Eightcap Review 2024

An established Australian CFD broker, Eightcap, declared from the very beginning that their mission is “to provide exceptional financial services to our clients”. In the past few years, they aggressively expanded their product offering and now have a global online presence. They are a fully-regulated leveraged trading provider, offering access to over 200 financial instruments such as Forex, commodities, indices, shares and cryptocurrencies, to retail and institutional clients.

8 eightcap – Global English Website Homepage

Launching in 2009, this Australian-based broker now serves more than 10,000 clients in over 100 countries worldwide.

Eightcap has five global offices and provides services in nine languages. For all you F1 fanatics, Eightcap is a proud partner of Scuderia Ferrari. They are the preferred broker of choice among many traders for several reasons, such as their advanced trading platform, high-quality technical infrastructure, reduced spreads, training resources and market research.

As an international broker, Eightcap is trusted by regulated by authorities in various jurisdictions, such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Taking into consideration a large amount of fraudulent activity that occurs within the financial trading industry, it’s vital that traders first and foremost check a broker’s license and regulation.

Eightcap is licensed by:

• The Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) in Australia, having the license number of AFSL 391441 for Eightcap Pty Ltd
• The Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC) in Vanuatu, having the license number of 40377 for Eightcap Global Ltd (Vanuatu)

ASIC regulation requires financial service providers to meet specific criteria in order to obtain and maintain their license. Some of the requirements that must be met are as follows:

• Capital funds – To apply and obtain an AFSL a broker should have a capital of at least 1 million Australian dollars in reserves.
• Background verifications – For regulatory reasons, a series of KYC (Know Your Client) checking procedures is requested by ASIC on the company and its management.
• Regular reporting – Once the license number is obtained, the broker has to send regular reports to the authority about their financial stability and liquidity ratios.
• Segregated accounts – This is a common requirement among regulatory bodies. Forex brokers have to keep clients’ funds in segregated accounts. This implies that a broker must have different accounts for the company’s operations and the clients’ trading funds. In case of financial trouble clients’ funds are not affected. Eightcap uses tier-1 banks globally for client account segregation purposes.

Eightcap’s operational activity is also audited and verified by external, independent auditors to ensure that regulatory requirements and standards are being met and maintained.

It’s worth noting that this broker does not offer negative balance protection, which is a feature offered by other brokers. If this is a feature you seek, you should complete further research, due diligence and seek financial advice for a trading account that is best-suited to your needs.

With a range of over 200 financial instruments, Eightcap’s offering is not as extensive as other brokers and is predominantly comprised of the most commonly traded asset classes. You can trade CFDs on Forex, commodities, shares, indices and cryptocurrencies using leverage up to 500:1.

Eightcap offers the following asset classes to their clients:

• • Forex – 40 currency pairs (7 majors, 21 minors and exotic pairs)
  • Commodities – a limited selection of only 4 commodities are available to be traded, including precious metals (gold and silver) and oil (Brent crude oil and WTI oil)
  • Shares – Are only available on the MT5 account, you can trade share CFDs on most of the ASX 200 listed companies
  • Indices – 10 stock indices of the most important stock exchanges worldwide
  • Cryptocurrencies – 5 cryptocurrencies can be traded on leverage (and not the physical coins themselves), including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple

  Eightcap offers a maximum possible amount of leverage that is 500:1. It’s important to remember that trading on leverage increases your exposure on positions, which means that not only are your profits multiplied, but also your losses. If the markets turn against you, you must be prepared to pay the difference. For this reason, it’s recommended that you start off small and gradually increase your exposure, as you become more experienced in trading the financial markets.

  Eightcap would be a good provider for a beginner trader, as you have the possibility to change your leverage at any time, but you initially start off with 100:1.

  

  Eightcap Offer of Financial Instruments

Eightcap offers clients a limited number of platform features, which are not entirely unique when compared to the offering of competitors.

As mentioned previously, the amount of markets to trade upon is limited to the most commonly found across multiple brokers. Although limiting, the amount offered is still desirable by many traders.

The range of platforms offered is the popular MetaTrader series, with all its versions, including MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, WebTrader, MetaTrader for mobile. This is the most popular platform used across the industry and the most commonly used among traders across. Eightcap offers the standard version without extra add-ons.

Qualitative technical infrastructure is sustained by execution servers placed in Equinix data centres, fortified by the servers of prominent international financial institutions to ensure optimum performance at any moment in time.

Premium liquidity is delivered by multiple top tier liquidity providers that allow Eightcap clients the possibility to trade with spreads as low as 0 pips on the most commonly traded markets. Eightcap offers convenient, competitive and very low spreads.

A qualitative analysis section that is updated daily with the latest financial news and market insights straight and to the object. A good selection of educational resources and materials is also offered and targeted at beginner traders, which are focussed on fundamental analysis and trading strategies.

Multi Account Management software has been designed for professional asset and fund managers, which offers them the ability to customise the trading conditions for their clients and manage multiple trading accounts from one dashboard. Access to this service is subject to successfully meeting the eligibility criteria.

Benefits of Eightcap MAM program:

• Customised solution – Allows money managers to personalise the trading conditions for each of their clients
• Automatic allocation – Trades are allocated automatically, in addition to the costs and management fees.
• Ability to add/remove funds at any moment in time via real-time management

Eightcap is an international broker that provides services globally, with the exception of jurisdictions that forbid trading services. They serve clients from over 100 countries in nine languages.

