Beware! GTF Markets is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
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GTF Markets is a Forex broker that introduces itself as a global leader in the financial market. It’s deafening an introduction, though, but the facts show that GTF Markets is an offshore broker that we consider unsafe. Find out everything you need to know about this Forex broker in the full GTF Markets review.
GTF Markets REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
GTF Markets is an offshore Forex broker that’s legally based in St. Lucia– a Caribbean island that similar to many of its neighbours in the region loosely regulate its financial sector. The Forex activities that take place on the island are still non-regulated, which means that the St. Lucia brokers cannot guarantee the safety of the clients’ money.
Your funds are not safe if you make a deposit with GTF Markets because it’s an unlicensed, unauthorised and unregulated Forex broker, which might disappear any time soon leaving the traders with losses that might be impossible to recover.
Avoid GTF Markets and trade with the EU (mostly CySEC regulated) or UK (FCA regulated) Forex brokers because these domains provide the safest environment for the funds of the traders. Furthermore, most of the leading brokers in the world hold EU or UK license, which will positively help you with the choice. Customer protection is a top priority in Europe. For that purpose, a variety of stringent rules and regulations were imposed by the financial authorities that the Forex brokers have to comply with. These standards include a minimum capital requirement of 730 000 EUR, segregation of the clients’ accounts, negative balance protection (the trader cannot lose more than the sum deposited) and predefined stop-out levels, to name a few.
Most importantly, however, the traders’ funds are guaranteed by the deposit insurance funds that were inaugurated to further contribute to the health of the system. Under CySEC (Cyprus) regulation, the clients can claim up to 20 000 EUR in compensation, while under FCA (Britain) the clients can claim up to 85 000 GBP per client. If you trade with an anonymous or offshore broker, you are entitled to nothing, but troubles and issues.
GTF Markets TRADING SOFTWARE
GTF Markets offer MetaTrader5 accounts to its clients; MetaTrader4 is not available for trading. It’s the best choice for the brokers and the traders, as well, because Metatrader is the most popular Forex trading in the world which comes with many features that the traders can hardly find anywhere else for free. The list includes sophisticated trading tools such as Expert Advisors, Algo trading, Complex Indicators, Strategy Tester, its own programming language- MQL and even a marketplace.
The EUR/USD spread is 1.9 pips, which is slightly higher than the rest of the industry- no more than 1 pip. The Prime Account, however, comes with spreads as low as 0.1 pips but the trader should deposit not less than $5000. The spread is a fundamental element in trading and forms part or all for the costs for the traders. The lower spreads make the trading more affordable and significantly increase the flexibility and the profit potential for the trader.
The maximum leverage level possible is 1:500, which is a level that’s not adequate for the traders. We do not recommend trading on such a high ratio because the risks involved are tremendous, no matter the increased profit potential. More than 80% of the traders on the market lose money, and it’s mostly because they misuse the leverage tool. EU, UK and Australia (from the spring of 2021) forced a leverage cap of 1:30, while USA and Canada agreed on 1:50 as a customer protection measure. Since then the traders improved significantly because up to this point, 95% of the traders were losing money in the markets!
It’s a warning sign that GTF Markets doesn’t mention anything about commissions. MetaTrader5 is an ECN platform, which means that the broker doesn’t act as a market maker and generate its income and profits by the commissions that the traders have to pay.
GTF Markets DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
The minimum initial deposit is $10, but the profit potential with such a tiny deposit is non-existent. The industry standard is $100 on average, though.
The funding methods are said to be Wire Transfer, Credit/Debit cards, Skrill, Neteller, Perfect Money, WebMoney, Payeer and Cryptos.
There are no minimum withdrawal restrictions, which is actually in line with the rest of the industry. GTF Markets claims to process the withdrawal request within 2 days, which is fine and corresponds to the standards.
There is no information about their dormant account policy or fees for inactivity, which itself is a warning sign. It’s an essential aspect of trading because this policy includes a set of rules that determine how the brokers deal with the accounts that seized to be active. The regulated Forex brokers will usually let 6 months to a year pass before putting an account dormant and will charge an administrative fee of 5 to 10 dollars per month at most.
GTF Markets offers a welcome deposit bonus of 100%. To our surprise, there aren’t additional trading conditions that apply, which seems really strange! The traders should know that the bonuses are not free money, but a leverage tool that further increases the risk. EU and UK disallowed the regulated Forex brokers to offer trading incentives precisely because of the risks involved. On the other hand, the bonuses are a favourite marketing tool of the scammers, so you’d better avoid brokers that offer bonuses and promotions!
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
The scam is a financial crime involving all the fraudulent and ill-intentioned activities, used by the swindlers to make money illicitly! The scammers want to steal your money and will create as many scam schemes as possible while trying to defraud you. In most of the cases, they are hiding behind offshore companies, offshore Forex brokers, trusts and so on, trying to remain anonymous and difficult to trace. There is no or very light FX regulation in the offshore jurisdictions such as the Commonwealth of Dominica, the Marshall Islands, St. Lucia or St. Vincent and the Grenadines, making them some of the most popular destinations for shady and illegitimate enterprises. Regulation means customer protection and safety, financial authorities such as CySEC or FCA will make it impossible for a scam Forex broker to conduct illicit activities and harm the traders.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
No one is immune to scam, and anyone can fall into the trap. Scammers are always looking for new and different ways to scam consumers. What you need to do first, in case you got scammed, is to protect yourself from further risks. Contact your bank and explain to them your situation, they will give you necessary instructions to follow and will help you, if possible, recover your money.
Report what happened to you, file a complaint, contact the financial regulator, contact other government institutions related to trading and investing. Seek help actively!
It’s very important not to rush blindly trying to recover your funds because many scam recovery agencies and individuals are stalking, aiming to double scam the victims. These will most likely ask for an advanced payment, but will do nothing to help you recover your losses!
Share online your experience; it’s important to protect others, as well. Be responsible!
