Founded in 2014, BlackBull Markets is an award-winning true ECN brokerage firm that is based in Auckland, New Zealand, with offices across the globe. They are regulated in various jurisdictions and have an excellent range of trading products and services for both retail and institutional investors. The broker provides users in over 180 countries with secure access to a good selection of over 300 financial instruments across different asset classes, including equities, forex, commodities, CFDs, and more.
BlackBull Markets offers intuitive trading platforms, such as the MT4 and MT5 platforms, which are available in desktop, web, and mobile versions. They also make available a decent selection of essential trading tools and learning resources, along with the services of a knowledgeable client support team. Their clients enjoy institutional-grade trading conditions, such as low spreads from 0.0 pips, lightning-fast execution speeds, zero deposit fees, multiple account types, low trading fees, and more.
This can all help you get the most out of your trading strategies when using BlackBull Markets. The minimum deposit required to start trading is $200 which is not the lowest but they do have the option of a free demo account if you want to give them a try before making a commitment.
While the broker’s investment portfolio of just about 300 financial instruments may not be considered that significant when compared to competitors such as TMGM who have over 12,000, the broker more than makes up for this with various other features. They offer advanced and versatile trading platforms along with various useful trading tools. The account opening process is straightforward and takes just a few minutes to complete whilst you can make deposit and withdrawals using a good variety of payment methods. There are various trading account options, so you can choose the account types that best suit your trading strategies. A responsive client support team is available 24/6 to assist you.
In addition to the above exciting trading conditions, traders also enjoy low trading fees and zero commissions on the ECN standard account. Various learning resources which include trading guides, training videos, glossaries, articles, and more, are provided to help traders make knowledgeable trading decisions. A demo account option is available to help acquaint themselves with the broker’s trading platforms before opening a live trading account type; the account comes preloaded with virtual funds for practice purposes. The broker does not charge an inactivity fee on dormant accounts.
The broker offers a selection of over 300 Trading Products, which comprises 64+ currency pairs, indices from major markets, precious metals such as gold and silver, and commodities including energy, gas, and oil. Interestingly, these trading products are available on all of the broker’s trading platforms so no need to keep switching back and forth. Traders can choose from the available financial instruments and get started with a minimum deposit of $200.
However, the broker does not offer shares and cryptocurrencies. This is somewhat disappointing, considering the massive attention that cryptocurrencies are gaining across the globe in recent times. It would be great if the broker added cryptocurrencies to its product offerings along with some stocks of individual companies. If you want to trade forex, you should find more than enough instruments. If you are looking for stocks and crypo trading, then you might want to have a look at FP Markets instead.
BlackBull Markets Instruments Summary
| Instruments | BlackBull Markets |
|---|---|
| Forex | ✓ |
| Stocks | x |
| Indices | ✓ |
| Commodities | ✓ |
| Cryptos | x |
| Options | x |
| Bonds | x |
| ETFs | x |
| CFDs | ✓ |
Commission and Spread Fees
If you are a seasoned trader, you would be familiar with some common trading fees that CFD brokers charge, such as spreads, commissions, and overnight financing rates. While commissions are small transaction fees charged by brokers, spreads are the difference between an instrument’s buy and sell price.
At BlackBull Markets, there are zero commission fees on the ECN Standard account with a marked up spread starting from 0.8 pips which is decent but not the lowest you will find. The ECN Prime account has a commission fee of $6 lot per 100k traded and spreads starting at just 0.1 pips. The commission fees on the Prime can be expressed in three scenarios:
- For a 1 Standard Lot trade (100,000 units), traders will pay a $6.0 commission to open and close a trading position;
- For a 1 Mini Lot trade (10,000 units), traders will pay a $0.6 commission to open and close a position; and
- For a 1 Micro Lot trade (1,000 units), traders will pay a $0.06 commission to open and close the position.
