Trading account | Min. deposit | Min. trade size | Payout |
Bronze | $250 | $30 | Up to 85% |
Gold | $1 500 | N/A | N/A |
Platinum | $2 000 | N/A | N/A |
Grand Trade is a binary options broker that offers trading in currency pairs, cryptocurrency pairs and some precious metals on some web-based platform. Although the trading conditions of this provider might seem attractive, the broker is not recommended, mainly because it is not licensed and was blacklisted by Belize’s financial regulator. You may read all details below.
Generous payouts
As advertised on the broker’s website, the payout percentage at Grand Trade reaches 85%, which is really attractive.
Note that betting on binary options involves a lot of chance, so if you prefer to have more control over your trades, you may check our list of recommended forex brokers offering low and attractive spreads:
>> Lowest spread forex brokers <<
Demo accounts available
Another good feature of Grand Trade is that it offers free demo accounts for testing purposes, which is quite unusual among binary options brokers in general. Here is a screenshot of their p[latform where users can choose between demo and live mode.
Click on the image to zoom in.
Solid selection of assets
The broker offers trading in quite a lot currency pairs, precious metals, as well as some of the most popular coins – Bitcoin, Ethereum, Riple, Monero, Litecoin, Zcash, which can be traded against some of the most popular fiat currencies – USD, EUR, AUD, JPY.
Not licensed
Grand Trade is allegedly owned and operated by Oracle Stone Ltd. – a company that claims to be based in London, UK, and does not hold any license whatsoever.
As some of you probably know, binary options brokers cannot seek clients legally in most countries, as this type of derivatives are considered very risky and the closest to gambling. In the past, binary options in the UK and were under the scope of the Gambling Commission, and the FCA took over their oversight in January 2018. However, later that year, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) banned binary options altogether, and the FCA made ESMA’s product intervention measures permanent. So, binary options are now illegal in the UK, as well as in all EU Member States, which is not all that surprising considering that Brits lost an average of GBP 87 000 a day to binary options scams, according to a FCA survey.
Blacklisted by the IFSC
So, most binary options brokers operate without a valid license. Yet, the situation of Grand Trade is worse than this, as we found out that the broker and the company behind it are flagged by Belize’s International Financial Services Commission of Belize (IFSC).
More specifically, the other brand of the company, Finarium, was found to have forged their Belize license as confirmed by the IFSC. In other words, from a trader’s point of view, however, investing is such a broker is extremely risky. It could be one of the many scammers on forex and binary options markets, looking to rip off misinformed investors in every possible way.
No long-term options
Another thing we don’t like about Grand Trade is that it offers trading in options that are only short term – from 30 to 120 sec. Most traders will do better if they start out with longer term options which last a few hours or days, and then work their way up to 30/60 seconds.
Slow withdrawal
Furthermore, we read in the broker’s Terms and Conditions that withdrawals can take up to 14 business days - to reach your credit card or bank account, which is kind of slow. Also, keep in mind that withdrawals are charged a 3% fee, and dormant accounts (with no trading activity for a period of 12 months) are charged an annual maintenance fee of US$25.
While Grand Trade seems to offer high payouts and have some good features, such as the free testing service, we have serious concerns about the broker’s reliability. It doesn’t hold any license for providing financial services, and was blacklisted by the IFSC.
In an attempt to enhance consumer protection, ESMA has prohibited binary options trading throughout Europe and the EEA and has restricted retail forex trading in many ways. As a result, there have remained no reliable regulators in the binary options industry. Previously, most regulated binary options brokers were holding licenses from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
Instead of wasting your time and money on shady binary options brokers, you’d better choose a reliable companies forex and CFD provider. Many of them are authorized to operate in Europe and are much more transparent about their offer and pricing.
>> Forex brokers regulated in Cyprus <<
And finally, here are the highlights of the present review of Grand Trade:
Pros | Cons |
High payouts | No financial regulation |
Demo accounts available | Blacklisted by the IFSC |
Solid selection of assets | No long-term options |
Slow withdrawal process |
Broker | Country | Regulation | Platform | Min Deposit | Review |
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Cyprus, UK, Mauritius | CySec, FCA, FSC | MT4, MT5, Web | $10 | Review Website |
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Cyprus, SVG | CySEC | MT5, Web, cTrader |
$100 | Review Website |
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Australia, Cyprus | ASIC, CySEC | MT4, MT5, Iress | $100 | Review Website |
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Cyprus, Australia | CySec, ASIC | MT4, MT5 | $5 | Review Website |
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UK, Australia, South Africa | FCA, ASIC, FSCA | MT4, Trading Station, NinjaTrader |
$50 | Review Website |
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UK, Cyprus, UAE, South Africa | FCA, CySEC, DFSA, FSB | MT4, MT5, FxPro Markets, cTrader |
$100 | Review Website |
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Cyprus | CySEC | MT4, MT5, Web | $1 | Review Website |
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Belize | IFSC | MT4, MT5 | $100 | Review Website |
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Cyprus, UK, South Africa, UAE | CySec, FCA, FSCA, DFSA | MT4, MT5, Web | $5 | Review Website |
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Cyprus, UK | CySEC, FCA | MT4, MT5 | $1 | Review Website |
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UK | FCA | MT5 | $5 | Review Website |
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UK | FCA | MT4, Web, MT4 for Mac |
$100 | Review Website |
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Australia, UK | ASIC, FCA | MT4, MT5, cTrader |
$200 | Review Website |
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