Going offshore to escape the CFTC

@cipher03 CAN YOU CLARIFY your comments about TurnKey Fx Demo server registering as a “Real” account? What do you mean, and is this referring to MetaTrader 4? I don’t use Demo accounts, only LIve ones, but I have accounts with TurnkeyForex and FinProTrading, both of which use these MT4 server definition files: TurnkeyFX-Demo.srv and TurnkeyFX-Live.srv

hyperscalper

Is there a site, maybe called:
QAnon_CFTC.pub ? Does anyone have “inside information” on
"the revolution" which would put these folks in jail? You know,
like the patiots’ thing qanon.pub ? Where we can get the
inside information on where CFTC is going, as part of the
Deep State ? We need our “Q” to give us some hope that
we can eventually escape the shackles of CFTC… ya know…

DISCLAIMER: I am neither a part of the Deep State, nor those
who seek to overthrow it, if it really exists… I just want to get
back my freedom to choose more brokers, like everyone
else in this thread… :slight_smile:

hyperscalper

FOLLOWUP ON IC MARKETS

…I followed up on how an IC Markets account was established,
and basically U.S. persons cannot get one… The story, in short,
was that a “trading group” collectively was able to establish a
high net worth claim, and kind of “collectively qualify” as sort of a
"QEP-like" entity, so they were able to establish accounts…

Anyway, not a tactic which would work for any of us individuals…
So, from a practical perspective, IC Markets is not an option
for U.S. persons.

hyperscalper

yes i believe TurnkeyFX-Demo is responding with a parameter of “Real” instead of “Demo”. so EAs, Third Party services such as Myfxbook, believe TurnkeyFX-Demo is actually a real account versus a demo account.

this is no big deal for Myfxbook, as you can change the dropdown (which initially defaults to what the server responds with – for TurnkeyFX-Demo it is Real) to whatever you like. but this is a potential issue for commercial EAs which rely on this parameter to determine if you are using a Real account or not.

many commercial EAs limit the amount of real accounts you have on a per license basis. as an example, if you buy 1 license for an EA, there is a chance you can’t run a real account with a demo simultaneously on FinPro. this can be an issue if you like to test different settings on the demo, etc.

one other topic i would like to add is security – FinProTrading does not have any two step authentication anywhere. this is very surprising for a broker in 2018 not to have any sort of authentication for logins, withdrawals, etc.

i will say though that FinProTrading spreads are amazing, and i hope they add Two Step Authentication soon, as i would like to use them for many of my EAs which are spread dependent.

OK, thanks, I have no earthly idea about MyFxBook or how it figures
out LIve versus Demo… At 21:00 GMT and for that hour period thereafter,
especially on pairs such as GBP/NZD… FinProTrading/ TurnkeyForex
(both using TurnkeyFX as the liquidity aggregator) has terrible spreads,
but most of the time, although it is a very reactive spread, it has very
good spreads, with excellent execution precision… Yes, any BOT which
is dependent upon tight pricing, must monitor the spreads dynamically,
since they are, as I said “reactive” on these brokers. They also generate
maybe as much as 10x the incoming Market data than the lesser
brokers do… That’s an issue if you process every tick, as I do…
across 28 Forex pairs. Most impressive are the very low commissions,
all of which technicals, taken together, put most other brokerages in the shade.

My code checks the “isDemo” flag, but unfortunately, I never connect to
Demo accounts, so I don’t know about your claim…

hyperscalper

MEMORY LANE

I remember the good old days when U.S. persons were able
to obtain Dukascopy Accounts in Switzerland through a
"white label" program through the broker (memory may fail me,
since it was so long ago…) FXDD when they had U.S. operations…

I had written a huge amount of code using the JForex API, for
micro scalping. Ironically, I was approached last week by a
Dukas account holder asking if I would trade for them. So I
"dusted off" the old code, and decided to accept the challenge.

But it so took me back to the days when we had fairly decent
U.S. Forex brokers, as well as access to offshore brokers…

hyperscalper (wiping a tear from his eyes…) :slight_smile:

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yea the good old days when i had account with ibfx / interbankfx , DBFX . citifxpro, trade station and hotspotfx

I remember when you didn’t need $10M net worth to trade FX on Interactive Brokers. The disintegration of the FX industry in the USA over the past 8 years has just been surreal. If Dali could paint a picture of the CFTC, I wonder what it would look like?

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So is anyone having issues with withdrawing profits via BTC from FinPro Trading? I was reading a couple of reviews were customers were screaming they won’t let you withdraw profits only initial deposit etc, but that might have been tied in with the bonus options which I’m going to avoid. I’m looking to open $200 ECN account and understand that BTC deposits are a one way street just like bank transfers (No safety for the “sender”). Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The only way to know the difference on the app is by checking the actual server which your accounts are connected to. The right corner would still read: “REAL” even if it’s a demo. But checking the servers is the key for quick identification. I’m sure you already know this by now.

Can someone from the US trading offshore answer this question…

Why are CME Currency futures not a viable option in the US? Day trading margin on the major pairs is anywhere from 125-250:1 leverage.

Is the size of 1 full contract or the added cost of real time data the issue?

For one thing CME doesn’t have liquidity in many of the Yen pairs, which these days is the “risk” trade.

