Alpforex claims to be a legit professional broker. Traders can reportedly trade instruments, including forex, cryptos, and commodities.  However, the inconsistencies on its website tell a different story.  To begin with, this broker provides no proof of regulation. Again, it makes unsubstantiated claims over and over- and there is a name for such a broker, a scam. Indeed,  it doesn’t seem to make it any less obvious.

No conversation about forex investment would be complete without mentioning regulation.  The intricate nature of the forex market makes it (oversight) a necessity, to help restore order. Also it helps protect investors from abuse, manipulation, and fraud.  To this end, brokers genuinely interested in helping investors earn reasonable profits fall under respective jurisdiction’s regulation. On the other hand, there are illegal ones that circumvent laws and accountability, terrorizing naïve investors.

While some phony brokers might be subtle, others have illicit written all over them.  Although not always easy, you need to know how to tell apart rogue brokers from the authorized crypto companies.  This review will give you the headstart for vetting brokers. Read on.

Alpforex.com Review

Alpforex claims to have been established in 2019 and offers services to all types of investors. But according to icann lookup, the broker registered its domain on March 1st, 2021. Why did the broker wait for two years to register its domain? Doesn’t add up.

Going by the broker’s website, the target is Thailand’s residents, which is excellent news because it greatly reduces their potential victims. The reported benefits of investing with the platform are fast deposits and withdrawals, raw spreads, 24/7 customer service support, and learning materials.  However, none of these so-called perks can convince us to vouch for this broker. In any case, literally, every legit broker delivers these perks.

Contact Details

Alpforex claims its offices are in Thailand, but also gives a Hong Kong address.  However, there is a high likelihood that the broker is in Thailand as it categorically requires users to have Thai’s bank credentials.  Also, Thailand would be ideal due to lax forex oversight.

Regarding its support service, the broker only provides an email address. We are skeptical of brokers only providing one option because, what happens when you have an issue requiring urgent attention? Your guess is as good as ours; you will miss out on critical trading opportunities due to obvious delays.  Mark you, even if the broker had telephone contacts, don’t forget it is suspicious. So whatever you do, don’t contact it!

Deposit & Withdrawal Policy

 Unfortunately, you do not have the advantage of physical interactions and it can be challenging to verify the credibility of the other party. Thus, transparency and trust are paramount in this pace.  The only way brokers can guarantee the two, is by ensuring they provide open and uncomplicated deposit methods.

 Decent brokers provide a variety of payment options, including well-known e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller, or PayPal and traditional methods like debit/credit cards and wire transfers. Credit cards are the best option for investors. You can identify the recipient and file for a refund.

Cryptos are also legal channels but their suitability is debatable. This is because crypto transactions are entirely anonymous, implying you cannot tell who the funds’ recipient is. Also, you cannot reverse crypto transactions.

 Alpforex allows deposits via bank transfers. Bank or wire transfers, though straightforward, are unfortunately ineligible for chargebacks. Thus, it should be the last resort if the broker is legit.

Investment Plan

Alpforex has two investment accounts. The ECN account has a minimum deposit of $10. ECN traders access a commission of $5 per lot. The second plan, standard account, also has a funding threshold of $10 but has no commission. However, you should be aware that many brokers in the market provide cent and Micro accounts with a comparable or even lower minimum deposit. Also, the broker’s low minimum deposit should not fool investors into thinking the broker is affordable. If anything, the affordability could signal its desperation to take any amount you have.

Meanwhile minimum deposits are good because, while they may not always eliminate risk, their results are unquestionably less costly. Additionally, although the benefits are not much, the client will still acquire another highly sought-after thing; genuine experience. Moreover, with a reduced minimum deposit, the customer is encouraged to make multiple investments.

Alpforex Regulation Status

It is imperative to confirm the regulation status of a broker before investing with them.  Alpforex claims to have a base in Thailand.  Nevertheless, Thailand does not have any institutions that grant permits for forex trading or related activities. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversees capital markets, and not brokerage services.  So credible or not, the broker has no authorization to offer such services.

In yet another twist, Alpforex purports to have its headquarters in Hong Kong, a major financial hub hosting many brokers. The local regulatory body tasked with policing the securities and futures markets and safeguarding investors is the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The SFC register includes a list of intermediaries for leveraged foreign exchange, futures, and securities from Hong Kong.

You can determine whether a specific broker is subject to its regulation, by simply conducting a name search on the Hong Kong Commission’s registration. That’s precisely what we did, but we didn’t find any matching credentials on the agency’s database.   The broker is unprofessional, dishonest and schemy, so being unregulated was no-brainer and did not surprise us.

Regulation Pros

Our emphasis on regulated brokers is justified, as monitored brokers have regulations in place to weed out shady brokers and protect clients’ money.  In Hong Kong’s case, brokers have to segregate investors’ funds to avoid misuse. So despite the missing zero balance protection, at least, investors are assured the broker can’t squander their money.  Additionally, investors of SFC-regulated brokers are covered up to $150000 for losses resulting from events like insolvency.  Lastly, clients have a leeway to take a legal action or seek mediation for disputes against the broker.

Alpforex Trading Conditions

High leverage improves the potential for larger profits but also raises the danger of unexpectedly large losses. Therefore, leverage is limited for retail trading by all major authorities. For instance, Hong Kong’s SFC caps leverage at 1:20, Australia’s ASIC at 1:30, and US’s CFTC at 1:50.  The broker’s leverage of 1:1000 is insanely high. Ask yourself what would happen to your investment if the market moved against you while trading on such a level.

Spreads is another parameter that has a significant bearing on the profits you make in trades.  For reference, the industry-accepted spread is 1.5 pips. Even so, you can still get legit brokers with spreads below 1 pip. Alpforex offers a spread of 1 pip, which though fair, isn’t enough to dismiss the fact that we are dealing with a lawless broker.

Additionally, Alpforex offers bonuses, a practice that most forex regulators generally prohibit. They outlaw bonuses due to the predatory clauses attached to them and the broker’s bonus proves this. A bonus-used account is not eligible to withdraw money until it has reached the minimum trade turnover. Traders must trade three standard lots, or 300,000 currency units, to receive the 30 USD deposit bonus.

Trading Platform

The MetaTrader (MT4/MT5) is the industry-endorsed trading platform. It has the technological sophistication enough to accommodate several other platforms. For instance, it is compatible with trade publishing/mirror trading/copy trading services and has bridges linking it to non-MT platforms. Moreover, investors can automate their trades, customize trading scripts, and place multiple orders on the platform.  Notably, the MT5 platform also has features to allow risk management, such as trailing stops.

Alpforex offers the MT4, one of the most reputable trading systems in the market. A Thai phone number and bank account are required for verification when signing up for a live account with Alpforex. As a result, we were only able to test the platform’s capabilities using a Demo account. It is worth noting that providing the MT4 platform doesn’t make the broker any more legit.  Only trust brokers that have licensure to offer brokerage services.

Our Take

Our stance on Alpforex’s credibility has always been unequivocal; avoid it if unregulated! See, a broker being regulated not only communicates accountability but also shows regard for a fair trading environment and investors’ interests.  However, Alpforex scores badly on that front. It is unregulated and has reckless leverage, which speaks volumes about where its interests lie.

Let’s face it, forex investment is already risky even without brokers in the equation.  While regulated brokers do not necessarily reduce that risk, they at least ensure that you only incur unavoidable risks, not careless ones.  This should tell you why we insist on investing only with authorized crypto companies.

 

 

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