Going offshore to escape the CFTC

Broker Discussion Forex Brokers
4510

THE BITCOIN SCHISM COMING AUGUST 1
The following info from FXChoice concerning uncertainty when this
occurs:

Dear clients,

Many of you have already enjoyed the benefits of working with Bitcoin in our company. It’s an automated, easy and secure way to transfer funds around the world. However, alas, like all advanced technology, its foundations are not firmly fixed as its fluid nature begins to take on a life of its own. In the Bitcoin community change is in the air, and we believe it is our duty to give you the proper advanced warning.

We are of course talking about the potential schism of Bitcoin due to the activation of Protocol BIP148 (about which you can read more here http://www.uasf.co). According to this Protocol, on 1st August the Bitcoin network will split into two; the consequences of which are impossible to predict.

We remind you that we reserve the right to suspend Bitcoin deposits/withdrawals/inter-account transfers, and at this moment no course of action can be completely ruled out. Of course, we will make another announcement closer to 1st August when more details should be available to shed a little more light onto the situation.

Should you have any questions about the Bitcoin schism, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.

Best wishes and happy trading!
The FXChoice Team

hyperscalper

4511

FXCHOICE AGAIN REFUSES TO ACCOMMODATE REQUESTS.

I made a clear request to have their default 200:1 Leverage increased
to 400:1 . I explained that I need to have “comparable leverages” across
all of the brokerage which I simultaneously trade.

WELL, FOR ME, IT’S 3 STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT, FXCHOICE, HEAR ME?
AND YOU HAVE 2 STRIKES AGAINST YOU ALREADY.

Any brokerage which “just says no” is not a brokerage I want to do business with.

FXChoice-Increased-Leverage-Response.PNG682×582 4.9 KB

I AM JUST ABOUT TO DUMP MY TESTING WITH FXCHOICE, SINCE THEY
DON’T REALLY CARE VERY MUCH.

By contrast, FinProTrading quickly responded to my request and provided 400:1
leverage. Also, TradersWay is very responsive to such requests, offering between
500:1 and 1000:1 leverage. Evolve.Markets has 500:1 leverage .

hyperscalper

4512

SEEDVPS.COM FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE VPS IN AMSTERDAM

Wow! I am starting to love these guys. I was saturating 4 Xeon CPU’s so
I asked what an extra CPU would cost. They responded with this:

"Hi Hyperscalper,

I can offer you the following:

Additional CPU core €2,50

Upgrade to 6 Cores - €5 EUR p/m
Upgrade to 8 Cores - €10 EUR p/m

Your system configuration will be preserved, a reboot will be required for the changes to take affect.

Best regards,
Roy G. "

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THAT’S INCREDIBLE PRICING. So I took 2 additional CPU’s
and might soon take another 2.

[Edit] Let me make it clear that I was running a configuration for 35 Euros per month, so this
additional brings that to 40 Euros per month. Amazingly good value.

Right now I’m running 6 Cores, with 8gb ram. At about 80% capacity. This is pulling
in 28 Forex pairs data feeds from about 6 brokers simultaneously, with an allocation
of about 20 MT4 terminal.exe processes running under the NJ4X.com framework.

I highly recommend that if you need very high performance VPS in Amsterdam, where
many MT4 brokers have their backends, and also not that far from London, that
you get a Windows 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition VPS for unbelievably low prices.

We’re talking extremely high performance here, and lots of memory, with dedicated
resourcing. They don’t hold your hand, so you need some competence in system
management…

hyperscalper

4513

FXCHOICE THREE STRIKES AGAINST, AND OFF MY LIST OF BROKERS

So I opened a Ticket at FXChoice with the title “So do you want my business or not?”

Here is their response. So, I say “FXChoice, 3 strikes and you’re out”…

FXChoice-Poor-Response.PNG664×537 9.58 KB

Their idea that “ECN brokers” can’t match prevailing leverages freely offered by
other brokers we use, is NONSENSE.

My current recommendations for BEST BROKERS are:

FinProTrading (will respond to special requests, BitCoin funding)
TradersWay (will respond competitively, BitCoin funding)
Evolve.Markets (the model for a “pure” BitCoin denominated accounts broker)

Unless you have a good reason, personally, I wouldn’t move off this
short list. Sure, I don’t have all the answers, but these are my views.

I’m going to post next on Capital City Markets and, hint, it’s not good…

hyperscalper

4514

CAPITAL CITY MARKETS NOT COMPETITIVE ( migrated U.S. persons from Tallinex )

So I took the time to directly compare CCM against FinProTrading, and
here are side-by-side pricing MT4 displays. Hands down, FinProTrading
is the best, both on commission and Bid/Ask spread, plus responsiveness.

So I emailed Tony Garwood, one of the partners in CCM and expressed
the obstacles which prevent me from using their brokerage.