Are you talking about JPY crosses? I had a level II Globex feed in the past and from what I remember the top of book & <3 pip liquidity depth on the majors were higher than all retail forex ECNs I have seen, however that was during US session.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m currently with Finpro, FXchoice & Tradersway. I currently split my ticket size across all 3 using a trade copier EA & VPS, but I have been seriously thinking about coming back to the US and trading CME currency futures.

The fear of these offshore broker’s bank intermediaries losing their USD corresponding banking relationships due to US regulatory pressure is a constant concern.

I hear you. That was a fun time. FXDD, then Forex FS, then nothing…
A lot of my hours coding ended up being wasted and as a working stiff, I don’t have a lot of time to spare.
The lessons for me were;

  1. make sure you can easily port your code
  2. diversify

On the topic of being denied platforms and APIs, I’ve noticed a lot of REST APIs recently available.
After JForex was eliminated as an option for US traders, I started programming in R and using a REST API.
An upside of this change is that many Crypto exchanges use REST APIs. Also, I just checked and several brokers offer REST APIs nowadays.
It’s unlikely any laws will be passed that will invalidate my R code (or whatever language one chooses) if many brokers make REST APIs available.
The ideal situation is that brokers present a generic API and we write in whatever language we choose. In this model, we can change brokers easily, because we can write our code in any language we want and simply modify the syntax for calls to the broker as needed.
It doesn’t have to be REST, but REST works and brokers seem to be adopting it.
I’m happy to say, I can port my code between brokers much more easily today than I could 10 years ago. This is not specific to going offshore, but this model does empower the individual with personal liberty and helps solve a part of the problem we’re facing. Hopefully, no one has to have their code made unusable overnight again.
Cheers

Sounds like you are trading much larger positions than me. But yes, I was referring to the yen crossrate futures on globex. For example, EURJPY, GBPJPY and AUDJPY seem to average 3-4 pip spreads during the Asian trading session – much worse than even US Division FX brokers.

But I tell you who has really been impressing me lately is Evolve Markets, if you don’t mind the bitcoin funding. I opted for the zero commission account, and seeing under 1 pip (slightly) for many of the pairs. The 500:1 leverage is way more than I need.

He’ll skip on painting a picture and just submit a “smh” gif or emoji lol

For smaller traders, in my experience, when I used to work with Futures Traders is that they were under-funded and were unable to control their risk, due to the “indivisible” value of the 1 contract commitment in, say, 6E ( EUR/USD ).

As you know, in Forex, the same Risk can be 1/100th less (or anywhere in between) and multiple price entries can be used to improve the cost basis ( Volume Weighted Average Entry price )…

If this is not a factor, with large accounts, then Futures trading is viable. In my case, since I do only Forex, Forex analytics would apply equally well to the corresponding Futures contracts with Forex underlyings…

Those who prefer Futures are certainly under-valuing the flexibility and breadth which Forex offers… I use Forex inter-relationships to factor out Currency Trending, and that provides a high level of predictability in Forex trading… (don’t ban my post, since it’s not advertising!)

Honestly, I think the Forex market (at least the major 28 Pairs, based on the 8 primary Currencies, omitting CNY) is one of the most interesting markets, since we can literally “calculate” where the opportunities lie, as there are “constraints” internal to the Forex markets, which do not exist in any other market types, I’d say… but anyway…

Finally, the “death blow” which the Futures markets have dealt to Forex in the U.S. makes this Forum extremely valuable for Forex traders to find brokers, since Forex in the U.S. is really just “dead” in the sense we’ve become accustomed in the past…

hyperscalper

FINPROTRADING WITHDRAWALS

No issues. But, yes, my recommendatiion is never ever to accept bonus type money from any broker… With the leverages available, does that really help anyone? And if you need “bonus money” maybe you’re just under-funded, man… !

hyperscalper

EVOLVE.MARKETS

Yeah, I very strongly recommend this broker. It is a fully anonymous account creation and they have now migrated to MetaTrader 5 for new accounts. For me, using the NJ4X framework, fortunately I am able to deal with mixed MT4 and MT5 accounts.

I can’t say anything negative about Evolve.Markets from any perspective. It’s almost “magical” … I have noticed that since their MT5 implementation is a recent development, that there are some disconnect/reconnect issues, but maybe MT5 is just a bit more sensitive to connection quality…

Your ability to quickly move funds will depend upon the underlying Crypto currency. For BTC accounts, you’ll suffer the slow response of the BitCoin network. But for native LTC (LiteCoin) account types, transaction confirmation times are very quick.

Initially they’ll give you a BTC account, but I prefer LTC so you just open up a second live account using the LTC native funding type. I guess you can just delete your BTC account if you wanted to… VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by me…

RISK of course, is that your accounts are Crypto-funded, so you will be exposed to exchange rate fluctuations between your account Currency and your Fiat or normal currency, EUR, USD, whatever… This can be seen either as a risk, or as an additional “dimension” of trading opportunity… :slight_smile:

[EDIT] included screenshot showing that LTC (LiteCoin) accounts are also available. You can literally fully set up an account and trade it within 15 minutes or so… Quite amazing. And, I might add, their support is responsive as well… which is a pleasant surprise… I think they can also protect you with a 2-Factor authentication login…

hyperscalper