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InstaForex Fact sheet

When it comes to selecting a CFD broker, the most important is safety and security. InstaForex is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the British Virgin Islands (BVI). InstaForex Global is registered by the FSC of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Both regulatory bodies are not very strict. As these are not the strictest regulatory authorities, as such, the level of security and safety is not tightly monitored with this broker.

Policies that InstaForex follows

In order to improve the safety and security of clients’ funds, InstaForex implements various policies. The broker is a member of the Investor Compensation Fund, which settles disputes between brokers and their clients. The maximum payable amount to be compensated is 20 thousand Euros. 

InstaForex also provides negative balance protection to retail traders, and traders get margin call emails at 30% and positions are liquidated automatically at 10% to prevent funds from going negative. 

The broker keeps funds in segregated accounts, but not for all traders. To be eligible for account segregation, your balance needs to be at least 50,000 USD.

InstaForex provides access to 402 assets and all the assets are CFDs. CFD stands for “Contract For Difference”, and it’s the preferred option for those who are looking for speculative opportunities. You will not be able to find physical stocks, precious metals, or crypto tokens with this broker. However, CFDs are available for short to medium-term price speculations. When trading CFDs, you can use leverage to increase your purchasing power and traders can go short and make money in falling markets. When it comes to real shares, you can only make money by buying when prices are low and selling when markets are high. 

Forex trading on InstaForex

There are 107 available currency pairs for trading with InstaForex. Traders can speculate on major, minor, and exotic pairs. Keep in mind that majors are the most liquid and minors are more liquid than exotics. Liquidity is essential as highly liquid assets will give you the best spreads. When it comes to trading fees, it all depends on your account type. Insta.Standard and Cent.Standard account types do not charge traders with commissions, however, spread markups start from 3 pips. The markups can be as high as 7 pips. When trading Forex using Insta.Eurica or Cent.Eurica account types, there are no spread markups, but trading fees range between 0.03%-0.07%. Available leverage is up to 1000:1.

Stock CFD trading on InstaForex

There are 402 available stocks as CFDs for trading with this broker. Trading fees start from 0.1% and the number of available stocks depends on the account type traders pick. Trading stocks as CFDs offers a number of benefits and drawbacks to trading with physical shares. Physical shares are less liquid than CFDs and there are more barriers to entering the market. On the other hand, real assets do not have rollover fees and are the best tools for investing long-term. 

Available assets include popular company shares such as: 

• Home Depot Inc
• Honeywell International Inc
• Horizon Therapeutics Plc Nasdaq Stock Exchange (Nasdaq) USD
• Howmet Aerospace Inc New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) USD
• IBM Corporation
• IQVIA Holdings Inc New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) USD
• IVERIC bio Inc.
• Illumina, Inc.
• Intel Corporation

Crypto CFD trading on InstaForex

There are 12 crypto CFDs available for trading with InstaForex. When trading the contracts for difference, you don’t need to worry about where to store the tokens or how to cash out as profits are added straight to your account balance. In addition, you can go long or short and make money in both bull and bear markets. Trading fees for all crypto pairs are 0.1%. InstaForex offers popular crypto CFDs for trading, such as: 

• Bitcoin Cash vs USD – BCH/USD
• Bitcoin
• Cardano vs USD
• Chainlink vs USD
• Doge vs USD
• Ethereum vs USD
• Filecoin vs USD
• Litecoin vs USD
• Polkadot vs USD
• Ripple vs USD
• Solana vs USD
• Uniswap vs USD

Commodity CFD trading on InstaForex

There are 9 available commodities for trading with this broker. Available markets include Brent and crude oil, palladium, gold, silver, etc. Commodities are raw materials and their prices change based on global demand and supply. Even if you are only planning to trade currencies, it’s best to keep an eye on commodities as well. Some currency prices are highly correlated with things like oil producers and the like. For instance, the Canadian dollar is highly correlated with oil prices as Canada is one of the largest producers of oil in the world. 

Indices trading on InstaForex

There are 15 available indices for trading with InstaForex. Indexes follow the performance of a basket of stocks, and as a result, they are great instruments not only for trading as CFDs but for measuring the strength of certain economies and industries. For instance, the S&P 500 or US500 follows the top 500 US companies which can be a good indication of the economic performance of the US economy.

Available indices for trading are: 

• Amsterdam Exchange Index
• Deutsche Akzien Index
• Dow Jones Industrial Average
• Euro Stoxx 50 Index
• #STOXX50
• FTSE 100
• France 40 Index
• Hang Seng Index
• Italy 40 Index
• NASDAQ 100 Index
• Nikkei 225
• S&P 500 Index
• S&P/ASX 200 Australian Index
• Spain 35 Index
• Swiss Market Index
• US Dollar Index

There are all kinds of traders in the market. Some trade more frequently such as intraday traders, high-frequency traders, scalpers, and news traders; while others trade less often, such as position traders and swing traders. Because of this, traders have different preferences when it comes to picking trading accounts. In order to meet the needs of various trader types, InstaForex provides four different account options: Insta.Standard, Insta.Eurica, Cent.Standard, and Cent.Eurica.

Pros & cons of InstaForex account types

InstaForex Demo Account

InstaForex enables traders to open demo accounts for free. Demo trading is very similar to live trading with one major difference; the funds you use are not real. Therefore, traders get the opportunity to learn how to use indicators, how to open and close trades and analyze markets without risking their capital. Professional traders use the Demo account to improve their trading strategies. Some traders switch to demo trading during drawdown periods, building their confidence back before returning to trading live. 

