IQ Option offers forex trading on a few number of currencies. The spreads are higher than other competitors.
| GBP/USD Spread | 15 pips |
| EUR/GBP Spread | 16 pips |
| EUR/USD Spread | 12 pips |
| Assets | 50+ |
IQ Option is one of the leading cryptocurrency brokers. You can have your own wallet and trade a huge number of cryptocurrencies.
| BTC Spread | 7% |
| ETH Spread | 12% |
| Leverage | Yes |
| Cryptocurrencies | <27 |
IQ Option is an online trading platform that deals primarily in contracts for difference (CFDs). Other financial instruments traded on the IQ Option platform include binary options and digital options, commodities, ETFs (exchange-traded funds), Forex, indices, stocks, and cryptocurrencies. If you’re a hardcore World Endurance Championship (WEC) auto racing enthusiast, you might recognize the company’s logo (consisting of three white bars arranged from shortest to tallest, inside an orange circle) from Aston Martin’s Gran Turismo race cars.
The following IQ Option review examines these financial instruments and the pros and cons of using the app. We’ll start by looking into how to open a new account, look at some of the features and financial instruments offered, and conclude our IQ Option review by looking at the pros and cons of using this company’s apps for binary trading.
Contents
Account Opening
To register for an IQOption account, you must provide IQOption with information that includes identity verification, Web registration, the client’s real identity and real-world contact details, a copy of a passport or other picture identification, and a completed application. IQOption reserves the right to ask for additional documentation as well, and the process may vary slightly depending on the country in which the client resides. Clients have up to ten days to complete the registration process, and IQOption then has 30 days to process the client’s application.
You can begin your IQOption trading experience by opening a practice, or demo, account. The demo account allows you to practice making transactions using virtual funds. Your demo account will come pre-loaded with $1,000 in virtual funds so you can initiate virtual trades and get the feel for how the app works. Virtual funds have no actual monetary value.
If you decide to, you can then convert your demo account over to an account that uses real funds. You’ll simply click on your account balance in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. Here you’ll see all the types of accounts: your demo account, your real account, and any trading tournaments you’ve entered. To activate your real account, just click on it to switch it to active. A minimum deposit of about $10 is required to activate a standard account. No minimum deposit is required for a demo account.
For those traders who invest a minimum $1900 or the equivalent in any valid currency, IQOption offers a VIP account. Traders with VIP accounts are required to reach a trade volume of at least $15,000 or the equivalent in any currency. Perks of a VIP account include access to a personal account manager, monthly personalized reports on your trades, and an additional 3% in returns.
Traders from these countries are able to use IQOption (this list is not exhaustive):
| Countries | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | France | Hong Kong | India | Kuwait |
| Luxembourg | Norway | Saudi Arabia | Singapore | South Africa |
| Sweden | Thailand | Qatar | United Arab Emirates | United Kingdom |
Traders from these countries are not allowed to do business with IQOption, due to legal and regulatory reasons:
| Countries | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Belgium | Canada | Germany | Iran |
| Israel | Italy | Japan | Netherlands | The Palestinian Territories |
| Romania | Turkey | Spain | Sudan | Syria |
| Russian Federation | United States | |||
Demo Account
Commissions and Fees
IQOption lists a table of fees under the Terms and Conditions on its website. Users are advised to familiarize themselves with the table of fees before doing any trading for actual funds on the site. Depending on the type of financial instrument being traded, the user may be charged a one-off cost based on the spread of trade, a swap fee, dormant account fees, and a maintenance fee.
CFDs on cryptocurrencies are subject to brokerage commission fees. These CFDs in particular may also be subject to maintenance fees, which range from 0.25% to 2.5%.
In addition to these costs, all users will be charged a flat 2% withdrawal fee when withdrawing certain types of currencies. Examples of these currencies include Philippine pesos, Russian rubles, U.S. dollars, and Euros. Withdrawal fees are charged to the client’s fourth withdrawal of any calendar month; clients are entitled to the first three withdrawals for free.
