Here are the 6 pros and cons:

BDSwiss Fact sheet

Safety and security of your broker should be the first priority when selecting a financial service provider. 

If a broker is regulated and authorized by a trustworthy financial regulator, it means that the broker can be trusted. 

BDSwiss is regulated by the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA). As this regulator is not very strict, it decreases the trustworthiness of the broker. 

Policies that BDSwiss follows

BDSwiss keep clients’ funds in segregated accounts, which is something that increases the level of safety. It means that the funds are not mixed with the broker's account and even if the company goes bankrupt, traders can withdraw money from their own accounts.

BDSwiss provides negative balance protection to its clients’ accounts. Because CFD trading is a highly leveraged activity, traders can lose more money than what’s on their trading accounts. To prevent this from happening, the broker uses automatic Stop Out levels. For each account type, stop-out levels are set to 20%, and even if the broker fails to protect your trading balance from going negative, you can contact support agents, and they will turn your negative account balance back to 0 without any charge.

BDSwiss offers access to about 250 tradable assets through different asset classes, including Forex, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, and shares as CFDs.

CFDs stand for Contract For Difference, and traders exchange them to get short-term benefits. CFDs are not generally used for long-term investing, however, they are the primary choice for speculating on short and medium-term prices. What’s great about CFDs, is that traders do not own them, and therefore, trades can be placed in both long and short directions. In other words, when you trade a stock CFD, for example, you can short-sell the stock and get benefits when the market’s going down. Physical stocks, on the other hand, are only profitable when investors buy low and sell high. CFDs are a better choice for speculating the markets, however, physical commodities and stocks are preferred for long-term investing as they don’t have rollover fees or additional expenses. 

Each trading asset class offered by BDSwiss has its fees, maximum leverage available, as well as other differences. Let’s discuss them in detail. 

Forex trading on BDSwiss

There are 51 Forex pairs offered by this broker and includes all majors, many minors, and some exotics. Major pairs are currencies from global economies such as Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Great Britain, Australia, and Switzerland. One part of the Major currency pair is always the US Dollar. The second part is always one of the major currencies mentioned above. The major currency pairs are the most liquid. 

Minor pairs are less liquid than major ones but more liquid than exotic pairs. Minor pairs are made from major currencies, but the US Dollar is excluded. Exotic pairs come from developing nations and in a pair, one or both parts are exotic. 

When it comes to spreads, the Euro and US Dollar pair has the smallest spread. The reason is that the liquidity is the highest in EUR/USD. With BDSwiss, spreads differ based on which account type you use. 

Stock CFD trading on BDSwiss

As already mentioned, stocks as CFDs are preferred by short and medium-term speculators and investors, whereas physical stocks are better for long term investing. 

BDSwiss grants access to trading 134 company stocks as CFDs. Spreads start from 0.1 pips and commissions on average are 0.15%. 

BDSwiss traders have access to trading stocks from the US, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. Traders can go long or short, depending on their trading strategies to try and make some money. CFD trading enables traders to earn money from trading in any direction, without physically owning the asset. 

Indices trading on BDSwiss

Indices are a type of asset that shows how a basket of company shares performs. These shares are selected based on industry or country. For example, the FRA40 is an index that follows the top 40 French company stocks’ performance. 

With BDSwiss, traders have access to 11 indices that include: AUS_200, ESP_35, EUR_50, FRA_40, GBR_100, GER_30, HKG_50, IND_50, NAS100, SPX500, and US30. Commissions are fixed and traders are charged at 2 USD. 

Indices can be traded as CFDs, however, they have one more usage. As mentioned above, they show the performance of certain markets or industries. Even if traders do not trade indices as CFDs, they still keep an eye on them to figure out the state of the market. For instance, if you are going to purchase a US Dollar against Canadian Dollar, it would be a good idea to take a look at whether the US500 index is in a downtrend or in an uptrend. The uptrend market is an indication that the US economy is doing well as the US500 (S&P 500) follows the performance of the top 500 US companies' publicly traded stocks. 

