Instaforex Review 2021

Instaforex is a broker that has been providing access to Forex and CFD markets since 2007. The broker is headquartered in Kaliningrad, Russia, but operates on the licenses of the regulator of the British Virgin Islands. Notable, for many years, the company has called itself The Best Forex Broker in Asia. Such multi-vector geographic focus helped the broker open accounts for 7 million customers (according to Instaforex).

Overall, Instaforex will be a good choice for new traders with small initial capital. Loyal conditions of beginners, strong educational section, various conditions on bonuses, passive income programs and different methods of support will help satisfy the demands of those making their first steps in the financial markets.

NOTE! Before going into the review of the broker, we must inform you that Instaforex is one brand, but legally, it is two different brokers – Instant Trading EU (registered in Cyprus, main website instaforex.eu) and Instant Trading LTD (registered in the British Virgin Islands, main website instaforex.com). The trading conditions, procedure for opening an account, selection of accounts, instruments and services offered by these two entities differ substantially.

In this review, we decided to focus on Instant Trading LTD (offshore branch) for two reasons:

• It provides a more diverse selection of services;
• It is suitable for the customers from the majority of countries, including Russia, with the customers from Russia being the core target audience of Instaforex.

Nonetheless, we will occasionally mention the features typical for the European branch of Instant Trading EU.

Pros and cons

Pros

No requirements for minimum deposit Interest accrued on the account balance Low commissions on CFDs on stocks Wide selection of currency pairs Abundance of bonus programs, contests Support of Islamic accounts Multi-language support. The majority of pages on the broker’s website are translated into many languages. Programs for passive income A wide selection of trading platforms Strong analytical unit and educational program

Cons

Regulation in the offshore jurisdiction for the main branch In case a trading account is not used for longer than 12 months, the company, at its own discretion, can charge dormancy fee in the amount of $10 per month, starting from the first month of inactivity, which means the broker can charge $120 at once after inactivity. High commissions on Forex market and CFDs on energies and indices Not always competent customer support Low diversity of available markets, excluding currency pairs

Key features of the broker

According to our research, the majority of Instaforex customers are from the former Soviet Union countries. Also, customers from Malaysia and Germany account for a big part of the broker’s customer base.

On the majority of markets, Instaforex uses the spread as a commission, and also spread in combination with the commissions on traded volume or per trade. As a rule, spreads are fixed due to the application of Instant Execution of orders.

The level of commissions on CFDs on stocks is lower than average, while on Forex market – higher than average.

The unique feature of Instaforex is that the broker accrues 13% annual interest on the balance of active trading accounts.

Pros
Low commissions on CFDs on stocks Low non-trading commissions 13% annual interest is accrued on the balance of active trading accounts

Cons
High commissions on Forex market and CFDs on energies and indices

Summary of commissions and fees on Instaforex

Commissions on Forex market

Instaforex commissions on Forex market are high both for major currency pairs and for cross rates. For example, the spread for EURUSD is 3 pips, which is much higher than that of competitors we are using for the purposes of our review. The spreads on cross rates reach 8 pips.

On Eurica account, the broker charges a commission on the traded volume, which is equivalent to the spread – 0.03% for EURUSD pair. Due to this, we will use only Standard account for our examples.

Let’s compare the exact commission a trader will have to pay for the purchase of a standard lot of 100,000 units of base currency in currency pairs of different classes (major, cross rates and exotic) on Instaforex, XTB and Forex Club. The amount includes the spread and all commissions of the brokers.

* In Instaforex, a standard lot is 10,000 units of base currency. That is why, in the table, we specify the commission for 10 lots on Instaforex, which are equivalent to 1 standard lot of other brokers.

As we can see, Instaforex commissions are much higher than those of competitors on all classes of trading pairs.

Funding rates on Forex

As a reminder, a rollover of a position to the following day causes emergence of swaps on Forex market. Their size is tied to the interest rates of banks that issue currencies in the currency pair.

When the swap is negative, a certain number of points is written off the account; when the swap is positive, it is accrued to the account. The broker may also charge additional commissions on the services on top of swap. Long-term investors try to trade towards positive swap.

We evaluated the size of swaps on Instaforex as average. As an example, we will compare the size of swap for a standard lot on Instaforex and Forex Club.

For the residents of Muslim countries, the broker offers an opportunity to trade without swaps. Usually, this means additional commissions for rollover. You can find out the details from the broker’s customer support.

Commissions on CFD

Instaforex commission on CFDs on indices and metals is the spread, which has an average or high value compared to the competitors. On the energy market, the broker charges a standard commission of USD 30 per full contract, with no spread. We will analyze the commissions on stock and cryptocurrency markets in separate sections of this review.

