Going offshore to escape the CFTC

Broker Discussion Forex Brokers
3466

Hi,

Just wanted to add some info on Tradersway, on the subject
of Bid/Ask spreads.

This data is from a Live account, using the MT4.ECN account
type, which is spread plus commission (variable spread)
type. Time is 11am EST Wed. December 23. I just “eyeballed”
the lows and highs I was seeing over a minute or so.

This is ECN execution, and I can confirm that Limit orders,
Take Profit, and Stop Loss orders are
very precisely executed, so these spreads are “real”. Due
to ECN executions, requotes or rejections do not exist, and
limit orders can be placed tightly inside the Bid/Ask spread
with no problem at all.

Attached is code to monitor the spread on most any MetaTrader 4
platform. NOTE: this code displays Spread: 9 points, which means
0.9 pips (so divide by 10 to get pips). NOTE: This code goes into
your Indicators folder for MT4 ! I may have tweaked this code
slightly but did not write it all myself.

EUR/USD 0.1-0.4 pips
USD/JPY 0.3-0.5 pips
USD/CAD 0.7-1.0
GBP/JPY 1.7-2.0 pips
AUD/JPY 1.5-1.6 pips
EUR/JPY 0.9-1.1 pips

Naturally, these will be effective spreads for small lot sizes
and says little about pricing for single trades involving
much larger lots, due to depth of market considerations.

Personally, I was pleased to see that many of these
spreads are so good, given that 0.01 lot sizes can be
used, and also with very small accounts at Tradersway.

By the way, Generic MetaTrader 4 can be used, as most
experienced MT4 users may already know. (As an aside,
I am writing software using the NJ4X.com Java/.Net
to MetaTrader4/5 framework, which I can very highly
recommend. This allows programmers to write complex
functionality without using MT4’s somewhat antiquated
EA language, and to run multiple MT terminals easily
“in parallel” or across multiple accounts.)

hyperscalper

Spread.zip (8.63 KB)

3467

I came here from bitcoin forums. I’ve read a large portion of this thread but never posted since there didn’t seem to be too much interest in Bitcoin brokers. I do have some info pertaining to this post:

I trade full-time / for a living. I’ve had several accounts with [B]SimpleFX[/B], oldest being about 7 months. So far so good.

The Great:

  • [B]Privacy:[/B] You can open a Bitcoin account using just an email address and trade anonymously within minutes (literally). Privacy protection doesn’t get any better than that. Why give brokers your private info, when you don’t have to (of course, I may be slightly biased :cool: ). Any citizen can open a Bitcoin account ([I]No U.S. fiat accounts[/I])

  • [B]Withdrawals:[/B] I’ve made 4 withdrawals so far. (smallest $200 - biggest $1700 (last week) - xmas money). The longest one took about [B]1 hour[/B] to credit my Bitcoin account. It’s as easy as can be. Click “Withdraw” then enter Bitcoin wallet for them to send to. That’s it. One withdrawal took 10 minutes. (I have no experience with them using fiat accounts)

The Good:

  • Execution is very good. A “requote” here and there but every MT4 broker I’ve ever used has requotes. Limit orders are also on par with other brokers. Mostly right on, with slight slippage during fast moving markets. My EAs work just fine. I don’t scalp, so not sure how they handle scalpers.

  • Their web platform (in my opinion) is very nice, easy to use and if you trade using price action only, like I do, it can easily replace MetaTrader. Good for trading from the road and again, trading anonymously. (MT4 cripples your privacy unless you take measures)

The (used to be) Not-so-good:

  • There isn’t much information and user feedback, yet, on this broker, so it was definitely a bit of a risk sending them money. I don’t worry so much any more.

  • Early on, their platform had huge glitches (i.e. “buy” button works “sell” button doesn’t work and numerous other minor bugs). They did fix them within a few hours but this did point to need for caution. Working out bugs in the beginning is to be expected from any business, so I started slow ($200) while they ironed out their wrinkles. Once I made another $200 from trading, I immediately withdrew my original deposit, thereby eliminating any further risk. Still, I wouldn’t send them large sums just yet (my cautious nature talking)

The Bad:
About 4-5 months ago, in the middle of a London / NY session, they just froze for about 45 minutes. No charts, no Live support… nothing. Completely dead. Clicking “Support” button gave a message “Support is not available at this time”. Then they came back online for a few minutes but then froze again for about 2 hours. To make it all worse, this time the “support” button just plain didn’t work. Completely dead. After about 2 hrs, you start thinking “Hmmm. New broker = Scam = took my money and ran”. But then it did come back and their little chat box on the side was a-buzz with people trying to figure out what just happened. Many complained about losing money since they couldn’t access their trades.

