technology and unparalleled customer service.”
Final verdict
ActivTrades is a CFD/forex broker that has been around for many years. In addition, it also allows the trading of cryptocurrency CFDs which is not common among many CFDs/forex brokers and crypto exchanges.
Besides offering a limited product portfolio, it has proved to be a reliable and reputable broker.
The education tools make ActivTrades a good broker for all traders; whether beginners or experienced.