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Is TouchTrades Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with TouchTrades. The broker is suspected to be a scam. It does not hold any license from a top-tier authority. Although the broker mentions its London address on its website, it is not regulated by the UK financial authority - FCA. All financial companies located in the UK should hold the FCA license to be able to provide their services. 

What is TouchTrades?

TouchTrades is an innovative financial services company offering a full suite of easy-to-use online brokerage, investing, and related banking solutions, delivered at a competitive price, as the broker mentioned on the website. The company states its location in London, however, does not hold an FCA license, which in fact is mandatory for the financial investment firm in the UK. The potential investor, after the registration on the website and the opening of an account, has the opportunity to trade in stocks, commodities, and indexes and on the currency market (FOREX) through the MT4 platform.

• Generally, we never advise trusting an unregulated company, as simply the broker that is reliable and truly perform trusted operation will take care of the client's protection and will get a necessary license to operate. As this is not the case with TouchTrades the trader will never know if he will see his funds ever again or not. In addition, the authorities received complaints from the traders about TouchTrades offerings, therefore, the firm received an official alert and was blacklisted.

“The TouchTrades Limited company, with an alleged registered office in London, according to the information available, people operating in the name of "TouchTrades" have contacted investors in certain jurisdictions by telephone in order to persuade them to open an account and trade on this website. The operation in question can be classed as the professional provision of investment services involving financial instruments that requires authorization, therefore TouchTrades have to cease the infringement”

CONSOB, Italy. April 2018.

TouchTrades Review Conclusion

There are many Forex Brokers offering very competitive trading conditions while enabling trading through a legal operation of the service, and of course, we advise choosing among them. This includes FCA Regulated Brokers, ASIC Brokers, or similar. Traders should invest with trustworthy brokers, such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

TouchTrades Update

Based on our findings, the TouchTrades website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. Anyway, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is FXLinked Scam or Legit Broker?

FXLinked is a 100% fraud company. The broker is registered offshore and does not hold any proper license from a well-known reliable financial regulator. We never advise trading with an offshore broker, since the financial investment service they deliver is not trustable.

• The reason is simple, the broker may promise the most ever competitive trading conditions or the trading environment, yet the trader has no guarantee from the official entities that oversee the Forex industry. 

What is FXLinked?

FXLinked is an offshore broker that offers to trade in Forex, Metals, CFDs, Stocks, Indices, and Energies. FXLinked is a trading name of FXLinked LTD, regulated as a Securities Dealer by the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles with license number (SD011) as a financial and monetary intermediary.

• The broker claims to be based in London, UK and the only language the website supports is English, so probably the company has been targeting UK residents. However, FXLinked is not authorized by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority and so is not allowed to offer its financial services.

• There are a lot of offshore-registered brokers out there claiming that offshore registration is a legit thing that allows them to do business in the financial market (Find scam forex brokers by link). However, most of them are simply registered, and not licensed, nor monitored by any governmental agency, which makes those firms the most dangerous places for investing.

• We keep reminding traders to exercise caution when dealing with firms that are not registered to trade nor regulated by reliable authorities. 

FXLinked Review Conclusion

In Forex trading the most important part is the security of investments. Thus, avoiding doubtful offerings such as FXLinked is essential. We advise traders to choose among the legit brokers with licenses from respected financial authorities, such as well-regulated brokers including UK brokers or brokers in Australia, and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and eToro.

FXLinked Update

Based on our research, the FXLinked website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is BTCHOME Scam or Legit Broker?

BTCHOME is a 100% fraud company. The broker is registered offshore and does not hold any proper license from a well-known reliable financial regulator. It is NOT SAFE to trade BTCHOME. We never advise trading with an offshore broker, since the financial investment service they deliver is not trustable. 

What is BTCHOME?

BTCHOME, BTCHM or BTCHOME Minning/ BTCHOME Miners is a financial services company authorized and regulated by the IFSC, Belize that offers STP Forex services (Also see STP Account Forex) and trading facilities to retail, institutional and professional clients globally. The broker claims its powerful level cryptocurrency mining strategies, as well as acceptance of forex scalping systems that allows providing unrestricted trading and mining environment to the traders.

• Belize as a gorgeous tourist destination, while also is a tax haven with a zero tax structure that established its own regulation for financial investment and Forex firms licensing due to high demand and necessity of regulation. Ever since Belize became a known offshore zone and Forex hub, the destination attracted thousands of brokerages seeking an opportunity to be a legitimate firm, yet to skip complicated and costly established procedures. We have a detailed article explaining the risk of trading with brokers from Belize.
• In addition, the BTCHOME broker mentions that “All deposits are 100% guaranteed without limit by the Australian and the United States Securities and Investments Commission with its own Capital and Real partners Across the Globe”. However, first of all, it is not clear what is this organization or commission about, as the fact is that only the particular authorities oversee the brokerages and watch on the implemented security measures.
• The top-tier authorities are ASIC in Australia and CFTC in the US respectively, yet what is the meaning of broker’s “100% guarantee deposit” remains questionable. Actually, the fact that the BTCHOME broker is an offshore entity, with no implemented protection extends and no sharp requirement, for example, to segregate clients funds from the company ones, as well to apply safety scales should put an alert to any potential trader.
• As we always say, the offshore firms should be avoided at any cost (Check the fake forex brokers list here), as it is at the highest risk to fall under scam or to be misled by unprofessional or even fraud offering. Therefore, BTCHOME “attractive” offering may be just a sweet promise of something you never get. Moreover, as the BTCHM does not hold a trusted license from the reputable authority and not permitted to operate in European or their markets, the BTCHM received its warning from an EU regulator.