Without going into too much detail, their minimum 0.1 is an “oddball” among
our target list of brokers; and I would have to significantly recode the software
to deal with this restriction.

Their pricing is terrible, as was also the case with Tallinex, as you can see:

FinPro-CCM-Comparison2.PNG1666×1036 89.3 KB

As you can see, their spreads are 3x - 4x wider than the best of the bunch, which is
FinProTrading.

So basically I told him that CCM was, by several measures, a non-starter in the
competitive retail brokerage business, for those accepting of U.S. persons.

[EDIT followup] CCM sent a reply email stating that they were unable to compete
with the spreads available on FinProTrading. No effort to improve their competitiveness
of course. So I’d recommend against using Capital City Markets in favor of several
other competitors, unless you happen to have other reasons to visit Vanuatu :slight_smile
Hey, just kidding !!!

hyperscalper

4515

I’m really glad to see that this thread keeps rolling along without daily input from me.

Thanks to all of you who have participated. You make this thread the valuable resource that it is.

Now I’d like to jump in with some comments, and a couple of questions.

• Evolve Markets Ltd (SVG) – I will add this broker to Group 1 of the Offshore Broker List in a day or two. Thanks to HyperScalper for bringing this broker to our attention. I’ve been able to confirm most of the data regarding Evolve Markets which HyperScalper has posted here.

For those not familiar with this broker, here are my rough notes:

Evolve Markets Ltd (SVG) – https://evolve.markets/

  • trading in forex (60 currency pairs), commodities (oil, nat gas, precious metals, copper) and indices (currently 9 stock indices)
  • physical infrastructure in London (MT4 server time GMT)
  • company registered in SVG, not regulated
  • no personal information required to open a live account (except valid email address)
  • Bitcoin-funded and denominated accounts only
  • no fiat money deposits or withdrawals
  • other cryptocurrencies can be deposited after conversion to bitcoin via Shapeshift
  • no minimum deposit amount
  • no fees for deposits or withdrawals (blockchain fees are refunded by Evolve)
  • MT4 platform, live and demo (demo accounts do not expire)
  • 500:1 max leverage
  • STP order processing, no re-quotes, no FIFO restriction

• TradeWiseFX (SVG) – after MorpheusZ alerted us to the apparent change in policy at TradeWiseFX excluding new U.S. clients, I have been displaying a notice to that effect in their listing in post #1. I emailed TradeWiseFX for confirmation of their policy, and they have replied that they do not accept U.S. clients. I will remove TradeWiseFX from our List today.

• Finpro Trading (UK) – this broker has been on our List for many months. And, during that time, all of the comments posted about them have been positive. I’m wondering whether you guys think that Finpro Trading has proven itself worthy of the Trusted Broker designation? Please weigh in on this question with a yes or no, and your reasons. Thanks.

• **LMFX (**Macedonia) – another candidate for the Trusted Broker designation. Most of the discussion regarding LMFX has occurred in another thread (Lmfx) rather than in this one. Most of the comments in that thread over the past (nearly) 2 years have been positive. LMFX petitioned us for Trusted Broker status 2 year ago, but we deferred a decision on their request, pending more info. Now that we’ve seen more info, is it time to designate LMFX as a Trusted Broker? Please weigh in with your comments.

• Bitcoin – the discussion on bitcoin in this thread has been informative. Thanks to those of you who have contributed. Regarding the bitcoin “event” scheduled for August 1 which FX Choice announced (http://www.uasf.co/), and HyperScalper referred to, I have to admit that I don’t even understand most of it. But, I’m a beginner in this bitcoin thing. I hope that HyperScalper will stay on top of it, and keep us informed of any implications the “event” might have for money transfers to and from offshore. Also, I’m asking all of you who are using bitcoin for offshore money transfers to continue to post your experiences, along with any advice you can offer to those who have not yet ventured into bitcoin.

• The list of Links in post #7 is, once again, out of date. Over the next week, or so, I will review all the posts in this thread from the last 2 months, and post links to those pertaining to specific Group 1 brokers.

Thanks again to all of you who have made this thread the internet’s #1 source for offshore broker information.

One last comment on Evolve Markets: The broker describes itself as “a privately owned IBC in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines”. Wouldn’t it be cool to discover that the private owners of this IBC (international business company) are our old friends from Tallinex? Don’t take that as fact – I’m just imagining a scenario in which Tallinex gets their revenge against the CFTC.

4516

nothing new to add to what i previously said about lmfx:
-easy to fund
-reimbursed my bank wire fees
-great eur/usd spreads
-no down time issues

for what 4 weeks of live trading is worth, they have my vote for trusted broker

1 Like
4517

Hey

We have just opened an account with LMFX, and we are very amazed with the executions. We do trade around the news, and LMFX fills are instant. TW have been freezing a little lately around the news not LMFX. We use BEEKS with LMFX and TW.