Insta.Standard Account and Cent.Standard Account

The standard trading accounts are very similar. The main difference is that the Cent.Standard account is for traders that wish to test live trading without taking large risks. Usually, traders transition from demo accounts to the cent accounts to experience live execution, test the performance of trading robots, etc. in a way that puts them in the midst of the action without risking too much. The maximum available deposit on both Cent.Standard and Cent.Eurica accounts is 1,000 USD. Available leverage is up to 1000:1 and Stop Outs get activated at 10% of the margin. 

There are no commissions on Standard accounts. However, spread markups range between 3 and 7 pips.

Insta.Eurica Account and Cent.Eurica Account

The Eurica account holders are not charged with spreads. On the other hand, there are 0.03%-0.07% trading fees. With the Cent.Eurica account’s maximum available deposit is 1,000 USD, with available leverage of up to 1000:1. The account types are attractive to traders that open many orders each day, such as intraday traders, high-frequency traders, algorithmic traders, scalpers, news traders, etc. Margin call emails are sent at 30% and Stop Out orders get activated at 10%.

Getting started on InstaForex – Main steps

In case you have decided to open a live trading account with InstaForex, we are here to help. There are only a couple of simple steps to take, and the registration process and account opening are fully digital from the broker’s user-friendly web page. 

Step 1: Register as a trader

The first step to take is to register as a trader with InstaForex. To do so, press the “Login” button from the broker’s home page and then press register. The registration process is simple and all you need to do is to provide some personal details about yourself to the broker. 

Step 2: Open an account

After the registration process is concluded, it’s time to open an account. The account opening process includes 3 steps and similarly to registration, requires some more personal information and choosing an account type. 

Step 3: Time to verify your account

The next step is verification. Verification is important because it gives traders full access to their personal cabinets without any limitations. Verified accounts are able to freely deposit and withdraw funds and there are only two documents that you need to upload, namely proof of residence and proof of identity. For proof of residence, you can upload a scanned version or digital photo of a utility bill or bank statement. For proof of identity, you can use your driving license, national ID card, or passport.

Step 4: Make your deposit and start trading

The final step is to make a deposit to be able to start placing orders. There are various deposit and withdrawal options available, including Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, Neteller, Skrill, AstroPay, crypto, PayCo, and Africa Online Transfers. Online banking and credit card options are mostly instant, however, bank transfers might take a couple of business days to clear. It should be noted that withdrawals usually take several days to complete. 

Trading fees of InstaForex are higher than the competitors. Most other brokers offer around 1 pip markups while the Insta account offers from 3 to 7. One good thing that is good about InstaForex is that there are no inactivity fees or deposit and withdrawal fees. What’s more, both spread-free and commission-free accounts are available. Let’s compare the fees of InstaForex with other brokers to better understand the broker’s policies. For this comparison, we picked standard account fees with 3-7 spread markups and no commissions. 

Comparing InstaForex fees with other brokers

InstaForex fees compared to Interactive Brokers fees

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

InstaForex fees compared to eToro fees

InstaForex fees compared to IG fees

InstaForex fees compared to XM fees

InstaForex fees compared to AvaTrade fees

InstaForex fees compared to Capital.com fees

Broker offers the full set of MetaTrader platforms and the Multiterminal that is made for money managers that trade using various accounts and platforms. The main platforms that traders can install on their personal computers are MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). 

MT5 is a bit more complex, offering:

• 21 time frames
• Market Depth (Level II pricing) 
• MQL5 – programming language for designing Expert Advisors or EAs for short, and indicators.
• Quotes archive
• An advanced set of technical tools
• Expiry dates for pending orders
• In-built Expert advisors, indicators, and scripts

MT5 was built for trading various asset classes, including Forex, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, shares, bonds, and futures, while MT4 was built for mainly trading Forex pairs. 

MT4 is simpler than MT5 and is often the first choice for FX traders. The platform offers: 

• 9 time frames
• A variety of tools for technical analysis
• Online financial news
• Automated trading using EAs
• Locked positions
• A possibility to create your own indicators and advisors using MQL4 programming language
• High security ensured by 128-bit encoding
• One-click trading
• Trailing stop

InstaForex provides access to both mobile apps and a web trading terminal. The mobile app enables traders to view live charts, place different order types, and monitor trades. Mobile versions of MetaTrader 4 are available in both Google Play and the Apple App store. App trading is an essential tool for dealing with emergency situations such as internet problems, power outages, etc. 

InstaForex provides extensive material for both beginners and experienced traders. The educational material is available from the broker’s home page under the “For Beginners” section and includes: 

• Training
• Trading Platform guides
• FAQ
• How to start trading articles
• Video Tutorials
• Forex explanatory articles
• Forex Glossary

For more seasoned traders, there are tools for market analysis, including: 

• Chief Strategist analysis
• Analytical Reviews
• Economic Calendar
• Holidays worldwide
• Video analytics
• InstaForex TV
• Trading Sessions
• News in pictures

Overall, we can safely say that the educational material is of decent quality and very extensive. 

Great customer service is the most important aspect of every financial services provider. InstaForex provides customer service 24/7 which is fantastic as most competitors are only available 24/5. Traders can contact the broker using email, via live chat, or over the phone. The customer support agents are professional and super friendly. Overall, the customer service provided by this broker is great.

To sum everything up, InstaForex is a multi-asset broker that offers access to trading Forex, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, and shares as CFDs. There are 4 different account types available to meet the needs of different traders. There are no minimum deposit requirements and available leverage is up to 1000:1 and the broker provides access to the full set of MetaTrader platforms. InstaForex was awarded multiple awards which is always a good sign. The broker is regulated by the FSC of the British Virgin Islands and the FSC of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. However, both regulators are mild which is always a drawback when dealing with a financial institution. On the downside, trading fees are a bit higher than what competitors are offering.