The Worst:
Even the incident (above) can be chalked up to new-business-bugs but they did not, ever tell anyone a single word about what happened (not to my knowledge at least) and I’ve asked around and contacted them several times. As a test, I contacted them from a different account, regarding an un-related subject and they responded almost instantly. So I concluded that they chose to try and bury that incident and hoped it would just go away. But again, that was all early on. No problems at all for the past 4-5 months.

(My) conclusion: I definitely recommend them [I](with caution)[/I]. There is no other risk, since you don’t have to give them any personally identifiable information. There is no risk of being hacked, identity theft or misuse of our personal information, like there is with brokers following privacy destroying AML/KYC practices

There you have it. Since there isn’t much out there on this broker, I offer this mini booklet of my experience with them. Maybe they’ll turn it into a TV mini-series now :stuck_out_tongue:

P.S. - There are more brokers available to U.S. citizens which also offer anonymous trading [I](via Bitcoin denominated accounts)[/I] that aren’t on the main list but again, I didn’t see much talk about Bitcoin here so I’ll wait to see if anyone wants more info. [B]Clint[/B], if this topic is of no interest, please feel free to remove my post. Thanks, and great job on this forum.

1 Like
3468

It appears that United States persons cannot get
a simplefx.com account. Perhaps bitcoin only can be used
anonymously, and perhaps that was the point of
the prior post, but hard currency is not an option
for US persons.

hyperscalper

3469

SimpleFX

Thanks to autobits and HyperScalper for your info on SimpleFX.

Given the fact that SimpleFX is available to U.S. clients only through bitcoin-denominated accounts (not through the more usual USD-, EUR-, or GBP-denominated accounts), I will hold off adding this broker to our List, until a larger concensus develops here in this thread.

If a majority of members favor including bitcoin-only brokers, those brokers can be added in the future.

Updating links in the Offshore Broker List

The links shown in Group 1 of our List have not been updated since the middle of October.

Since then, 6 or 7 posts in this thread have contained info which should be linked in our List. I will attend to that chore over the holidays.

Lately, the link-worthy posts have all involved our three Trusted Brokers.

Does this mean that our membership has gravitated toward those three, and basically abandoned the other 10 brokers in Group 1 ? — I’d be curious to know.

.

3470

“There are more brokers available to U.S. citizens which also offer anonymous trading that aren’t on the main…”

Autobit, I am very interested in knowing which other brokers are available to US residents.

3471

Confirming re: SimpleFX! U.S. citizens can open Bitcoin denominated accounts. However, U.S. citizens cannot open fiat (USD) accounts.

My accounts (re: the list):

From the “Three Trusted Brokers” - I have Trader’s Way. Very happy with them! (Also, 4 family & friends use them). I really like the 100% deposit bonus, so just growing that account for now. Haven’t made any withdrawals, so can’t comment yet.

From the “other 10 brokers” list - I use ProfiForex. Happy as well. Will continue to use. Have much larger account than I have with SimpleFX, however I’ve only made one withdrawal and it took 2 days to credit my account, whereas SimpleFX took 1 hour or less - consistently.

Hi. I didn’t mean to make it sound “…other brokers…” - in general. I meant Bitcoin denominated accounts. I’ve edited the last paragraph in my main post to make that point more clear.

That being said, I’ll hold off posting Bitcoin info, as Clint said: “until a larger consensus develops here in this thread”

(P.S. you can easily search these on your own until then)

3472

Merry Christmas everyone - may 2016 bring you plenty of green pips :slight_smile:

3473

Right now, I use Tradersway, Fxchoice, Tallinex, and The Forex Broker Inc.

However, I have read about the anonymity of Bitcoin denominated accounts, and it made me feel safer knowing we have other options, in case, if the CFTC finally does succeed in closing off all decent offshore broker options for us, I mean you never know. However, I only researched the topic briefly and did not understand how one would pay taxes on it and Also, in a regular account if I have $100, I open a 1 micro lot position which equates to $1 per pip, I know I can go -100 pips before I hit margin call. So when I was doing my research on the topic a few months back I could not understand that aspect using a Bitcoin denominated broker, that’s when I stopped my search and now Autobits has reignited that blame.

3474

Well, ‘they’ did it to us with online poker, right? Next, was drastically cutting our leverage. Because you and I are just not intelligent enough to know what to do with our own money. Honestly, I still don’t see why ‘they’ are trying to do away with the small retail trader? Why FIFO? Why no-hedging?