Accounts that are inactive for over 90 days are subject to dormant account fees. Dormant account fees may not exceed the balance of the client’s account. Traders who close their accounts may also be subject to a Verification Account Closure Fee. IQOption does not charge deposit fees.
| Description | IQ Option |
|---|---|
| Account fee | No |
| Deposit fee | $0 |
| Withdrawal fee | $0 |
| Inactivity fee | Yes |
Deposit and Withdrawal
IQOption lists a table of fees under the Terms and Conditions on its website. Users are advised to familiarize themselves with the table of fees before doing any trading for actual funds on the site. Depending on the type of financial instrument being traded, the user may be charged a one-off cost based on the spread of trade, a swap fee, dormant account fees, and a maintenance fee.
CFDs on cryptocurrencies are subject to brokerage commission fees. These CFDs in particular may also be subject to maintenance fees, which range from 0.25% to 2.5%.
In addition to these costs, all users will be charged a flat 2% withdrawal fee when withdrawing certain types of currencies. Examples of these currencies include Philippine pesos, Russian rubles, U.S. dollars, and Euros. Withdrawal fees are charged to the client’s fourth withdrawal of any calendar month; clients are entitled to the first three withdrawals for free.
Accounts that are inactive for over 90 days are subject to dormant account fees. Dormant account fees may not exceed the balance of the client’s account. Traders who close their accounts may also be subject to a Verification Account Closure Fee. IQOption does not charge deposit fees.
| Deposit & Withdrawal Method | Available |
|---|---|
| VISA / Mastercard / Maestro |  |
| Credit/Debit Cards | |
| Paypal | |
| Bank Transfer | |
| Skrill | |
| Neteller | |
| Giropay | |
| Webmoney | |
Regulation and Reputation
Based in the Mediterranean nation of Cyprus, IQOption is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). As such, IQOption is authorized to do financial business with residents of the European Economic Area (EEA). IQOption is also an MiFID compliant broker, meaning it complies with the European Union’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive regulation. In compliance with CySEC regulations, the company is not allowed to offer any kind of deposit bonus to users. The company must also comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulations.
For clients who live outside of the EEA, IQOption has a sister company, known as IQ Option Ltd. This arm of the company is located in Mahe, Seychelles, and regulated by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA).
IQOption review in the media is generally positive. An IQOption review by Management Today stated that, “IQOption’s management sees the company’s main objective as offering the best possible trading conditions to all its clients.” In 2017, Live Trading News said that IQOption “makes binary options trading smoother than ever before.”
The Huffington Post’s Tech column, writing in an explainer article about binary trading options, gives the IQOption review that novice binary traders should use IQOption, mentioning that the demo account will allow novice traders to get a feel for what the real thing will be like. HuffPost Tech also notes that the company has one of the most important marks of safety and quality: namely, that the company is regulated by CySEC, a trustworthy financial regulatory agency. Further, it notes in its IQOption review that the user-friendly platform allows users to analyze assets by price and that the experience is both easy and rewarding.
Another IQOption review states that as of 2018, the app had over 41 million users from 213 different countries around the world.
Trading Platforms
| Platform | Available |
|---|---|
| Web | Yes |
| Desktop | No |
| Mobile | Yes |
The trading schedule is updated every Monday, so the numbers listed in this section are approximate and are subject to change as the site is updated.
IQOption offers five kinds of CFDs:
- CFDs on Commodities
- CFDs on Cryptocurrencies
- CFDs on Currency Pairs
- CFDs on ETFs
- CFDs on Stocks
Traders on IQOption can also trade currencies and cryptocurrencies. Cryptos that can be traded on IQOption include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple.
Web Trading Platform
IQ Option offers a web trading platform in many different languages.
User Experience
The web trading platform is well-designed, modern looking and has a few appearance options, so that the users can adjust it to their needs.
Search Function
The platform offers an in-built search function, where users can find any products they’d like to invest. The search function works well and without any problems. You can even filter the results by different commodities, as seen in the image below.
Orders
IQOption allows for the following order types, allowing for various short-, medium-, and long-term strategies:
- Multiplier: This coefficient allows the trader to increase the return on the investment, but also increases the amount of risk.
- Purchase At: Also known as pre-order, this order allows the trader to set the market price at which an order should be initiated.
- Stop Loss: When a stop loss order is triggered, the trade is closed, allowing the trader to set the maximum amount of loss that he or she will allow.
