Pocket Option Review
Broker | Pocket Option |
---|---|
US Traders Accepted | |
Company Name | PO TRADE (SV) LTD PO TRADE LTD |
Headquarters | St. Vincent & the Grenadines Saint Lucia |
Regulation | FMRRC (License number TSRF RU 0395 AA V0174) |
Bonus Type | Promo codes, bonus to balance, risk-free trades, cashback, boosters, prolongators, gems, chests, VIP tickets |
Bonus Size | $100 |
Max Payout | 98% |
Out-of-Money Reward | 0% |
Trading Platform | Proprietary |
Deposit Options | Credit/debit cards, bank transfer, QIWI, WebMoney, Bitcoin, Jeton, Fasapay, Perfect Money, VLoad, advcash, Litecoin, Stellar Lumen, Ethereum, Paxos, Zcash, TrueUSD, Zcash, Ripple, USDK, USD Coin, DAI,Tether (USDT) |
Deposit Currencies | US dollar (USD), Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Pax, Stellar Lumen (XLM), Ethereum (ETH), Zcash (ZEC), Tether (USDT), USDK, DAI, ZEC, XRP, TUSD |
Minimum Deposit | $10 |
Minimum Trade | $1 |
Maximum Trade | $3,000 |
Online Since | 2017 |
Trading Instruments | Currency: AUD/CAD, AUD/CHF, AUD/JPY, AUD/USD, CAD/JPY, CHF/JPY, EUR/CHF, EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, EUR/RUB, EUR/USD, GBP/AUD, GBP/JPY, NZD/JPY , NZD/USD, USD/CAD, USD/CHF, USD/JPY Commodities: Gold, Silver, UKBrent, USCrude Stocks: 3M Company, Alcoa Inc, Altria Group Inc, American Express, Bank of America, Boeing Company, Caterpillar Inc, FACEBOOK INC, Gazprom, Google, HP Inc, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Lukoil, McDonald's, Microsoft, Nornickel, Pfizer Inc, Walt Disney Crypto: Bitcoin, EOS |
Number of Trading Instruments | 84 |
Binary Option Types | High/Low, 30 Second trades |
Customer Support Types | Live chat, web form, phone |
Education Offered | Platform guide, trading strategies, glossary, video tutorial, tips and tricks. |
Tools Offered | Social trading, charts, indicators, signals, tournaments. |
Commission | $10 withdrawal minimum, no commission, no deposit or withdrawal fees. |
Languages | Russian, Italian, French, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Romanian, Greek, Portuguese, Polish, Thai, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Croatian, Spanish, Indonesian, German, Malay, Japanese, Serbian, Hindi |
Demo Account | Yes, unlimited |
Pocket Option is a binary options broker run by two companies: PO TRADE (SV) LTD, based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and PO TRADE LTD, a company that is based in Saint Lucia. The site seems like it is geared in part toward Russian traders, but it does accept traders from most countries worldwide. Below, you can read our Pocket Option review:
The only “regulation” it mentions is FMRRC (License number TSRF RU 0395 AA V0174). To be clear, this is an independent organization, not a government agency.
Is it a good place to trade? Let’s take a look at what Pocket Option has to offer, starting with how you can open an account and make a deposit. We’ll then talk about the proprietary trading platform, features, bonuses, and more.
Getting Started on Pocket Option
Anyone can sign up for a Pocket Option account; the site does not even ask your country when you make an account. But the site states that it does not do business with customers from the USA, Israel, or EEA countries.
I should note that customer service gave some mixed info here. At one point, the agent said, “Card payments are not available in the US due to settings of our financial provider. We apologize for the inconvenience.” This seemed to imply US trading was allowed.
I asked for clarification, and received this vague reply: “We provide services to clients from all countries where these services are legal. Please note that it is the clients’ responsibility to comply with local legislation since it differs from country to country.”
So, you can trade with a demo account from anywhere, but if you want to trade with real money, you need to make sure you are in a territory that Pocket Option allows (and is legal). One nice thing about Pocket Option is that the demo account appears to be unrestricted.
Pocket Option says, “There is absolutely no difference between demo and real trading except for the trading account balance. Charts, quotes, payout percentages, and all other trading settings are absolutely identical.”
The site accepts numerous deposit options, including MIR, credit or debit card, QIWI, WebMoney, Bitcoin, Jeton, Fasapay, Perfect Money, VLoad, advcash, Litecoin, Stellar Lumen, Ethereum, Paxos, TrueUSD, Zcash, Ripple, USDK, USD Coin, DAI, and bank wire.