It’s just a bit different. Takes a little adjustment in thought process. Bitcoin (BTC) are ‘units’ (actually called Satoshi)… One wouldn’t buy stocks in terms of ‘micros’ but ‘price per share’ and commodities are ‘contracts’, etc… (not sure if that sounds the way I’m thinking it :31:)

Current price of Bitcoin, in FX terms, I’d say is fairly close to .01 lots (BTC) = 1 mini ($1 per pip). But that changes as price of Bitcoin fluctuates. I set my position sizing based on amount of margin used and % of account drawdown. My goal is to risk as little as possible per trade, that still allows me to hit my daily target. Once you find that initial unit size, you’ll have a benchmark to go off of.

I hope that helps at little.

3475

I have added the following links to the Offshore Broker List (on posts #1 and #2 of this thread):

Tallinex — posts #3207, #3245, #3250, and #3270

Trader’s Way — posts #3210, #3253, #3263, #3268, and #3270

FX Choice — posts #3237, and #3270

ProfiForex — post #3268

Forex Broker Inc — post #3270

It became necessary to split up the [B]Central America / Caribbean[/B] category, because of Babypips space limitations (15,000 characters per post). That category now begins on post #1 with the Forex Metal listing, and then continues on post #2 with the rest of the brokers in that category.

The first 5 posts in this thread are just about at their limit for size. In the future, in order to add new listings or new links, some older links will have to be removed to make space.

If we happen to get lucky, and get a bunch of new brokers to add to Group 1, I’ll just move all the links to a new post at the end of the thread, and link the Offshore Broker List to that new post. There’s always a work-around.

If I don’t talk to you guys before the weekend —

Happy New Year, guys!

If you’ll be celebrating New Year’s Eve,
enjoy and stay safe.

.

3476

As I’m starting a trading operation, it now becomes an issue of

  1. funding methods, and
  2. withdrawal methods

As we know, the US is “leaning on” major money transfer
organizations, and forcing them NOT to do business with many
or all of the offshore brokerages we are discussing in this thread.

My funding partner is already experiencing problems getting
money into the brokerage; and I’m getting anxious concerning
the methods I/we both have of repatriating profits… Both of
us are U.S. persons.

SO IT OCCURS TO ME that we should attach information on the brokerages
relevant to our available money transfer methods. This can include "creative"
suggestions, such as moving into Bitcoin or other avenues of withdrawal
and eventual transformation into USD stateside.

This is NOT oriented toward evasion of reporting requirements, but just
getting timely, reliable and especially “cost effective” methods of withdrawing
profits. Let’s say, for example, that a wire transfer inbound to the
U.S. is $95. Seems a bit high, so what are the alternatives? and such
questions…

Clint, does it makes sense to you, and everyone else, that this is the next
logical area to explore and attach to the offshore brokers available to US persons?

hyperscalper

3477

berndalecapital dot com/

How about the above broker, they accept usa clients provided they are not solicited…if we contact then…anyone have experience with them??

its been so long since I’ve logged in my old email address used is no good so, let begin again…

3478

Great idea, Information sharing of that sort would be very helpful.

3479

Autobits, Thanks for the explanation on using a Bitcoin denominated account. I actually did not know anyone else that had experience using a Bitcoin forex broker. Especially the part of how easy it was for you to withdraw your profits.

HyperScalper, I have noticed that many times, the withdrawal and deposit methods that brokers list on there main websites are not the same for US residences and it seems, as you mentioned, the options for withdrawing funds for US residences are slowly decreasing. Eitherway, it would be nice to know which money withdrawal options are still available to US residences without having to constantly go to live chat or emailing each of the brokers.

3480

We have talked about deposit methods lately. FX Choice added 2 new methods to make deposits: PerfectMoney and PaySafeCard. I am not sure though if they have any geographical restriction on it.

3481

With FXChoice US residences can only deposit Bitcoin and Wire transfer and withdraw funds only Wire Transfer… :frowning: limited for sure.

3482

Yes, but deposit fund costs via wire transfer “might be” given back to US residents above a certain level of deposit.

3483

Tallinex allows debit/credit card deposits for US residents, and free withdrawals back to cards (up to the amount originally deposited).

3484

Thanks! Slowly it would really be good to have a table or another option to compare brokers in this issue. It is easy to get lost what is possible at which broker. Every single one is different :slight_smile:

3485

any problem with US banks accepting Bank Wire deposits from Tallinex or Traders Way?