ExpertOption 2024: Is the broker right for you?

A key concern with ExpertOption is the lack of regulatory oversight. This absence signifies that users lack a protective safety net, leaving room for potential mishandling of funds. Although a compensation fund exists, its ability to cover losses is questionable. Continue reading for a more in-depth understanding of the broker.

Pros And Cons

Pros

• The customer support segments are good, with multiple ways of reaching the brokers.

• Numerous deposit and withdrawal options include cryptocurrencies, credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, and Maestro), and e-wallets ( Skrill, Neteller, and Perfect Money.)

• They offer a bonus and affiliate program for users to increase potential earnings.
• The minimum deposit and withdrawal is $10, which is low.
• ExpertOption as a user-friendly interface

Cons

• There’s a limited number of financial instruments available on the platform.
• ExpertOption isn’t registered with any regulatory authority.
• All the available features, like the number of instruments and assets on the platform, aren’t in sync.
• The educational segment on the platform isn’t too robust, and the content there is outdated. For example, only three webinar videos and limited articles support traders.
• The articles are short and not in-depth. They only discuss topics briefly. For example, there needs to be a way for users to build strategies around what’s on the blog.
• Text is the predominant content type on the platform, with limited video and infographics.

Security and Regulation

ExpertOption’s regulatory framework lacks the robustness seen in other brokerage firms. Even though multiple online sources suggest the platform is registered, there’s no evidence of regulatory oversight from notable authorities such as the Financial Commission Authority (FCA) or other region-specific bodies.

This raises questions about client security.

Explicitly, the platform declares that EOLabs LLC is not supervised by the Financial Services Agency Japan (JFSA), excluding citizens and residents of Japan from its user base. Such a sign could deter potential users.

On the brighter side, ExpertOption is registered with The Financial Commission, an independent dispute resolution and self-regulatory organization. This provides a Compensation Fund with insurance up to €20,000. Moreover, ExpertOption undergoes audits by VerifyMyTrade, with more than 5,000 order executions audited.

In terms of security, ExpertOption has the AML (Anti-money laundering) and KYC (Know Your Customer) policy in place guarantees safety; for example, third-party doesn’t have access to any of your data, and there is a two-factor authentication (2FA) in place to add a layer of safely to the platform.

You can check the privacy policy to learn more about how EOLabs LLC provides privacy to users. There are also other policies, including payment and the return and refund policy.

So far, nothing about this gives me enough confidence in the platform as I’m expected to have with other regulated brokers. A significant rule for me is that a broker I use must be regulated; otherwise, that’s a red flag, regardless of whatever security is provided.

Everything To Know About ExpertOption

The ExpertOption is an online trading and brokerage platform founded in 2014 and prides itself on being a leading financial institution globally. Since its inception, the broker has proceeded with over 30 million contracts and has a large customer base of 70 million users.

The online broker is currently available to traders and investors across 48 countries in the world. However, it doesn’t provide services for citizens and residents of Australia, Canada, EU Member States, Singapore, Sudan, Switzerland, the UK, the USA, and Yemen.

This is mainly because the broker isn’t registered with any regulatory authority, which restricts its usage. ExpertOption offers users just 100 instruments to trade with, which is very limiting for traders interested in trading a large number of instruments simultaneously.

Customer support is solid, with good 24/7 availability and multiple channels and platforms to reach them.

There’s a reliable proprietary trading platform with different indicators and chart types. However, there is no support for external factors as everything is kept in-house.

Assets And Instruments

This part is close to non-existential on the broker’s platform. There’s no mention of the types of assets or the number of instruments available under each asset. All that the website simply reads is that you can trade over 100 popular assets and stocks on its platform.

However, on the web platform, this is listed. There are basically five (5) asset classes on the platform. These are currencies, as in forex pairs, indices, stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ExpertOption charges a 5% commission for every trade, which is lower than many offshore brokers’ industry standards.

Currencies

Under currencies, you’ll find instruments such as EUR/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/CAD, AUD/JPY, AUD/USD, NZD/USD, EUR/AUD, EUR/CHF, GBP/CHF, AUD/CHF, and AUD/NZD.

Indices

A few instruments are available for trade under indices: US Dollar Index, Germany 30, Altcoin Index, Top Crypto Index, US Wall St 30, and Hong Kong 33.

Stocks

For stocks, you’ll find Smarty, Facebook (Meta), Alibaba, Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, Lockheed Martin, YUM, IBM, McDonalds, Disney, Ford, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Cocacola, Baidu, and Netflix.

Commodities

For the commodities market, some of the active instruments you’ll find include gold, silver, platinum, copper, Brent Oil, Gold (OTC), Oil (OTC), and Silver (OTC).

Cryptocurrencies

Only four instruments/crypto assets can be traded here: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple.

Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)

Some instruments that can be traded under ETFs include QQQ Trust Series 1, S&P 500 ETF, Total Stock market, Emerging Markets ETF, Russell 2000 ETF, Gold Shares ETF, and Developed Market ETFs.

The assets and Instrument section is quite packed. However, not having information about them on the website is a bad experience because users must first sign up for the app before getting to know the types of instruments they or they can trade on ExpertOption. I personally didn’t like that.

Education And Training

A sign of a serious broker is how committed it’s to educating users about the product and how the market works to avoid unnecessary losses or mistakes. ExpertOption takes this into deep consideration by investing heavily in user education.

The educational section on the website is divided into eight parts: a glossary, graphical analysis, fundamental analysis, technical analysis, psychology of trading, trading strategies, webinars, and tutorials.

Technical Analysis

This contains details on how users can study the price movements of instruments alongside using indicators like Bollinger Bands, Alligator, RSI indicator, support and resistance lines, and moving averages to figure out where prices are headed. I don’t like that ExpertOption has made no effort to update the resources here, as they were all created in 2020.

Graphical Analysis

This is similar to the technical analysis section, with all resources dated back to 2020. Resources you’ll find here include articles on moving average indicators, Fibonacci retracements and Elliot Waves, Trend reversal patterns, Trend continuation patterns, graphical analysis, and candle sticks.

Fundamental Analysis

The resources here are just two, discussing basic fundamental indexes and fundamental analysis. As you might have guessed, both articles were published in 2020.

Psychology of Trading

Here you’ll find articles that discuss the different aspects of building the right approach to trading. This includes confirmation bias, believing in “lucky streaks,” being unable to accept a losing streak, successful traders, individual trading psychology, psychology of traders, and psychology of trading.

Trading Strategies

This is the most packed section with many resources you can use to form a strategy or at least understand one.

Some of the articles you’ll find here include ExpertOption account privileges, Martingale strategy, Demo account strategy, withdrawal methods, ExpertOption social trading advantages, bonus programs, alligator trading strategies, breakout strategy, three-method strategy, moving average strategy, squat candlestick, and V-bonus Volume spike trading strategy.

The glossary

This section is the dictionary of ExpertOptions, as it contains word definitions arranged alphabetically. Still, surprisingly it has just a few definitions.

Webinar

The webinar section has three prerecorded videos in three languages, one in English and another in Hindi. These videos discuss the same thing:thing “effective setup, how to use trading signals.” There” there is no Information on what to expect in this segment or list dates for upcoming webinars.

Tutorial

The tutorial covers a list of trading terms and topics on using their platform, explained with videos. These videos are brief, and you won’t get in-depth knowledge of the financial terms explained in the video.

The best part about ExpertOptions is that it supports multiple languages. You can easily switch to your preferred language option if you find it there. You’ll find Bahasa Malaysia, Tagalog, Spanish, and Portuguese other than English. There are also analytic tools available on every user’s dashboard, where you’ll find every asset and a time frame attached.

Overall, I don’t appreciate that the contents aren’t frequently published and updated. It shows the lack of commitment on the side of the broker to take the business seriously and does not show the brand taking serious action and commitment to help its users.

Account Types

There are six (6) different account types available on ExpertOption. Each has specific requirements and the benefits you’ll gain from using each platform. This is the micro, Basic, silver, gold, platinum, and exclusive trading account.

Micro Account

With the micro account, you’ll have access to several educational materials and resources and be able to open five (5) deals simultaneously. However, you won’t get increased assets profit; the maximum deal amount is $10.

Basic account

The basic account is similar to the micro account with some distinctions. In the case of a basic account, the maximum number of deals you can open simultaneously can be at most 10, and the maximum deal amount you’ll get is $25.

The Silver Account

Users get other special benefits not peculiar to the micro and basic accounts. On the silver account, you’ll have access to educational resources, basic market reviews, and financial research; in addition, you can have 15 open orders at once and a maximum deal amount of $250 (10x the Basic account); however, there’s no increased asset profit.

The Gold Account

This starts from $2,500. As a user of this account, you’ll have access to educational resources, receive daily market reviews and financial research, priority withdrawal, a maximum deal amount of $1,000, up to 2% in increased assets profits, and a maximum number of open deals of 30.

Platinum Account

There is little difference between this account and the gold account. The critical distinction is that there are no limits to the number of open deals you can have at once, a maximum deal amount of $2,000, and increased assets profit of up to 4%. This account starts from $5,000.

Exclusive Account

This is an invite-only account. ExpertOption has to personally invite you before you can access the benefits of this account. The core benefits include no limits to the number of open deals you can have at once, a maximum deal amount of $3,000, and increased asset profits of up to 6%.