You only need to make a $10 deposit to start trading live. What deposit currencies are available? It is oddly hard to get a complete answer. Cryptocurrencies you can deposit with include Bitcoin, Litecoin, Pax, Stellar Lumen, Ethereum, Zcash, TrueUSD, XRP, USDK, USD Coin, DAI, and Tether (USDT).
I tried to get an answer on fiat currencies, but support could only say, “You can find the available deposit options on the Finance > Deposit page. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete your payment. If the desired deposit option is not present on the mentioned page, it means that we do not support it at the present moment.” That screen only listed cryptocurrencies for me, so I will have to assume that is all there is, at least for my region.
Fee-Free Trading
One of the best things about Pocket Option is that trading here is affordable from a fees and commissions standpoint. Pocket Option says, “We do not charge any deposit or withdrawal fees. If the received amount is slightly less than specified — it is due to the fact of a currency exchange or payment service fees.”
There is a $10 withdrawal minimum, but there are no commissions, and I found no references to any other fees or restrictions.
Pocket Option Platform and Features
The proprietary platform on Pocket Option can be a bit overwhelming to the eye the first time you see it, in part because it is just so different from what you may be used to on other binary options websites.
Nonetheless, once you find your way around, it seem pretty straightforward. The site does offer a platform guide and a video tutorial to help you get started, along with trading strategies, a glossary, and tips and tricks.
In terms of trading tools, you can customize your charts and set up indicators. You also can use signals or social trading to help you plan your investments. You can enter tournaments on the site as well.
Types of trades include High/Low and short-term trades (as fast as 30 seconds). So, that is not a huge variety. There are 100+ trading instruments including currencies, cryptocurrencies, stocks and commodities. The minimum trade size is only $1. The maximum is $1,000 by default, but at the top account tier, it is $3,000.
Pocket Option Bonuses and Promotions
Pocket Option has a ton of different promotions. When you sign up and deposit, you will be assigned an account tier based on the size of your deposit:
- Beginner: < $1,000 deposit, max trade amount is $1,000, 5% discount on the market (for deposits > $100).
- Master: $1,000–$10,000 deposit, max trade amount is $2,000, +2% to payouts, 10% discount on the market.
- Guru: $10,000+ deposit, max trade amount is $3,000, +4% to payouts, 15% discount on the market.
Depending on your account tier, you can select from a range of different promotions in the “Market,” including: promo codes, bonus to balance, risk-free trades, cashback, boosters, prolongators, gems, chests, and VIP tickets. You “purchase” these. The site explains, “You can either use the balance of your gems or funds on the balance of your trading account.”
The entire system appears very similar to microtransactions from video games, and is probably directly inspired by it.
While a wide variety of promotions is a good thing, generally speaking, microtransactions and gamification are not something many people like. So, it is hard to feel great about this, especially in the financial trading industry.
Friendly Customer Support at Pocket Option
I did have to ask customer support a number of questions because it was hard to find the info I needed in the FAQ (also, the deposit page was broken). Support was pretty slow, but was very friendly. The chat agent was clearly doing their best to answer as many of the questions as possible.
Conclusion: Interesting, But Not Incredible
Pocket Option has some cool features: a wide variety of bonuses, a demo account with no strings attached, and a unique platform. On the not so bright side, they lack regulation, do not seem wholly transparent, and provided some contradictory information. Their bonus system is innovative, but seems alarmingly reminiscent of gaming microtransactions, which are good at increasing engagement and loyalty but are also prone to produce false sense of achievement in traders. So, we cannot give them a full-scale recommendation at this point. Anyway, you can always check them out yourself if you are feeling curious.
Pocket Option FAQ
Is Pocket Option scam?
It doesn’t look so. There is no way to tell weather the website is a scam until it runs away with everyone’s money, but nothing like this happened to Pocket Option, and there are no signs that this is going to happen. Considering that Pocket Option is registered with at least one self-regulated financial organization (FMRRC — Financial Market Relations Regulation Center), it doesn’t seem plausible that they will scam you for your profit or deposit. Fraudsters don’t usually register with regulatory authorities.
Is there some way for traders at Pocket Option to interact?
Yes, there is a nice chat feature for traders to vent off, share trading ideas, discuss analysis, strategies, and market news. There is also a social trading facility to follow the trades of other binary traders.
What is the longest binary option expiry time available at Pocket Option?
H4 (4 hours) seems to be the longest expiration binary option that you can trade via Pocket Option.
Pocket option is a good broker, convenient and modern platform, many assets for trading, fast deposit and withdrawal of funds. There is also a mobile application that makes it possible to trade anywhere.