Let’s compare how much a trader will actually have to pay for a CFD trade on different types of assets on Instaforex, XTB and Forex Club at the value of the lot at USD 5,000. We included all commissions and spreads of the brokers in the table below.

CFD on stocks

CFD on stocks is the main trading instrument on Instaforex platform. The broker does not set a minimum commission per trade, which is an advantage of the commission system. The final amount depends on the spread and 0.1$ commission on the traded volume. Overall, the commissions on stocks are low.

Let’s compare how much a trader will have to pay for an execution of a USD 5,000 lot on CFD on stocks on Instaforex, XTB и Forex Club. All commissions and spreads are included in the final amount.

As you can see, Instaforex commissions on CFDs on stocks are either lower or at the same level as competitors.

CFD on cryptocurrencies

Instaforex provides access to cryptocurrency assets also via CFDs. As a commission, the broker charges the spread + 0.1% of the traded volume. Overall, we evaluated the size of the commissions as average.

As an example, we will use execution of a trade in different cryptocurrencies for the amount of USD 2,000 and show in the table below how much a trader will actually have to pay for order execution on Standard accounts on Instaforex and its competitors.

As we can see, Forex Club is the leader among the three brokers, although Instaforex commissions on cryptocurrencies are better than XTB on average.

Commissions on investment products

Instaforex offers two possibilities for passive income – PAMM accounts and ForexCopy, a copy trading service. The broker also accrues 13% annual interest on all active accounts as a bonus.

PAMM accounts

The PAMM system provides a possibility to joint investment through transferring your funds into management to experienced traders. The manager is a co-investor of the joint account, and has interest in achieving positive results. The manager also charges a commission for investors. It could be daily, or set as a percentage of the earned income.

Usually, the managers charge 10-50% commission on the earned income.

ForexCopy system

ForexCopy is a service that allows traders to copy orders of the most successful traders. Investors pay a commission to the traders they are subscribed to.

The commission may be charged in several ways and depends on the conditions of the trader. The most popular method is a percentage of income. The majority of traders charge 10-50% for their services. As a rule, the more successful the trader, the higher commission he charges.

Interest rate on active accounts

Instaforex accrues 13% annual interest on the balance of active trading accounts of its customers. It is one of the broker’s incentives for active trading. The interest rate became available on March 1, 2020. When opening an account on Instaforex, learn about the details of this offer.

Non-trading commissions

Non-trading commissions on Instaforex are low. Inactivity fee is $10 after 12 months of inactivity. Deposits are not charged with a fee for most methods, or only the fee of the payment system is charged. For withdrawals to a debit/credit card, also only the fee of the payment system is charged.

The level of reliability depends on the branch of the broker you are working with. The license in Cyprus has a higher status and provides a relatively high level of reliability. At the same time, the license in the British Virgin Islands gives brokers more freedoms, although protecting customer’s rights to a lesser degree. It is important to learn which of the legal entities you will be dealing with before concluding the agreement!

Instaforex provides services on 2 main websites:

• instaforex.com (instaforex.org is a mirror website);
• instaforex.eu

The disclaimer on .EU domain is as follows:

This testifies that we are dealing with the European branch of the broker, which is regulated on Cyprus.

Indeed, we can find a corresponding entry on the financial companies’ register of CySEC, Cyprus regulator. It says that Instant Trading EU holds a corresponding license. The license number – 266/15 – on instaforex.eu and in the CySEC register is a match.

The regulator’s website specified, that in addition to the EU residents, Instant Trading EU can service residents of Ukraine, Belarus, Switzerland and some other countries. Russia is not on this list.

Our experience showed that customers who are not from the EU are immediately redirected to instaforex.com. This branch is licensed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the British Virgin Islands pursuant to the BVI Securities and Investment Business Act (SIBA).

he disclaimer instaforex.com is as follows:

The website also specifies a license of the regulator of another state – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The license is issued to Insta Service Ltd., an affiliate company. We failed to find out the differences between the licenses and what each of them regulates from the customer support.

Regulation in the EU is naturally more reliable.

The advantages of an account in an offshore jurisdiction include:

• a simpler procedure for opening an account;
• wider selection of available services compared to Europe (for example, PAMM service, accrual of dividends on CFDs on stocks, etc.);
• cent account, leverage up to 1:1000.

Noteworthy, the broker has won a large number of awards. Their collection grows each year, which confirms the special status of the broker.

You can find detailed information about the company’s awards on instaforex.eu/awards

Instaforex is a specialized broker, providing trading services only on Forex and CFD markets.