- Take Profit: This type of order works like a stop loss, except that instead of setting the allowable amount of loss, it sets the allowable amount of profit.
- Trailing Stop: These orders are a dynamic type that allows the trader to automatically close certain order when they begin to lose value as part of an overall strategy.
Charting
The trading platform has well-designed charts, with a few options to modify the chart type.
Others
You can use different calendars while you’re on the platform. Some examples:
- News Calendar
- Earnings Calendar
Desktop Trading Platform
IQ Option currently does not offer a desktop trading platform.
Mobile Trading
IQOption review in the media is generally positive. An IQOption review by Management Today stated that, “IQOption’s management sees the company’s main objective as offering the best possible trading conditions to all its clients.” In 2017, Live Trading News said that IQOption “makes binary options trading smoother than ever before.”
The Huffington Post’s Tech column, writing in an explainer article about binary trading options, gives the IQOption review that novice binary traders should use IQOption, mentioning that the demo account will allow novice traders to get a feel for what the real thing will be like. HuffPost Tech also notes that the company has one of the most important marks of safety and quality: namely, that the company is regulated by CySEC, a trustworthy financial regulatory agency. Further, it notes in its IQOption review that the user-friendly platform allows users to analyze assets by price and that the experience is both easy and rewarding.
Another IQOption review states that as of 2018, the app had over 41 million users from 213 different countries around the world.
Markets and Investment Products
The minimum deposit required to trade varies by the type of asset being traded.
Options
IQOption trades options in 11 industries:
- Communication Services
- Consumer Discretionary
- Consumer Staples
- Energy
- Financials
- Health Care
- Industrials
- Information Technology
- Materials
- Real Estate
- Utilities
In total, as of February 2020, IQOption offered 55 different options, including Alibaba, gold, McDonald’s, and Tesla.
Forex
Again as of February 2020, IQOption offered 50 different Forex pairs. Forex pairs compare one unit of currency to another. Examples would be U.S. dollar/Russian ruble, Euro/New Zealand dollar, and Great British pound/Japanese yen.
Stocks
IQOption offers approximately 169 different stocks to trade. A few examples of IQOption’s stocks include:
- Amazon
- Coca-Cola
- Colgate-Palmolive
- Commerzbank (Germany)
- General Electric
- IBM Corporation
- Microsoft
- Pinterest, Inc.
- Quest Diagnostics
- SalesForce.com
Cryptocurrency
IQOption allows clients to trade in 27 different kinds of cryptocurrency as of February 2020. They include everything from well-known cryptos including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum to lesser-known cryptos that include OmiseGo, Cosmos, Ontology, and NEO. The company also offers its own cryptocurrency wallet, Hodly,
Commodities
Five commodities are available to trade on IQOption:
- Crude Oil Brent
- Crude Oil WTI
- Gold
- Platinum
- Silver
Indices
Indices are included among the assets available on IQOption.com. However, as of February 2020, no indices were listed as being available at the moment.
ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds)
25 ETFs are available on IQOption. They include Energy SPDR, Gold Miners ETF, MSCI Mexico ETF, Oil Services ETF, S&P 500 ETF, UltraShort S&P500, and U.S. Real Estate ETF.
Customer Support
Clients can call IQOption Customer Service 24 hours a day, seven days a week from toll-free numbers in several countries that include: Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, India, and Colombia. Phone numbers are also available for the U.K., Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Singapore, Chile, and Thailand, although toll fees are applicable in these countries. About 90 customer service representatives monitor and respond to these phone lines.
IQOption Customer Support offers its services in a total of 14 different languages. In addition to these phone numbers, clients can also get in touch with the company through email or live chat. The average response time for a live chat is about 14 minutes, according to one IQOption review.
The general support email address is support@iqoption.com.
Education
IQOption offers a large number of video tutorials to help clients learn to trade successfully, navigate the website, and get the most out of their IQOption experience. Its “How to Trade CDF?” video gives users a basic introduction to one of the most popular financial instruments available on the app.
Video tutorials are divided into the following categories:
- About Us: These videos answer questions about the IQOption company itself.
- CFD Trading: More in-depth information than that offered in the introductory video.
- Common: This category includes videos that answer frequently asked questions about the app and about options trading in general.
- Crypto Digest: One of the largest categories on the site, this collection contains news and events about cryptocurrency from all around the world.