Although a commission fee of $6 per round turn on the Prime account is similar to the commission fees of their major competitors, it is not the lowest commission fees that are obtainable in the industry. Furthermore, there are competitors who have raw spreads that start from just 0.0 pips including IC Markets. This might not make a big difference unless you are scalping or trading large volumes, but it can still add up in the long run.
It is worth mentioning that the broker provides high-volume traders that deposit at least $20,000 with an ECN Institutional account, which allows them to negotiate commission rates with the broker on a case-by-case basis. This can get you access to the zero pip spreads if that is something that you are after.
| Fee | ECN Standard Account | ECN Prime Account | ECN Institutional Account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commission (per standard lot per side) | $0 | $3.0 | Negotiable |
| Spreads from | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
Deposit and Withdrawal Fees
All traders at BlackBull Markets enjoy zero deposit fees. While the broker does not charge withdrawal fees, transfer fees may be applied by the remitting bank(s) or payment system providers.
Inactivity Fees
The broker does not charge an inactivity fee on dormant accounts. This is impressive as many brokers charge exorbitant fees for maintaining inactive accounts.
The broker offers a good choice of intuitive trading platforms. You can trade with the social trading platforms or with the extensive MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. All the available trading platforms allow users to trade all the available financial assets with relative ease. You can conveniently do everything from analysing the charts to placing and managing your positions from all of your devices.
MetaTrader 4
The MT4 is an award-winning platform that was launched in 2005 and has since grown to become one of the choicest trading platforms among forex brokers and traders alike. The platform is built with military-grade software security for an enhanced trading experience. BlackBull Markets provide the MT4 to ensure that traders enjoy a seamless trading experience.
The MT4 trading platform has an intuitive user interface, making it one of the best choices for traders of all experience levels. The platform is replete with essential trading features and functionalities, such as one-click trading, drawing tools, expert advisors, interactive charts, technical indicators, and more. Thanks to MT4’s fully customizable design, traders can configure the platform to suit their trading needs.
At BlackBull Markets, the MT4 is connected to the NY4 Equinix server located on Wall Street in New York. The Equinix server allows you to execute trades as fast as 2-5 milliseconds, using a range of Prime Liquidity providers to give you access to the best bid/ask prices available. The MT4 trading platform is available on multiple platforms: Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, iPad/Tablet.
The MT4 WebTrader allows clients to access their MetaTrader 4 account through any operating system (Windows, Linux, Mac). It offers all the benefits of the MT4 desktop trading platform, and it is compatible with modern web browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari. Traders can use the MT4 WebTrader to trade from any device without needing to download additional software and it you will always get access to the latest version.
MT4 Platform features:
- Allows one-click trading
- Available on desktop, web, and mobile platforms
- Multiple order types
- Market Watch Window
- Navigator Window
- Pre-installed indicators
- Analysis tools
- Multiple chart setups
- Trade automation using expert advisors
- Order execution capabilities
MetaTrader 5
MT5 is a next-generation trading platform that was launched in 2010 by MetaQuotes. It is an advanced trading platform that is designed to offer seamless access to different financial markets. The platform is replete with helpful trading tools, including nine chart types, expert advisors, multiple timeframes, and more. The platform is designed to give users an edge in the market with its suite of extensive capabilities, such as faster processing times, the ability to hedge positions, advanced pending order functionality, and more tools and indicators.
The MT5 trading platform is available as a desktop application for Windows and Mac computers, WebTrader, and a mobile trading app that is designed for smartphone devices running on Android and iOS.
MT5 Platform features:
- 21 timeframes
- Scalping allowed
- Over 30 built-in technical indicators
- Integrated economic calendar
- Optimized trade processing speeds
- Ability to hedge your trade positions
- Advanced pending order functionality
- Trade automation using expert advisors
- Available for desktop, web, and mobile platforms
ZuluTrade
ZuluTrade is an industry-leading, peer-to-peer, social trading platform that copies the trading strategies of expert traders. It is reputed for being the most popular auto trading platform available today. It allows traders to seamlessly replicate the trades of successful traders in their accounts. It features a database of traders from which you can choose the best for your individual goals and investing style. To be honest, if you are looking to go the copy trading route, then eToro would be my top choice as they the leading provider of social trading platforms.