Pros and cons of the broker’s market diversity

Pros
All major markets are available – currency pairs, stock indices, stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies Many currency pairs Binary options

Cons
No real assets, only CFDs CFD diversity is extremely low

Market accessibility on InstaForex.com

* – only as CFDs

On the screenshot below, can see the types of financial markets available for trading on the trading platform of Instaforex.com.

Forex market

The broker that has the word Forex in the company’s name is supposed to provide an excellent choice of currency pairs for trading. That’s Instaforex! 100 currency pairs – that is more than the majority of brokerage companies we have reviewed on our website offer.

Using Instaforex, you can trade not only major pairs and cross rates, but also exotic instruments, for example ZAR/JPY – South African Rand against Japanese Yen.

Another feature of Instaforex is the possibility to trade Forex options. Essentially, these are binary options – a sort of ‘gambling’ instruments. You can ‘play’ with them from your personal account.

NOTE! We do not recommend new traders to trade binary options due to high risk of losses!

CFD Market

Having analyzed the CFDs, provided by Instaforex, we’d like to note that there are not many of them, but the major markets are covered.

Noteworthy, in case of CFDs on stocks, Instaforex pays dividends to the customers, who have long positions, and writes off dividends if the short position is opened. This dividend feature, however, is only available for accounts, opened in the offshore jurisdiction.

** “For EU” means that the figure is valid for the European branch of the broker, providing services via instaforex.eu

As you can see from the table above, Instaforex is behind its competitors in terms of diversity of instruments. The only thing is that the number of CFDs on commodities seems high at 74! However, several futures contracts with a different expiration date on the same derivatives market are considered as separate instruments on Instaforex.

Geography of markets

The assets from other countries are not uniformly represented. Details are in the table below

Conclusion. Despite Russian roots and vast Russian-speaking audience, Instaforex does not provide access to Russian trading instruments. The coverage of other markets could have also been wider.

Investment products

The possibilities of passive income sources is a strong advantage of Instaforex. There are two options – ForexCopy and PAMM system.

These systems have one common goal – using your capital, earn an income through the actions of another trader. The difference is that:

• Investing into a PAMM account, you give your money into management and do not see how it is used specifically;
• Using ForexCopy, you have more control over your money – you can see in your platform the positions opened by another trader, and you can even close them, if you don’t like them.

Both systems feature a wide selection of managers, their ratings, statistics, rankings. You can use PAMM and ForexCopy directly from your personal account.

Let’s review them in more detail.

Investment in PAMM accounts

To begin with, let us say that this service is available only for:

• Accounts opened in offshore jurisdictions;
• Accounts in dollars;
• Real accounts. Cent and demo accounts are not eligible for this service.

Overall, there are over 60,000 PAMM accounts on Instaforex. However, not all of them are available for investment, as many of them are inactive. Nonetheless, using the filters and detailed statistics for each project, the investors can select the most attractive active PAMM accounts to work with.

The beginners need to keep in mind that the PAMM account system does not provide any guarantee of income. If the account manager acted successfully in the past, there is no way to tell for sure that the account growth will continue in the future (although the probability of this scenario is higher than average, as can be assumed).

As a rule, the managers set some minimum period of investment into their PAMM. It is possible to recall your investment before the end of the period, although you will have to pay the penalty specified in the conditions.

Investment with ForexCopy

ForexCopy is a passive investment service. It is available to all Instaforex customers, including EU residents. There are over 100,000 accounts available for the system to copy trades to your account.

Looking over the list on ForexCopy, you can find the same traders that manage PAMM accounts.

The flexible filter system that takes into account different factors allows traders to find the most acceptable options

We have already mentioned that the special feature of ForexCopy system is that it provides a possibility to the customer to see the positions opened by the trader, on their own Metatrader platform, from the account, from which the trades are copied. There is an interesting opportunity here.

Within the same platform, you can set to receive trades within ForexCopy and also set their broadcasting to other signal copying services, creating your ‘own’ source of signals. If the source in ForexCopy is reliable, you can use advisors/copy trading services between MT4 platforms of different brokers, and open an opportunity to multiply your capital through relaying.

The procedure of opening an account on Instaforex.com deserves a high praise. The procedure is online and quick. The new accounts get an up to 100% welcome bonus, but not automatically. In order to receive the bonus, you need to fill out an application, selecting a corresponding button in your account.

Pros and cons

Pros
Minimum deposit is only $1 Simple account registration Bonuses for new accounts Cent accounts are available All accounts classified as ECN

Cons
You cannot select a jurisdiction for opening an account.