Crypto CFD trading on BDSwiss

BDSwiss offers access to trading 31 cryptocurrency pairs as CFDs. The average spread on the BTC/USD pair is 30.47. 

When trading cryptos as CFDs, traders do not have to worry about crypto wallets or how to cash out profits. CFD trading as mentioned previously, means that you as a trader do not actually own the asset, but you can make money from short or medium-term volatility. What’s more, traders can short-sell crypto CFDs. 

Commodity CFD trading on BDSwiss

Commodities are raw materials that can be mined or grown. With this broker, traders can trade oil and precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum, with the average spread on gold vs USD (XAU/USD) being 0.058

The list of assets:

• CL_BRENT
• US/OIL
• XAG/USD
• XAG/USD
• XAU/EUR
• XAU/USD
• XPT/USD

There are various types of traders in Forex. Some prefer swing and position trading, while others prefer some intraday action. Traders also differ based on their trading strategies, risk tolerance, and account balances. In order to meet the needs of different types of traders, BDSwiss offers 4 account types:

• Cent account – best for beginners that want to test their strategies live while risking only a small amount of funds.
• Classic account – best for beginners and position traders. 
• VIP account – best for advanced position traders.
• RAW account – best for intraday scalpers and high-frequency traders. RAW accounts have low spreads, but commissions are increased.

We’ll break down and analyze in detail each account type to aid you in picking the one that best suits your needs.

Pros & cons of BDSwiss account types

BDSwiss Demo Account

BDSwiss offers access to trading 3 types of demo accounts. Traders can use demo versions of Classic, VIP, and RAW account types. The Cent account doesn’t have a demo version. 

Demo trading is extremely useful for both, beginner and experienced traders alike. Beginners use demo accounts to get accustomed to trading platforms and brokers’ policies, while professionals use demo accounts to improve their active strategies and develop new ones in a risk-free environment. 

BDSwiss Cent account

A Cent account can be the next step for a trader transitioning from a demo account to a live trading environment. The minimum initial deposit to open a Cent trading account is only $10. Commissions are 0, however, spread markups are very high. For each trade, the broker uses a 1.5 pip spread markup. In addition, Cent accounts are very limited in terms of tradable assets. The broker only offers around 70 assets for trading. 

BDSwiss Classic account

The Classic account has similar initial deposit requirements to the Cent account. Traders can open this account for as little as $10. The main difference is that the account has many more tradable instruments. Traders get access to trading around 250 assets. There are no commissions charged, however, traders will pay spread markups from 1.5 pips. 

BDSwiss VIP account

In order to open the VIP account, at least $500 is needed. The instruments available are over 250. Commissions differ in terms of the asset class, with $0 on all pairs, $0 on indices, and 0.15% on shares. Pips start from 1.1. This account type is suitable for position and swing traders. 

BDSwiss RAW account

RAW trading account is for scalpers and intraday traders that make lots of trades within a day. In addition, high-frequency traders use the RAW account. The reason is that the broker has very low spread markups, only 0.3 pips. On the other hand, there are commissions charged, which are $5 on all pairs, $2 on indices, and 0.15% on shares.

Getting started on BDSwiss - Main steps

There are a couple of steps to take when you want to open a live trading account with BDSwiss. The whole process takes less than a day. We’ll guide you through the entire process of account opening in detail. 

Step 1: Open an account

Go ahead and open the main page of BDSwiss. In the top right corner, you’ll be able to see a sign-up button. By pressing the button, you’ll be transferred to the registration page. The broker asks you to provide your personal information and choose a trading platform. 

Step 2: Time to verify your account

After you open a live trading account, it’s recommended that you verify before transferring funds. The broker asks for proof of residence and proof of identity from you. For proof of identity, any type of government-issued document that clearly states your personal information is valid. For instance, you can upload a digital photo or scanned version of your passport, ID card, or driving license. When it comes to proof of residence, you can use a utility bill or any formal document that states your address and name. 