BTCHOME Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid BTCHOME and other brokers from Belize. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australiaand reliable brokers such as FP Markets and Tickmill.

Is Citifxmarkets Scam or Legit Broker?

Citifxmarkets is not a secure Forex broker since it does not hold a license from any worldwide serious Forex authority. The broker is suspected of being a fraud company since it was not checked for compliance before establishment, was never monitored in terms of its safety, and simply may operate the business in any way it wishes.

What is Citifxmarkets?

Citifxmarkets is a Forex and CFDs broker that also specializes in financial spread bets (See Spread Betting Brokers UK), sports fixed odds bets, and casino bets, which is quite unusual for a forex broker. Among the assets offered by the broker are indices, shares, forex, commodities, interest rates, bonds, EFTs, options and Speed Markets.

• The company is owned and operated by Citifxmarkets Ltd. It claims to be based in Bedfordshire, UK and regulated by its local regulator Financial Conduct Authority. However, the reference number mentioned on the website belongs to another company that is not associated with Citifxmarkets. It seems like the company has been using the registration number of a legit and regulated entity to delude investors.
• To sum up, Citifxmarkets is just another unregulated broker, which also offers a weird combination of the common assets and spread and sports bets. The lack of regulation is the first and main reason why we wouldn't recommend dealing with this brokerage. Investing with a properly regulated broker is crucial for the safety of any investment.
• All the regulated brokers report to the financial authorities, supervising them (Check reliable forex brokers list here). They have to maintain a certain level the capital and also be able to protect clients' funds and keep them in segregated accounts. For example, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom provides the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which guarantees a compensation of up to GBP 50,000 in case the broker goes bankrupt.

Citifxmarkets Review Conclusion

We strongly recommend to stay away from unregulated brokers, such as Citifxmarkets. Not to risk their funds, traders should invest with only reliable brokers authories by top-tier reculatory bodies. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as AvaTrade and XM.com.

Citifxmarkets Update

Based on our research, the Citifxmarkets website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

RoyalCripto is an online trading provider that offers a diversified portfolio of trading instruments and promises high return profitability along with the provided safest environment and unparalleled trading services. The states seem to be very effective and competitive, but of course, in order to trust the broker, you have to check on the facts. The first what has revealed about RoyalCripto that the firm mentions on the website bottom name of The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, which is located in Scotland and registered by the FCA (UK) to provide its financial services.

However, RoyalCripto got no any connection to the mentioned company and seems just using their information, while there is no any other concern about why The Royal Bank of Scotland plc name mentioned on the RoyalCripto website. Moreover, we found that previously the company was using another company while mentioning their authorized business model, and still not clear where the company is registered or if registered in generall. That fact even caught the attention of the Italian authority CONSOB, while RoyalCripto received a warning and were flagged to offer their services.

“Having noted that, at the bottom of the website pages it is stated that the website is managed by Royal Forex Ltd, a company regulated and authorized by the CYSEC, this statement also includes the company's license number and the start date of its activities. HAVING ESTABLISHED the aforementioned Royal Forex Ltd, duly authorized by the CYSEC, has no involvement with the www.royalcripto.com website nor with the company that manages it”

CONSOB, Italy. April 2018.

Conclusion

Overall, the RoyalCripto website is found not to be attributable to any of the parties authorized to professionally provide investment services to the public in addition to their fake of information. It all means that the broker performs not clear, transparent or even solely trustful business and that's actually what happened with non-authorized firms. Therefore, we strongly advise to avoid RoyalCripto at every means and to choose among reliable regulated brokers to trade.

Is Ideal Global Trading Scam or Legit Broker?

Ideal Global Trading is not a secure Forex broker since it does not hold a license from any worldwide serious Forex authority. Meaning the broker is suspected of being a fraud company since it was not checked for its compliance before establishment, was never monitored in terms of its safety, and simply may operate the business in any way it wishes.

What is Ideal Global Trading?

Ideal Global Trading is a Forex and CFDs broker. The Company's major services involve providing clients with up-to-the-minute quotes and market information on several investment products such as foreign exchange, precious metals, and crude oil. The company is owned and operated by Ideal Global Trading Limited. The broker claims to be located in New York, USA, and regulated by the National Futures Association (NFA).

• According to the website, the business scope covers many countries and regions in the world such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. However, we have checked the broker's license in the NFA's register and it doesn't seem like the company is registered to provide the services it claims on the website. Ideal Global Trading Limited is registered as an Exempt Commodity Pool Operator, which is not an actual NFA-regulated broker.