The system of opening and maintaining accounts on Instaforex have an interesting peculiarity. While many other brokers tie the account and identity of the customer to the email/phone as a unique identifier, you can open several accounts on one email/phone on Instaforex.

In this case, the number of the account will serve as the identifier, and each account will open in a separate personal account. As the customer opens new accounts, he/she will likely want to “gather them all together” in one verified personal account. That can be done using the function of “attaching accounts”, which can be found in the menu of the personal account. The procedure is slightly unusual, but, essentially, there is nothing complicated in it.

In the European jurisdiction, on Instaforex.EU, the procedure of opening an account is more classical. The phone number and the email, which will be ‘linked’ to one person, serve as the unique identifier.

What is the minimum deposit?

Instaforex does not have any requirements for the minimum deposit. You can have $1, open a cent account, make the deposit, receive the bonus and trade 200 US Cents.

In terms of this, Instaforex.com does not differ from its competitors, setting no barriers for those who have a very small initial capital.

Residents of which countries cannot trade on Instaforex.com

Residents of not all countries can trade on Instaforex.

The peculiarities exist depending on the regional branch of Instaforex.com, where the account is being opened:

• InstaForex.com – regulated in the offshore territory of the British Virgin Islands. Residents of all countries, except Belgium and the USA, can open accounts here.
• InstaForex.EU – Regulated in Cyprus. Only citizens of the EU, except for Belgium, can open accounts here. Also, according to the decision of CySEC, customers from Ukraine, Belarus, Nigeria, UAE, Indonesia and a number of island states are allowed to open accounts here. However, we learned that the Cyprus office approved a decision not to open new accounts for Ukrainians due to “low liquidity”.

The system automatically determines the user’s country and redirects them to one of the two domains. If, for example, you are from Belarus and want to open an account on Instaforex.eu, you will have to use a VPN.

Documents required for opening an account

Formally, there is no need to provide documents for opening an account on Instaforex.com. Opening of an account literally takes one minute. However, after you are granted access to your personal account, you will need to pass verification, and this stage requires you to provide documents.

Instaforex has several types of account verification:

• Verification of 1st level;
• Verification of 2nd level;
• Verification using a debit/credit card.

Every type of verification opens a number of available actions.

The first level of verification confirms account holder’s ID, the second – holder’s address.

There is a detailed video and a list of documents admissible for account verification, taking into account many countries.

How to verify your Instaforex account (video tutorial)

For example, there are the following rules for Russia.

In order to pass verification on the first level, one of the following documents is admissible

• National passport;
• Foreign passport;
• Driver’s license;
• Seaman’s book;
• Diplomatic passport.

In order to pass verification on the second level, the following documents are admissible:

• One of the documents, suitable for the first level;
• Page of the Russian national passport with registration;
• Bank statement with seals and signatures, specifying the name and address of the customer (issued within the last three months);
• Utility bill (issued within the last three months);
• Military ID.

The documents must be uploaded to the personal account in the format of graphic files of good quality.

After you’ve uploaded the documents, you need to submit a request. Consideration of the request for account verification takes place within 24 hours. To speed up the process, you can use InstaVerify app.

In addition, let us remind you that Instant Trading EU operates under the European regulation standards and the document requirements for opening the account differ from the ones described above.

Opening a demo account

It is very easy to open a demo account on Instaforex.com. You need to choose the type of demo account you want to open – for Forex.com or MetaTrader platform, and, after filling out a simple form (see example below), you will receive the required information for accessing your demo account to your email.

Noteworthy, inactive demo accounts are deleted after about 30 days of inactivity. If you are actively using your demo account via Windows Metatrader4, the broker will not set any limitations to the period of its use.

Trading accounts

Having analyzed the Account Types section, we concluded that Instaforex.com offers two types of accounts – Standard and Eurica, a “spread-free” version of the Standard account. The trades on Eurica accounts are performed at a price that is an average between ask and bid. This is a bit unconventional. The idea slightly contradicts the essence of trading, where the ask and bid prices are set by different contractors. This kind of trade, however, will help the beginners to learn the ropes quicker.

Standard-Cent and Eurica-Cent accounts are basically a cent-based modification of main accounts that will be interesting for:

• Traders with micro-capitalization;
• Algorithmic traders on Martingale strategy;
• Those gradually coming off the demo account and switching to the real one;
• Those who are learning to trade.

Comparison of account types on Instaforex.com

* - Rubles are not supported on Cent accounts

The European branch Instaforex EU also has Standard and Eurica accounts, but cent accounts are unavailable.