MYFXCHOICE is no go when you trade around the news. We are done with them. We took our money and ran.
We also liquidated all our accounts with CapitalCityMarkets.

At the end of the July, we are planning to make our first withdraw so we will keep you posted.

We were planning to open an account with FinPro but we decided to go with LMFX, and so far we are very happy with our decision.

BYE

4518

That is amazing!!!

We are overpaying with BeeksFx.

How long have you been using them, and have you experienced any downtime.

:grinning:

4519

I’m interested in LMFX and, as I said previously, I have a client
who will shortly give me some opportunity to evaluate the quality
of execution, pricing, etc… at LMFX.

The problem with LMFX, as with nearly all of the offshore brokers
who deal with U.S. persons, is their “smorgasbord” of funding
options. I would suggest lobbying them to provide BitCoin as a
method, which I realize is not for everyone, but it would then make
funds transfers independent of financial constraints imposed by
CFTC and U.S. governmental efforts to squeeze out these brokers.

hyperscalper

4520

REGARDING FINPROTRADING.COM

Yes, yes, yes ! This is hands-down the highest quality broker
I’ve seen on pricing, commission, speed and support.

Support FinProTrading.com . A broker like this needs
to be encouraged !!

hyperscalper

1 Like
4521

The List

The List has been updated:

  • Evolve Markets has been added

  • TradeWiseFX has been removed

Trusted Broker designations

Thanks to those who have replied regarding possible Trusted Broker status for:

  • Finpro Trading

  • LMFX

I’d like to see additional comments from other thread participants, as well.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is complex, because it relies on robust encryption, and encryption is complicated.

For brand-new newcomers to bitcoin, here's some help:
Bitcoin for Dummies (cover).png441×666 224 KB
Use the following URL for a free download of this Dummies book in .pdf format --
http://file.allitebooks.com/20160823/Bitcoin%20For%20Dummies.pdf
4522

I think FinPro is hands down a trusted broker. They have the best spread and execution quality, their support team is outstanding and always available. I have tried make deposits and withdrawals via bank transfer and bitcoins with no issues at all.

I haven’t tried LMFX yet but, now I’m thinking of opening an account with them as well. Will share my thoughts once I try them.

1 Like
4523

I think this new forum upgrade really stinks, but I am starting to get used to it. Maybe it will eventually be as good as the old one.

I have been trading with TradersWay for several years now and just want to heap a little more praise on them for almost eliminating completely the pause in price quotes that usually immediately followed the release of a major report like the nonfarm US jobs report. About 2 years ago sometimes I had to wait 5 very long minutes for a price update on a currency pair after the 7:30 AM Central Time release

I need to have one or two good reserve brokers in case something happens to TradersWay, so I will probably open accounts at LMFX and FinPro due to so many good comments about them. To increase leverage and/or speed, I like to, using TradersWay, trade “all my eggs in one basket,” which is not a good idea for extremely large accounts, of course.

Many thanks again to you Clint for starting this forum and keeping the valuable broker lists updated for us. .

It is really nice to see a steady stream of new contributors to this forum.

4524

Have been trading with finpro trading from quiet some time. Found them here on this thread. They have the best execution, spreads & commissions. Their support team actually knows what they are talking and will not automatically tell you to email support to get rid of you. If there are any issues, they are amicably resolved. Deposit withdrawals are smooth. Will be nice to see them marked trusted!

4525

Has anyone used Xenia? I believe they are in the Cayman.

4526

Xenia is definitely a non-starter for me because I don’t see any MetaTrader
and my software layers on NJ4X.com API with MT4/5 at the lowest level in
the server pools. Yes, I know MetaTrader is “boring” as compared with the
“sexy” cTrader. But, for me, cTrader is useless since I have this automation
framework… I trade simultaneously across multiple brokerages, and each
one has a pool of MT4 servers. Can’t do that with cTrader. Sorry.

hyperscalper

4527

Would you mind saying what type of strategy, in a nutshell, does your custom EA use?

hyperscalper

4528

I would recommend against using FXChoice.

Use Evolve.Markets instead, assuming they have the instruments you
want which, for me, is straight Forex. No personal info, account is opened
in 30 seconds, fund by BitCoin, use native BitCoin as your account
currency, etc.

hyperscalper

4529

OK, I get lost in this new forum format. A few “continuously scrollable” posts
in the past I suggested Evolve.Markets and asked whether there may be others
which are comparable. Someone chimed in with a list of 2 or 3 others; which
list I can’t seem to find now, as I wanted to evaluate them.

Maybe it was you “Cryptosurf” but anyway…And maybe it was in another thread.

PLEASE REPEAT your list of other BitCoin native Forex broker candidates.
THANKS !

hyperscalper