There’s no starting amount for this account. And you’ll get regular benefits like educational materials, daily market reviews and financial research, and priority withdrawals.

Trading platforms

The ExpertOption is available and accessible through mobile, desktop, and web applications.

According to Google Play and App Store, the ExpertOption mobile app remains among the top financial apps in 47 countries and has over 100,000,000 downloads. It is available on both iOS and Android devices.

The desktop app is known best for its market analysis option and smooth user interface. This is available only on Windows and MacOS.

Social Trading

ExpertOptions supports social trading that lets you copy and pick the brains of experienced traders that suit your trading preference.

The VIP traders are whose trades are being copied and are ranked in order of their profitability, the country they’re from, and the stock they trade.

The home interface is generally confusing, and how to go about trading with the platform isn’t apparent to a first-time user. The experience I had, too, wasn’t delightful.

Demo Trading Account

ExpertOptions provides a demo trading account for users. This allows them to sharpen their skills and practice strategies they’ve been able to develop themselves through the ExpertOptions tutorial or other learning sources.

To access the demo account, you simply have to click the top right part of the screen with the tag ‘real account,’ and then the option for the demo will pop up automatically. The demo account comes with $10,000 for trading whatever instruments you choose are available on the platform.

One important note is that ExpertOption is available for residents and citizens of these countries: Australia, Canada, EU Member States, Iceland, Iran, Israel, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, North Korea, Norway, Puerto Rico, Russia, Singapore, Sudan, Switzerland, the UK, the USA, and Yemen.

There isn’t support for other trading terminals, like MetaTrader 4 &5, meaning all trades are done on the ExpertOptions custom trading platform. Some of the features you’ll find are four (4) different chart types, eight (8) different indicators, three (3) drawing tools, and three (3) different layouts.

Deposit And Withdrawal

Many popular payment options are available for deposit and withdrawal on ExpertOptions.

Withdrawal Methods

There are nine available withdrawal options to choose from on the platform, and these are bank cards (Visa, Mastercard, and Maestro), Binance pay, Skrill, Ethereum, WebMoney, USDT (Tether) ERC-20, Neteller, Perfect Money, Banks of Africa.

• There are also criteria to pay attention to as well.
• You can only withdraw up to $250 without KYC.
• Processing time for withdrawal can take up to 5 business days.
• Fees are not charged. However, commissions are removed.
• The minimum withdrawal is $10.
• The first withdrawal on an ExpertOptions account must be made to the bank account or e-wallet used to make the first deposit.

• The minimum deposit is $10.
• The minimum trading amount is $1.

While the payment option is very robust and the options are close to the norm or usual process of other brokers. One thing I found that needs to be clarified to every user is that international bank transfers can take up to forty-five (45) days before being processed.

Deposit Method

There are seven available deposit options on ExpertOptions, and this includes Binance Pay, Neteller, Bank Transfer, Perfect Money, Skrill, cryptocurrency (USDT, Bitcoin, and Ethereum), and Cards (maestro and master card).

Customer Support

The customer support section on the website clearly stated there. So if you need help, you might consider reaching out via the in-chat option or any of the company’s social media handles, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

To find customer support, you’ll need to go under the company, then about the company, and you’ll find a contact for our segments. You’ll find the company’s official email and a form to fill out requesting details like your name, email address, and phone number, and leave a message.

At the bottom of the page, you’ll also find the ExpertOption address.

However, on the web application, you can start a live chat under the help section, and according to the information there, you can access them 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

There’s also an email for you to contact if you have further complaints or inquiries that are more intricate. There’s also a frequently asked question where you’ll find extra details. However, it isn’t as robust as you might anticipate.

Bonus and Referral program

Every first-time user of ExpertOption is offered a bonus of up to 120% of the deposited amount within the first hour of registration. This is the welcome bonus. However, the subsequent bonus offered to every other user is called the general bonus. The bonuses aren’t real money.

There are conditions attached to the bonuses segment as well; for example, bonuses can only be used for trading and can’t be withdrawn from the account; clients can use rewards if the real account balance is equal to or less zero; and if a trade is taken with bonus and closed before expiration, then the bonus won’t be credit back to the client.

Several other conditions and rules are attached to ExpertOption’s bonus terms and conditions. It’s best to read the section and find out more about the platform’s approach to this.

The referral program is simple; traders will earn 2% of their referred traders’ turnover. You’re also provided a referral link to share across different platforms and channels.

Conclusion

I’m not particularly satisfied with how ExpertOption positions its brands. They need to look more serious about truly distributing value to their customers.

One can tell from the lack of updated information in the resources segments, the lack of regulatory license from any authority, and the information disparity on the website and its proprietary trading platform, among other factors.

I advise traders to refrain from trading with them, and if they do, they should do in-depth research to see whether the platform meets their standards, but it’s still a risk.

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