* - for ECN Pro, the minimum spread is 0.8 pips
** - for ECN Pro, the minimum deposit is EUR 1,000

You’ve probably noticed that ECN and Scalping are identical. We have noticed that too and asked the customer support for the reason. It turns out that the offers of two identical accounts with different names have been provided at customers’ request

How to open an account on Instaforex: step-by-step guide

There are two ways to open an account on Instaforex.com (offshore jurisdiction):

• Simple – standard 3-step procedure;
• Very simple – quick procedure using Instant Account Opening tab in the top menu on the home page.

Instant opening of the account has only one step. You simply enter your data (full name, email, phone number, country), tick the boxes confirming that you agree to the Terms and Conditions and press Open Trading Account. That’s it. You will receive an email with the data for accessing your personal details and connecting to the platform.

Standard procedure is also done fully online and consists of three steps.

First, you need to choose the type of account (individual / corporate) and enter your email.

For Step 2, you need to provide your personal information and residential address.

For Step 3, you need to set the parameters for the account you are opening (passwords, leverage, account type).

The account opens instantly. However, the set of functions will be limited. In order to perform real transactions, you will need to pass verification, which we mentioned before. The standard term for verification is up to 24 hours.

Noteworthy, the procedure for opening an account with the European branch – Instant Trading EU (regulated by CySEC) differs substantially. In order to open an account on instaforex.eu, you will need to pass the procedure that meets the EU standards.

You will need to fill out a detailed questionnaire, provide detailed information about your wealth, trading experience and other information, typical for registration of an account in a respected jurisdiction.

Do not be misguided by the pop-down menu with the list of countries on instaforex.eu/account_registration. You will find Russia and the United States there and many other countries that are far from the EU and are not on the CySEC list. The residents of these countries may be able to register an account, but they won’t be able to verify it and trade on it. They are likely to be offered to change jurisdiction and open an account in the offshore territory.

Noteworthy, if you want to open an account on Instaforex EU and start the procedure of opening an account, you will receive a call to the number you specified at Step 1. A company manager will provide detailed advice and will help you fill out the questionnaire.

Base currencies of the account

Instaforex allows customers to have accounts in several specific currencies, and if you deposit funds on the account in the currency different from your account currency, the funds will be converted at the current rate.

In terms of this, Instaforex does not compare favorably with its competitors. Availability of RUB (unavailable for cent accounts) emphasized the broker’s focus on Russian audience.

Same as at other brokers, you can withdraw funds only in the same currency and to the same payment system you used to deposit the funds. This limitation of Instaforex is due to the policy against money laundering.

Pros
Up to 100% bonuses on deposits Possibility of deposit/withdrawal in cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Litecoin, Tether) No deposit fee

Cons
Double conversion occurs when depositing funds

Methods and timeframe for deposits

Peculiarities of depositing funds differ depending on the jurisdiction, in which the account was opened. In any case, the broker tries to meet the customers who deposit funds half way

• The European branch directly specifies that the broker does not charge a fee (the fees can be charged by the payment systems, which depends on the system itself and the country of the customer);
• The offshore branch Instaforex.com specifies that the “fees of the payment systems for transactions on depositing funds to a trading account are compensated by the Company.”

Despite that no deposit fee is charged, double conversion may occur when depositing funds.

That is why, it is reasonable for the customers from Russia to open accounts in rubles.

* - As this review was being prepared, customer support informed us that “unfortunately, deposits on trading accounts via bank currency transfer is currently unavailable due to technical reasons.” That is why, before depositing funds, contact customer support to find out whether your chosen method is available.

We would like to point out the wide choice of methods for depositing funds to trading accounts Instaforex.com offers to customers from Russia. Depositing funds via payment terminals and in cash via a courier/dealer at a subway station is a rather rare method.

The possibility of depositing funds on the account using cryptocurrency is a unique advantage of Instaforex over its competitors.

Methods of withdrawal and fees

Unlike deposits, there are fees on withdrawals

* - Instaforex.com customers can withdraw funds via local banks; this method is available for the African countries, Malaysia, India, China, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan.

The selection of platforms is rather unusual.

Only Metatrader is offered for PCs.

For trading using a web browser, Webtrader, Insta Tick, and IFXBit are available.

For working on your phone, you can use Instaforex applications for Android and iOS.

In addition to the industry standard titled Metatrader, Instaforex also offers its customers its proprietary platforms. We will focus on unique products.

But first, let’s point to some features of Metatrader from Instaforex:

• Wide choice of trading servers; communication speed of the user’s platform with them is fast;
• Standard lot in MT platform from Instaforex equals to 10,000 units, not 100,000 like many others have. It is applied to all accounts. A lot of 10,000 units is suitable for those who trade small amounts.