Step 3: Make your deposit and start trading

After you verify your account, you can deposit money to your trading account and start placing orders. Keep in mind that some deposit options such as online wallets and credit/debit cards are instant, while bank wire transfers take a couple of business days to clear. 

The fees charged by BDSwiss are average. What’s great about this broker is that VIP and RAW account types are affordable, starting from $500, and these account types offer reasonable trading fees. Spread markups for VIP accounts are only 1.1 pips and the average spread on EUR/USD on a RAW trading account is 0.3 pips. It’s worth mentioning that the RAW account has commissions: $5 on all pairs, $2 on indices, and 0.15% on shares.

Comparing BDSwiss fees with other brokers

BDSwiss has average prices compared to the competition. In order to better understand the differences between BDSwiss’ and other brokers’ pricing models, let’s compare the numbers. 

BDSwiss fees compared to Interactive Brokers fees

*Inactivity fee was eliminated by IB in 2021, it used to be $20/m

BDSwiss fees compared to eToro fees

BDSwiss fees compared to IG fees

BDSwiss fees compared to XM fees

BDSwiss fees compared to AvaTrade fees

BDSwiss fees compared to Capital.com fees

BDSwiss uses MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 as their main platforms. Traders can also install BDSwiss mobile apps on their phones or trade using the BDSwiss web trading terminal.

MetaTrader 4 was released in 2005 by the Russian software giant MetaQuotes Corp. The platform hasn’t changed much since, and it looks very outdated. However, MT4 remains the most popular trading platform even today due to its ability to perform masterfully. The MT4 is also very simple, and most beginner Forex traders choose to use it over MT5, which is a bit more advanced.

MetaTrader 5 was released 5 years later, in 2010. Both MT4 and MT5 are very similar, however, the main difference is that MT5 has more functions and is primarily built for trading a combination of different asset classes such as Forex, stocks, indices, cryptos, and commodities. MT4 is primarily built for trading Forex.

Both MT4 and MT5 are very popular, and there are a large variety of trading algorithms for both. Traders use algorithms to automate trading. MetaTrader algorithms are called Expert Advisors (EAs). The fact that the platforms are so old and super popular, explains why there are so many algorithms developed by traders that you can access from the Meta market. 

Mobile trading with BDSwiss is a smooth experience. However, keep in mind that mobile apps are best used as helpers and not as a main trading tool. It’s recommended to analyze the markets using computer screens.

Mobile apps are very useful in emergency situations such as internet problems, power outages, PT breakdowns, etc. The mobile apps keep you in touch with the markets from anywhere in the world. The mobile app of BDSwiss can be installed on both apple and android devices. 

A good quality education is important for novice traders as well as seasoned ones. BDSwiss offers a variety of content: 

• Trading Academy
• Learning Center
• Forex eBooks
• LIVE Education
• Forex Basic Lessons
• Forex Glossary
• Educational Videos
• Seminars

Research tools include: 

• Daily Market Analysis
• Technical Analysis
• Daily Videos
• Weekly Outlook
• Market Insights
• Special Reports
• BDSwiss Analysts
• LIVE Webinars
• Economic Calendar
• VPS Service
• Trade Companion
• Trends Analysis
• Trading Central
• Autochartist
• Trading Alerts
• Currency Heatmap
• Trading Calculators

Customer support is highly important for any service oriented company. The financial service provider understands this very well and offers a 24/5 multilingual support team. Customer support is accessible in English, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Greek, and Portuguese. Traders can email them or chat live straight from the company’s webpage. Traders can also call the regional offices to receive professional consultations or just speak to someone directly. 

To sum everything up, BDSwiss is a mildly regulated broker that offers a variety of account types to its customers. The broker gives traders access to trading Forex, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, and shares as CFDs. There are more than 250 instruments available for trading. The minimum initial deposit required to open a live account is only $10. The broker provides a wide range of educational material and good customer support. The spread markups and commissions are average.