Brighter Trade
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  • Brighter Trade

  • Regulated:  No
Broker Name: Brighter Trade
Platform(s): CFD, Crypto
Founded: 2018
Bonus: N/A
Spreads: 2-5 pips
Leverage: up to 1:400
Regulated: No
Demo Account: Yes
Minimum Deposit: 250
US Traders: Not Accepted
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Brighter Trade Review

by Martin Kay

Why Brighter Trade Sucks In 50 Words

They suck for the reasons outlined above: no regulation, blacklisted by a relevant financial watchdog, and a dreadful reputation online despite being active for less than a year at the time of writing. Add to all that high spreads, high deposit limits and you have a broker That Sucks!

 

Why Brighter Trade Doesn’t Suck In 50 Words

They offer a relatively good web-based trading platform: Tradersoft. However, that shouldn’t take your mind away from the more important things we already talked about because a good trading platform doesn’t mean much if the brokerage that offers it will give you a hard time trading and getting your money out.

 

Is Brighter Trade A Scam?

We cannot say for sure, but one thing is certain: when a major regulatory authority like the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) warns against a brokerage, you’d better stay away and look for another one. Why risk investing with a company that is not only unregulated but even more, has a warning issued against it?

Given the lack of regulation, the limited time spent in the business, and the ASIC warning, we must recommend potential clients to be very careful when dealing with this brokerage or even refrain from doing so altogether. Adding to all this, there’s an uproar of angry customers who are screaming that Brighter Trade has scammed them. One more reason to stay away.

 

Warning!: Trading with a non-regulated broker carries risk. It is highly recommended to Start trading with a regulated broker.

 

Should I Open An Account With Brighter Trade?

BrighterTrade is an online Cryptocurrencies and CFD broker launched in 2018 and owned by LOGAMET LTD, which is a St. Vincent & Grenadines company, with registration number 24500 IBC 2018, located at Kingstown, St. Vincent.

They are operated by Igoten OU, with address in Tallinn, Estonia. This broker is not regulated and ASIC’s MoneySmart website has warned that it might be involved in a scam.

Launched apparently in April 2018 (according to third-party online sources, because they don’t share this information), BrighterTrade allows trading CFDs on cryptocurrencies, Fiat currencies, commodities, indices, and stocks on the Tradersoft platform. The platform itself is fine but I cannot compare it with some of the “big boys” out there, such as Meta Trader 4, mostly because it lacks customization features.

The minimum deposit at BrighterTrade is 250 EUR, which is quite a lot considering that more reputable brokers allow you to deposit as little as $100. What’s even more over the top are the following account tiers which require a minimum deposit of 10,000 EUR (Gold account) and over 50,000 EUR for the Platinum. They also have a VIP account but that’s invitation only and I imagine it will set you back quite a few euros. The perks you get for a higher tier account are not worth it and in fact, some of them should be avoided: account managers, bonuses, financial planning, and risk management planning with one of their “experts”. Either way, to deposit 10K with an unregulated, blacklisted broker is madness!
Education is provided by MTE-Media, which is a well-known company that offers video and written content to a lot of brokers (that’s why you see identical information on different brokers’ education sections). It’s not bad but it’s very basic and doesn’t present any interest to a fairly experienced trader.

All in all Brighter Trade is a brokerage that should be avoided due to their high deposit requirements, lack of regulation, and abysmal reputation among online traders, not to mention that ASIC blacklisted them.

 

Brighter Trade Complaints

“Fraud!” “Money was stolen!” “Nobody should use Brightertrade” These are just a few of the most used BrighterTrade complaints on the web. I have to admit it’s the first time when I’ve seen someone saying he lost his hair and was too distraught to eat, sleep or go out shopping. Someone else was allegedly scammed for 17,000 EUR and another person said he lost his entire pension there. These are horror stories and should be enough to make you stay away from this brokerage but they reveal something else: people are still gullible and trust unregulated companies with huge amounts of money.

 

Brighter Trade Regulatory Warnings And Announcements

22/11/2018: The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has warned that Brighter Trade is an unlicensed company that might be involved in a scam. According to ASIC, Brighter Trade (also known as Igoten OU) has made unsolicited calls or sent emails about investing, financial advice and other activities that require a license. See full warning here.

 

Brighter Trade Withdrawal

There are three ways to make withdrawals: credit cards, wire transfers, and Bitcoin (no e-wallets). The processing time is 7 – 10 business days as a general rule, so even if Bitcoin transactions are very fast, you will have to wait until they process the request, whatever that means. Maybe I don’t have to, but I will still say it: 10 business days just to process a withdrawal request is extremely long and keep in mind that you will have to wait some more until the money reaches you. Minimums are 100 EUR for cards and wires and the equivalent of $250 for Bitcoin.

 

Brighter Trade Extras

Although many brokers offer Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading, not a lot of them allow deposits and withdrawals in Bitcoin so I will list this as an extra for BrighterTrade. Keep in mind a very important aspect: crypto transactions cannot be reversed, meaning that if the recipient doesn’t willingly return your coins, you cannot do anything about it. In other words, there’s no chargeback with Bitcoin as with credit cards.

 
 

Brighter Trade Ratings

User Friendliness 12/20

The website denies access from many regions across the globe, even those that aren’t mentioned in their disclaimer, so that can be an issue from a user-friendliness perspective. The available languages are only 3 (English, Deutsch, and Arabic). Demo accounts are not available but they do have mobile apps.

 

Range of Markets, Spreads And Leverage 14/20

The basket of underlying assets is composed of commodities, indices, stocks, currencies, and cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple). The choice of cryptos is limited compared to other CFD brokerages but they offer 1:4 leverage, which is more than others (keep in mind high leverage increases risk). The leverage of the other assets goes up to 1:400 (basically, because they are not regulated, they can offer leverage as high as they want). Spreads are high, standing at about 3 pips for EUR/USD (around 1 pip is generally considered a good spread).

 

Fees And Support 11/20

The fees for withdrawals are not specified so it’s unclear how much (or if) you will have to pay to get your money out. However, in some particular instances, you will be required to pay a 10% fee for withdrawals, which is huge. The circumstances include: funds have been deposited but the account hasn’t been activated, or no trade has been carried out. The 10% will also be paid if the number of transactions is lower than the processing fees or the total fees for transactions are lower than the processing fees. Personally, I don’t understand these conditions, so make sure you do. Live chat support wasn’t available so the only options are phone or email.

 

Deposits And Withdrawals 12/20

Minimum deposit to open an account is 250 EUR, which is high; minimum withdrawal is $100 for cards and wires and $250 for Bitcoin. The processing time is 7 – 10 business days, which is very long.

 

Website Extras 11/20

The leverage is high (up to 1:400) and Brighter Trade allows Bitcoin deposits/withdrawals, which I am not so sure is a good thing because crypto transactions cannot be reversed and this brokerage has an awful reputation online.

 

Brighter Trade Overall Ratings: 60/100

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