There is no additional security available for logging into the platform. This is a common disadvantage for all platforms.

However, to the broker’s credit, Instaforex customers can set up a two-factor authorization for accessing their personal account. For this, you need to select the Security tab, and Two-Factor Authorization.

Instaforex Webtrader Platform review

Webtrader is a browser platform developed by Instaforex.

It is located on the sub-domains

• webtrader.instaforex.eu/login – to access it, you need to have an active account;
• webtrader.instaforex.com/login – guest access is available here.

The interface is up to date. It is user-friendly and has a nice design.

Classic panel (opens by default) shows a consolidated table of instruments. Noteworthy, you can see the current balance of open long/short positions on each instrument. This statistics is based on the data on Instaforex customers’ positions.

Also, Webtrader platform displays the current trend with up and down arrows. The name Trend is not quite accurate, because the up arrow is shown if the current quotation is 1 tick higher than the previous one. If the price drops 1 tick, the trend changes to downward.

You can trade directly from the panel by pressing on the quotations Buy / Sell.

The interface for opening trades is simple. The type of order is chosen – market or deferred, then the volume. You can set Stop-Loss and Take-profit values right away.

After pressing Buy or Sell, the order is sent to the broker for execution instantly, without confirmation.

Chart Panel is designed for working with price charts. The set of functions is provided by TradingView, as is the choice of instruments for marking charts, technical indicators and display options.

In the bottom part of the interface, you will see information about orders, positions, journal and other trading reports.

Benefits of WеbTrader Platform:

• nice, user-friendly interface;
• provides current balance of Buy and Sell positions.

Drawbacks of WеbTrader Platform:

• analysis of volumes is unavailable;
• algorithmic trading and trade copying are unavailable;
• it is impossible to set up the period of validity of deferred orders;
• some buttons (link to the personal account and depositing funds on the account) are duplicated.

InstaTick Trader Platform Review

InstaTick Trader - это веб-браузерная платформа для торговли бинарными опционами.

InstaTick Trader is a web browser platform for trading binary options.

It is unavailable for residents of the European countries.

The platform has 10 languages. It features a built-in guide, which explains how to use the platform. However, everything is intuitive even without the guide.

Benefits of IFXBit Platform:

• up-to-date interface;
• suitable for those, who prefer trading within quick timeframes;
• simple rules;
• 22 currencies are available.

Drawbacks of IFXBit Platform:

• no ways to conduct analysis – indicators, drawing instruments, etc.;
• no other markets, except for Forex.

IFXBIT Platform

At IFXBIT you can find “the best platform in the world for cryptocurrency trading.” This is how this resource from Instaforex positions itself.

Can you buy real coins there? We asked the customer service several times and received different answers: in one case, the operator claimed that “yes, you can”, and in the other case, we were told that the trading is performed through CFDs.

Although the platform relays volume data, we’d like to point that the spreads are fixed. That is why, we are inclined to believe that the trading is carried out not with cryptocurrencies, but their derivatives, which use the price of Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple and other coins as a base.

The platform in itself is quite interesting, as it provides an option to combine cryptocurrency asset trading with Forex and other instruments.

Benefits of IFXBit platform:

• All markets offered by the broker are available;
• Data of the stream of traders (Times and Sales), order book (Level II) are available
• Current balance of positions on Buy and Sell is available;
• Possibility to add indicators and draw on the charts;
• Possibility to customize your workplace

Drawbacks of IFXBit platform:

• “Raw” interface. The fonts are big and it distorts presentation of information;
• Algorithmic trading and trade copying are unavailable.

Instatrader Mobile Platforms

The broker offers the platforms both for Android and iOS. Let’s review the Android version, as it is used much more.

The charts are powered by TradingView. Accordingly, the app offers the full scope of indicators and instruments for analysis/marking. When you turn your smartphone horizontally, the chart opens in a full-screen mode. Setting up and changing the scale is seamless.

All financial assets available for trading via web platforms and MetaTrader are also available in the mobile version. In order to add them to the list of displayed assets, you need to press + at the top of the interface.

Benefits of Instaforex Mobile Platform:

• Quick loading, up-to-date intuitive interface. You can select dark or light theme;
• All markets offered by the broker are available;
• Data on positions of the broker’s customers are available;
• Built-in analytics, and news are available;

Drawbacks of Instaforex Mobile Platform:

• It is impossible to set up the period of validity of deferred orders;
• Alert setting is unavailable (signal that the price reached a specific level).

Noteworthy, Instaforex for Android is not the only official application of the broker on Google Play.