- Fundamental Analysis: These videos describe how to use financial news and the calendar to make trades.
- Market News: One of the largest categories of videos, with news from all the different markets in which IQOption clients can invest.
- New Features (self-explanatory)
- Options Trading (self-explanatory)
- Technical Analysis: These videos explain specifically how technical analysis is used in options trading. Indicators for technical analysis that can be found within this app include Average Directional Movement Index (ADX), Average True Range (ATR), Awesome Oscillator, Bollinger Bands, Commodity Channel Index (CCI), Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), Parabolic SAR, Relative Strength Index (RSI), and Stochastic Oscillator. In all, the apps use approximately 20 of these indicators.
Pros and Cons
- An affiliate program allows traders to earn a commission by recommending the platform to others. The affiliate dashboard includes a suite of promotional materials that help the trader be able to promote their affiliate link.
- Charts on the app are large and easy to read, making it easy for users to monitor market conditions as they trade.
- Customer service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.
- Economic calendars, historical quotes, market updates, multi-chart layouts, volatility alerts and other tools are available in the app. The platform offers a large number of trading tools that can’t be found on other binary trading apps.
- IQOption is completely SSL encrypted, helping keep clients’ data safe from hackers.
- IQOption’s apps are intuitive, easy to use, and easy to navigate.
- Minimum deposits on IQOption vary, but are generally kept around 10 U.S. dollars. The affordability and ease of use of the app make it open to users who might not otherwise trade in the binary options market.
- No need to wait for a market’s opening time; trading is available around the clock, no matter where in the world you’re located.
- Regulation by a reputable financial regulatory agency, CySEC, helps ensure that the platform is safe to use.
- The app is flexible, allowing traders to adjust their ratio of risk to profit in real time, even if the price of an option goes down.
- The Global Banking and Finance Review Awards 2015 awarded IQOption the Best Binary Options Broker in Europe 2015 award.
- The platform is suitable for day trading.
- The smallest possible trade amount, on certain financial instruments, is an affordable $1.
- Trading tournaments allow traders, for a small fee, to enter into direct head-to-head trading competitions that award prizes. Prizes range from cash to experiences; Aston Martin race day experiences have been given out as prizes in the past.
- A limited number of cryptocurrencies are available through the app. IQOption could improve its appeal to a wider number of traders by adding additional crypto options.
- CFDs may not be the right financial instrument for all traders, due to the volatility inherent in the CFD market. Binary options have only two outcomes: the investor either makes a profit or loses all of the funds they’ve invested. An estimated 74% to 89% of all retail traders lose money overall when investing in CFDs.
- If you’re looking to trade loans, IQOption is not the platform for you, since loans can’t be traded on the platform.
- Indices don’t seem to be currently available.
- Only traders from certain countries are able to use the app.
- Some types of financial instruments cap the maximum allowable investment at $10,000, which may be a disadvantage for those who want to execute large trades.
- The app isn’t integrated with Metatrader 4 (MT4) or with cTrader.
- Trading tournaments are not available to clients who live inside the EEA.
The Bottom Line
A quick IQOption review of the financial instruments the company offers through its apps:
- 5 Commodities
- 27 Cryptocurrencies
- 25 ETFs
- 50 Forex pairs
- 55 Options
- 169 Stocks
IQOption review is typically positive, focusing on the ease of use for those who want to get into binary options and particularly CFDs. Regulated by the CySEC, the company is generally thought to be a safe and reliable way to trade binary options and other financial instruments. It offers clients the chance to trade stocks, Forex, cryptos, commodities, and ETFs.
A wide variety of financial analysis tools and educational materials to help traders make the most of their experience are available within the app. Check to see whether the app is available in your country before you try to download it, unless you plan to use only the demo account. Overall, though, the apps have very few drawbacks compared to their strengths, whether you access them online, through the Mac or PC app, or in one of the mobile versions.
User Reviews
This platform was my favourite as a beginner trader. It’s the most beautifully designed, very responsive, information and graph flow effortlessly as you navigate the platform. It also is the only platform that worked on my iOS Catalina (64 bit). What I am missing through is selling off part of my positions and a more in depth look at my past trades (i.e. displaying it on the chart like in MT4)