Myfxbook
Myfxbook is a social trading platform that allows traders to share, analyze, track, and compare their trading activities. It features an intuitive user interface, which makes it very easy to use by traders. While it is mainly used to set up auto-trading to follow traders that you have selected, it can also be used to establish yourself as the main trader in an auto trading network.
At BlackBull Markets, the Myfxbook system is fully integrated with the popular MT4 trading platform, making it easier for clients to link the system to their trading platform and customize it to suit their trading and analysis preferences.
BlackBull Markets Platforms Summary
| Platform | BlackBull Markets |
|---|---|
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | ✓ |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | ✓ |
| cTrader | x |
| Proprietary | ✓ |
| Desktop | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ |
| Mobile | ✓ |
| Social Trading | ✓ |
| Other (ZuluTrade, MyFxBook, VPS, FIX API) | ✓ |
Tools
VPS
This is an important trading tool that is used for enhancing and customizing clients’ trading experience. The VPS service that is available at BlackBull Markets is provided by BeeksFX, a provider dedicated to hosting finance servers. It is compatible with the MT$ trading platform and offers many benefits, including reduced slippage, enhanced security, automation of data backups, and more. The VPS servers are located in New York, London, and Japan, close to the relevant exchanges to maximize execution speed and reliability. The VPS service is only available on the BlackBull Markets Prime account, and as such, traders are required to deposit a minimum amount of $2,000. You can get a free VPS for a lower deposit from some other brokers including Blueberry Markets.
FIX API
In a bid to ensure that traders get the most out of their trades, the broker makes available the FIX API tool. While the MT4 serves as the FIX or coding protocol for placing orders live on the market, the FIX API is provided for traders who wish to use their own FIX application. It offers direct market access (DMA), allowing traders to connect directly to the broker’s ECN network with faster speeds and lower latency. This can be a great solution for those of you who are running HFT strategies and automated systems that need the best pricing possible. If you are specifically looking for API trading, then FXPIG might be worth a look.
Trading Academy
The broker’s trading academy is available as an “Education” section at the top of the broker’s website. It contains various educational resources, such as learning articles, trading guides, tutorial videos, and a glossary that displays various trading terms and their detailed explanations. The tutorial videos offer visual guides on how to trade with the broker.
Economic Calendar
BlackBull Markets provides traders with an economic calendar. It is an important trading tool that shows future market events’ schedule and their expected impacts on the financial markets. With the economic calendar, traders can know what moves the market and when the market moves. I think this is a great tool for planning trades based on upcoming economic releases and market events from around the world.
BlackBull Markets Blog
The broker’s blog is replete with several trading articles on market reviews and expert analysis. The blog section also contains some news articles to keep traders up-to-date with the latest happenings in the financial markets. New articles are regularly uploaded on the blog, while old articles are often updated from time to time.
FAQ
FAQs are a comprehensive list of traders’ most common questions and their corresponding detailed answers. BlackBull Markets provides traders with a detailed FAQ section covering various topics, including account management, deposits/withdrawals, trading conditions, trading hour changes, security of funds, MetaTrader 4, and company info. To get the FAQ section, simply navigate to the “Support” at the top of the broker’s website.
BlackBull Markets Research and Education Summary
| Resources | BlackBull Markets |
|---|---|
| Market Analysis | ✓ |
| Guides | ✓ |
| Videos | ✓ |
| Webinars | ✓ |
| Autochartist | x |
| Trading Central | x |
| Economic Calendar | ✓ |
| Other (Blog, FAQs) | ✓ |
There is a wide choice of secure payment methods at BlackBull Markets. This fosters the ease of making payments to and from your trading account. The broker accepts deposits in the following currencies: United States Dollar, Euro, Great British Pound, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Singapore Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Japanese Yen, and South African Rand. This is great because it means that you do not need to pay a currency conversion fee if using an account in your own currency.