There are also applications with educational materials, trade signals and other services. Some of them have very good ratings.

Analytics is the strong suit of Instaforex.

Pros
Wide selection of analytical materials Various formats Regular updates

Cons
Shortage of analytics on corporate data of companies, the stocks of which are available on CFD list Analytics is unavailable on Instaforex EU

Dean Leo, Instaforex Chief Strategist, who resides in Singapore, claims that the team of analysts has over 40 people from different countries.

Dean utilizes Elliott Wave theory, graphical patterns, Fibonacci mathematics and other methods. He is training traders, prepares reviews for banks. He oversees development of analytical materials for Instaforex customers.

Noteworthy, practically all analytical materials are available only on Instaforex.com.

Reviews and studies

Several reviews a published daily at instaforex.com/ru/forex_analysis

Consumers can stay updated by subscribing to the broker’s newsletter, or analytics in Telegram.

We liked that the reviews are practice-oriented. They often contain specific advice with specifications of price levels for:

• Entering the position;
• Profit targets;
• Protective stop-orders.

Analytical market review videos

For the convenience of the customers, the broker’s analysts prepare updated market reviews in the video format.

Trading Ideas by Chart Patterns

A unique service is a chart pattern scanner for Forex, available at instaforex.com/ru/patterns

The algorithm monitors the charts of currency pairs in real time for different periods and provides information in a convenient form.

Features of the service:

• All patterns are accompanied with comments;
• Within 24 hours, the algorithm determines about 6-100 patterns. The latest are shown on top;
• Traders can filter patterns by markets, periods, signal strength and other criteria.

Pattern Graphix, a free plugin, also addressed the same issues.

It is installed into Instaforex MT4 platform and helps determine the patterns on the chart in order to find entry points that are correct from the point of view of classical technical analysis.

A special big section on the broker’s website is dedicated to the learning materials.

Pros
Detailed learning materials for beginners Developed community on forums and social media Diversity of formats and topics

Cons
Not many learning materials for advanced traders Not enough information for those, who don’t speak Russian

Having analyzed the number and quality of learning materials on Instaforex, we came to a conclusion that the broker fully answers the needs of the new traders.

Lectures, instructions, FAQ, courses from Instaforex focus on:

• Forex basics – main notions, Forex and CFD trading terms;
• Technical issues – how to download and install a platform, connect to the server;
• Administrative issues – how to open an account, deposit/withdraw funds, log into the personal account;
• How to perform fundamental and technical market analysis;
• How to manage capital and risks.

Many materials are available in video format. There are over 36,000 subscribers of the Russian-language YouTube channel, which has a large number of tutorials. Moreover, Instaforex has for many years had Forex TV, where the broker publishes interviews with professionals and TV shows for beginners.

It is also important that the broker distributes educational information on social media (Youtube, OK, VK, Facebook, Telegram).

Instaforex efforts in developing trader community in the format of online forums deserves a praise:

• mt5.com – international portal for Forex traders in 11 languages
• forexdengi.com – popular forum for Russian-speaking traders
• forex-pak.com – forum for traders from Pakistan
• forex-bangla.com – forum in Bengali

Communication within the forums is very lively, with experienced traders sharing information and helping the beginners understand the basics and subtleties of trading.

The level of customer support left mixed impressions. We discovered both great advantages and clear drawbacks. Overall, we estimated the broker’s efforts to be helpful as very good.

Pros
Personal manager for accounts on Instaforex EU 24/7 customer support (only for the offshore branch) There are consultations by phone, including a call back

Cons
Information received from different sources/managers can be contradicting

Instant Trading EU publishes all available methods of customer support at https://www.instaforex.eu/support

Noteworthy, in addition to the headquarters in Cyprus, the broker has three regional offices in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

There is a similar page for the offshore branch – Instaforex.com/support. However, there is no official information on it about the regional offices. In order to find out whether Instant Trading LTD has an office in a large city nearby, you need to contact the Partner Relations Department during office hours. This is a useful contact you will have to find on your own, because the managers of the broker’s offices in different countries can also provide qualified assistance, including during a personal meeting at the office.

It is worth noting that technical support in popular messengers is available 24h.

What’s also important and cool is that the broker has different departments to make it easier for the customers to seek support depending on the situation. Instaforex has:

• technical support;
• client relations department (not available in the European branch);
• Financial Department;
• Dealer Department;
• Partner Relations Department.

Channels of communication

Phone

Unlike the main website Instaforex.com, Instant Trading EU, the broker’s European branch, publishes direct contact numbers.