Ideal Global Trading Review Conclusion

Financial regulation is one of the most important factors when choosing a forex broker (Find the list of top 10 forex brokers in the world here). Those brokers who are not overseen by any regulator are not obliged to follow the general rules or meet the financial requirements. The most dangerous part is that such brokers can accept deposits without providing access to any financial markets. Therefore, the clients will not be able to control their funds or withdraw them. Our best advice is to invest only with reputable well-regulated brokers. Traders should trade with trustworthy brokers such as IG Markets and BlackBull Markets.

Ideal Global Trading Update

Based on our research, the Ideal Global Trading website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is ZonggangCaifu Scam or Legit Broker?

ZonggangCaifu is not a secure Forex broker since it does not hold a license from any worldwide serious Forex authority. Meaning the broker is suspected of being a fraud company since it was not checked for its compliance before establishment, was never monitored in terms of its safety, and simply may operate the business in any way it wishes.

What is ZonggangCaifu?

ZonggangCaifu is a Forex and CFDs broker. The company is owned and operated by Zongangguoxin Group Limited and claims to have offices in Hong Kong, the UK, and the USA.

• According to the broker's website, it is regulated by multiple authorities in different countries: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC), China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) and New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority (FMA). However, we have checked the information about all these licenses and it turned out ZonggangCaifu is not regulated by any regulator.
• Moreover, New Zealand's FMA has issued a warning against ZonggangCaifu:
  "ZonggangCaifu is not registered, licensed, or regulated in New Zealand as claimed on its websites. The financial service provider registration numbers FSP1782, FSP1762, FSP488226, and FSP536586 displayed on ZonggangCaifu’s websites belong to the KVB Kunlun group of companies. KVB Kunlun is NOT affiliated with ZonggangCaifu and its websites. ZonggangCaifu could be involved in a scam."
  Also, there is a warning from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong:
  "The above Hong Kong address belongs to a secretarial company. Suspicious website operators often use names similar to legitimate companies to confuse investors."

ZonggangCaifu Review Conclusion

To sum up, ZonggangCaifu is an unregulated forex broker and it is the biggest concern as the lack of license adds additional risk to forex trading ( Check top 10 forex brokers in the world). On the other hand, those brokers regulated by reputable authorities have to follow a lot of rules that are made to protect clients.

Here are some reliable regulators: UK’s FCA, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Always make your own research before signing with a broker, and pick a tightly regulated broker such as FXTM and XM. 

ZonggangCaifu Update

Based on our research, the ZonggangCaifu website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is GCC Investing Scam or Legit Broker?

GCC Investing is not a safe broker. According to our research, GCC Investing has been suspected of fraudulent actions. The company does not hold any financial licenses but claims the opposite. Therefore the company seems to be highly suspicious and might operate its services from an absolutely different location.

What is GCC Investing?

GCC Investing is a Forex broker based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Although it is owned by GreenRiver OU in Tallinn, Estonia, but payment processing is done by Mercure Services Ltd, which is based in St Vincent & Grenadines. St Vincent & Grenadines doesn’t have the regulation of Forex activity under its jurisdiction.

• They also provide British, German, and Bulgarian phone numbers which look very confusing as the company is not licensed in Europe. We advise signing only with brokers regulated by reliable entities like UK's FCA, ASIC in Australia (Also Read about ASIC Regulated MEX International Group), and Cysec in Cyprus. Read about another Cyprus-based broker Triumph FX Limited.
• In order to obtain the STP license from UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, the company would need to pay USD 50,000 and also would need to have USD 100,000 of capital for the STP license aside from client deposits.

GCC Investing Review Conclusion

We strongly advise opening a trading account only with brokers regulated by respected world authorities that comply with the required set of rules and a good reputation through the delivered timeframe of operations. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and Eightcap.

GCC Investing Update

Our research showed that the GCC Investing Website is inactive. Since money safety in forex goes first we recommend avoiding any proposals from GCC Investing and staying alert. 

Is Zend Trade Scam or Legit Broker?

Zend Trade is not a safe broker. The company claims to be located in the USA. However, the company doesn't provide any information about its regulation and it doesn't seem to be licensed in the USA or any other country.

• It is not advisable to sign in with an unregulated broker. Unauthorized brokers do not follow any rules and guidelines, which means that traders and their trades are not protected legally.

What is Zend Trade?

Zend Trade is a Forex broker owned and operated by Zend Trade, Inc. The company claims to be located in the USA. The website offers various forex services across the world. The company doesn't provide any information about its regulation and it doesn't seem to be licensed in the USA or any other country.

• Moreover, New Zealand's regulator Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has issued a warning against Zend Trade:
  "We are concerned Zend Trade has the characteristics of a scam, including offering unrealistic returns and withholding client funds. We recommend exercising caution before dealing with Zend Trade or associated entities."

Zend Trade Review Conclusion

We strongly advise traders to avoid such unregulated brokers, especially when there are warnings against them. It is always safer to deal with companies licensed by reputable financial watchdogs such as UK’s FCA or Australia’s ASIC. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

Zend Trade Update

We found the Zend Trade website inactive and unavailable to reach. This means the broker no longer operates. However, it is best to avoid and stay alert if any proposals come.