You have to log into your BlackBull Markets account through your secure client portal to deposit or withdraw funds. In the Client Portal, you will select your preferred deposit or withdrawal method to carry out the transaction. The following payment methods are available at BlackBull Markets for account deposits and withdrawals: bank wire, credit cards, and various electronic payment processors. However, withdrawals must be made using the same method that you originally deposited. They do not currently support crypto payments but Pacific Union do if that is something you are looking for in a broker.
The time taken to process transactions may vary depending on the payment method in use. For instance, bank wire transfers may take up to 1 to 3 days to be processed, while some e-wallet payments are instant and allow you to manage your funds in real-time.
The minimum deposit amount is dependent on the account type you are trading with — the minimum deposit amount on the Standard and Prime accounts are $200 and $2,000, respectively. At the same time, the institutional account requires a minimum deposit of $20,000. If the $200 is out of your reach at the moment, then you could consider Fusion Markets as they have a $1 minimum deposit requirement.
BlackBull Markets Funding Summary
| Payment Method | Deposit | Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
| Wire Transfer | ✓ | ✓ |
| Credit/debit Card | ✓ | ✓ |
| Electronic Wallets | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cryptos | x | x |
BlackBull Markets is a trading name of the BlackBull Markets Group, which is registered with the New Zealand Financial Services Provider Registry (FSPR) and is a member of the New Zealand Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) dispute resolution scheme.
The FSPR aims to foster utmost transparency in financial market dealings. As a result, all companies who are registered with the FSPR must also be a member of an independent dispute resolution scheme. This is to ensure that complaints are dealt with impartially and independently.
BBG Limited is incorporated and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles
The broker also holds a derivative issuer license that was issued by the Financial Markets Authority. This government agency is responsible for the regulation of financial markets in New Zealand.
However, the lack of CFTC regulation is a strong indication that the broker does not offer its services to the residents of the United States. If you are in the USA, then IG would be my top broker choice to have a look at.
BlackBull Markets Regulation Summary
| Regulator | BlackBull Markets |
|---|---|
| ASIC (Australia) | x |
| IIROC (Canada) | x |
| CySEC (Cyprus) | x |
| SFC (Hong Kong) | x |
| JFSA (Japan) | x |
| MAS (Singapore) | x |
| FINMA (Switzerland) | x |
| FCA (UK) | x |
| CFTC (USA) | x |
| Other (FMA, FSPR, FSA) | ✓ |
BlackBull Markets Safety
As an online trading broker that has been in operation since 2014, we could say that BlackBull Markets is an experienced online financial services provider. The broker’s location is an added advantage as New Zealand is known to have a high standard of conduct and operational standards that all companies must comply with. The broker also maintains a strict Anti-Money Laundering (AML) / Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT) policy to ensure that the broker runs above-board and ethically across all business practices.
Also, to ensure clients’ security and peace of mind, the broker keeps clients’ funds securely in segregated accounts within ANZ Bank in New Zealand.
The broker provides traders with a reliable support team who are available 24/6 to respond to clients’ general, technical, and account-based inquiries. The support team can be reached via telephone, email, and Live Chat. I have always found them an absolute pleasure to deal with and received a quick response to all of my questions.
Putting it all together, BlackBull Markets is an online brokerage firm that is designed to suit all levels of traders, from the average retail trader to the high-volume professional traders. They offer advanced trading platforms and some essential trading resources, including useful tools and educational materials. These can all go some way to help traders gain an enhanced trading experience and make informed decisions. The broker provides you with very competitive trading conditions, including low trading fees, zero commission accounts, spreads from 0.0 pips, multiple account options for all of your strategies, and more. The minimum deposit required to start trading is $200 which is not the lowest but you can always try them on a demo account to begin with. I think they could improve further by adding some more individual stock instruments and support for cryptocurrencies. I also feel that traders would benefit significantly from automated market analysis if they could integrate with Autochartist and Trading Central just like competitors including GO Markets do. Other than that, they are certainly one of the better brokers out there and worth strong consideration.