Call back is available in both branches. In the case with the offshore branch Instaforex.com, customers can order a call back 24/7. A manager calls back promptly and provides qualified answers to your questions.

The conditions of phone support through a regional representative may differ depending on the country/region.

Chat

There is an online chat button on the websites of both branches. It is a convenient function for receiving support. However, we have noticed that the system doesn’t always recognize the user’s language, and it may be necessary to switch to another manager.

There is an element of luck in terms of quality of chat support. In the majority of cases we received competent responses. In some cases, however, we stumbled upon specialists (most likely inexperienced), who took a long time to provide answers or just sent us links to the pages of the website.

Messengers

Communication via popular messengers and social media is a special feature of Instaforex that makes the broker stand out among its competitors.

Customers can receive answers to their questions via Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and also on VK and Odnoklassniki.

This, however, is not an easy feat, because the biggest drawback of messengers is that there is a high chance to stumble upon a bot, and then you won’t be able to receive full-fledged human advice.

Email

We recommend using either call back or chat. If you are not happy with those methods, you can use email. Judging by the feedback, the responses come quickly.

FAQ

There is a detailed FAQ section on the broker’s website. It can be quite useful in a number of popular cases.

Languages and operating hours of customer support

At the European branch, Instant Trading EU (provides services through instaforex.EU) we were informed that they support all main languages EU citizens speak, but could not provide the exact number of languages.

The important thing to keep in mind is that during the registration of an account on Instaforex.eu, a broker’s manager contacts the customer by phone, specified during the first stage of registration. This establishes direct connection between the customer and the manager. During office hours, the customer can call the manager for advice.

At the main branch, Instant Trading LTD (provides services through instaforex.com), we were informed that the support is provided in 5 languages: Russian, English, Malay, Indonesian, Bangla.

Bonus programs and promotional campaigns of Instaforex.com and Instant Trading EU differ substantially. In particular, there are practically no bonuses and contests for the Europeans, and the circle of celebrities is quite reduced.

Promo

Instaforex actively implements marketing policy with involvement of popular athletes.

Instaforex is a regional partner of Borussia Dortmund, a well-known German football club.

In addition, Viswanathan Anand, a five-time world chess champion, is the official Instaforex Brand Ambassador.

Instant Trading is also a partner of Dragon Racing. The broker’s brand ambassadors include (or were in the past):

• Ales Loprais, the annual participant of the Dakar Rally;
• Vladimir Moravcik, the two-time winner of Enfusion Championship in 2017 and 2018;
• Tennis players Daria Kasatkina and Viktoria Azarenko;
• Actor and fighter Oleg Taktarov;
• Other athletes.

Money contests

Bonus programs and contests are the broker’s calling card. Perhaps, no other brokerage company has such a diversity as Instaforex.

The biggest offer at the moment is the promo with a Ferrari as the main prize.

To participate in the prize draw, the broker’s customers need to deposit an amount over USD 1,000 to their real account.

The prizes of the earlier promos included Lotus, Porsche, Lambo and other premium cars and also travel packages to Liverpool.

Cars are not the only prizes the broker offers. The other current contests included:

• Miss Insta Asia (prize pool – USD 45,000);
• Chancy Deposit (prize pool – USD 50,000);
• Win an Apple device.

The interesting part is that it is not mandatory to have a real account to participate in a contest. Instaforex offers contests also for demo account holders.

You can find all latest contests, offers and conditions on participation on instaforex.com/forex_contests

Bonuses

Instaforex offers additional bonuses for all traders depositing funds. Bonuses differ in size, conditions of accrual and rules of use in trading. The income received from any bonus can be withdrawn from the trading account without any restrictions.

Some bonuses can be added up, so an additional bonus to your deposit is an argument in favor of opening an account on Instaforex.

You can find all latest rules of accrual of trading bonuses on
www.instaforex.com/ru/instaforex_bonuses

Are you starting to trade on Forex from scratch? Instaforex is an excellent option for those who have neither knowledge nor initial capital.

Cent accounts, additional bonuses, abundance of information on the forums and from the customer support service, a possibility to copy trades of professionals to your account – all of these features certainly attract new traders.

Another justified method of working with the broker is opening an account in the European jurisdiction and connecting ForexCopy service. The most important thing is to choose the right signal supplier (or several suppliers). It will provide a good chance to create a source of passive income on Forex market with the license of CySEC, a European regulator.

NOTE! As we were gathering information for this review, we analyzed the data from the official websites, consulted with the managers by phone and in chat, and contacted regional representatives. Unfortunately, sometimes, we received different answers to the same questions. That is why, if you come across inconsistencies, they are most likely caused by the nonconformity of different official sources.