The following countries are not covered by Eightcap’s services: USA, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Afghanistan, Côte D’Ivoire, Azerbaijan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Myanmar, Libya, Puerto Rico, North Korea, Pakistan, Syria, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Ukraine, Somalia, South Sudan, Venezuela, Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago, Yemen, Tunisia, Zimbabwe.

Eightcap’s International Offering

There are two types of accounts offered by Eightcap to their clients:

• Standard Account
• Raw Account

The key difference between the two accounts is spreads and commissions.

Eightcap Account Type Spreads Offered

Standard Account

This is the basic account of Eightcap and caters more towards beginner traders. Its main features are:

• Commission-free institutional grade pricing and spreads starting at 1 pip
• Accounts can be loaded with the following currencies: AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, NZD
• The minimum deposit is of 100 AUD or equivalent
• Leverage 500:1
• Minimum trade size 0.01 lots, maximum trade size 100 lots
• Typical spread for EUR/USD 0.5 – 1.8 pips
• Liquidation level of 50%
• Works on all MetaTrader platforms and versions
• EAs, scalping and hedging are offered

Raw Account

This account offered by Eightcap gives you tighter spreads, which caters more towards high trading volumes and is an attractive account type for advanced traders. Its principal characteristics are:

• Raw interbank pricing with a $3.5 commission per standard lot traded
• Direct market near-instant execution with spreads starting at 0 pips
• STP (Straight Through Processing) execution
• Accounts can be loaded with the following currencies: AUD, USD, EUR, GBP
• The minimum deposit is AUD$100 or equivalent
• Leverage 500:1
• Minimum trade size 0.01 lots, maximum trade size 100 lots
• Typical spread for EUR/USD 0.0 – 1.0 pips
• Liquidation level of 50%
• Works on all MetaTrader platforms and versions
• Scalping, hedging and EAs are offered

Eightcap Account Types Offered – Standard and Raw

It’s always important to make an informed decision when selecting which broker and which account type to choose from. Be sure you’re comfortable with your finances and of your time commitment towards trading when considering these two accounts, as one is more suited towards higher trading volumes than the other.

Eightcap does not offer a swap-free account for traders of the Islamic faith.

Eightcap has an easy and simple account opening procedure, which is similar in setup and structure to the majority of regulated Forex brokers. Follow the prompts on the website to create an account.

Eightcap Online Application Form

First and foremost, and unsurprisingly, you must successfully complete the online form with your personal details: name, surname, email, phone number, country of residence, type of client (private or company).

After successful form completion, there are additional steps that you’re required to complete to verify your identity. Below is the non-exhaustive of following steps that must be taken as part of the on-boarding process:

• Proof of identity, such as date of birth, country and address of residence, tax details
• Information relating to your experience and financial suitability
• Acceptance of terms and conditions
• Upload of requested documents

In order to comply with ASIC regulation, Eightcap has a thorough KYC (know your client) procedure in place that requires clients to provide documents supporting their proof of identity (e.g. a digital copy of your national ID, passport or driving licence) and their proof of residence (e.g. utility bill or bank statement).

Usually, the account approval process can take a few business days to complete. However, you can access the Eightcap Client Portal to follow-up any stage of the process and/or call a member of their friendly customer support team, while still having access to a demo account that you can use to practice.

Eightcap Online Application Form Process

Eightcap Demo Account

Just like any reputable Forex broker, Eightcap offers a demo account that is ideal for beginner traders to trial the markets. Follow the prompts to “Try Free Demo” on the homepage and complete the online form. Eightcap’s demo account has an expiry of thirty days and can be loaded with virtual funds of up to 1 million in base currency. You can also open multiple demo accounts if you think this is useful to help you learn the ropes.

Trialling the platform with the demo account should be an important aspect of your assessment on the broker, regardless if you’re new to financial trading or if you’re a well-seasoned professional.

If you already trade, have sound knowledge and solid trading experience, then you would undoubtedly want to test Eightcap’s platform and services prior to opening a live account. It’s recommended you do this, so as to have a better understanding of whether the platform is a good fit for your trading needs and requirements. The demo account is also a useful tool to use when testing new strategies, indicators and EAs. The demo account will simulate how a live account performs, just without actual currency being loaded onto the account, rather virtual funds.

If you’re a beginner trader, then it’s highly recommended that you start practising with a demo account. It’s important to try the broker’s platform, before you commit yourself, and to also get a feel of what’s involved when trading financial markets and decide if this type of activity is suited to your needs. You may decide that this high-risk activity isn’t for you, after trialling and testing a demo account. If you do decide that trading is for you and you want to continue trading, then use this free option to learn the basics and hone your trading skills to become a profitable trader.

Remember to trade with funds that you can afford to lose and not to “bite off more than you can chew” – Not only will you incur profits in Forex trading, but also losses. When you graduate from a demo account to a live account, begin depositing and trading with small values and then gradually increase the amount of equity (and exposure) as you gain confidence in your trading abilities.

The costs involved with trading are arguably the most important criteria for the majority of traders. Any savvy trader or investor will pay attention to (any hidden) fees, spreads and commissions they have to pay the broker for using their products and services.

Eightcap discloses all the costs associated with CFD trading on their website. You can find them in the “Check our spreads” and “Swap rates” sections. As Eightcap is a regulated entity, it’s a requirement that broker costs are publicly displayed.

If you trade with Eightcap the costs that you must commit to will vary and will depend on the type of account you use, the financial instruments themselves and the volatile nature of market conditions impacting price fluctuations. Nonetheless, the spreads, fees and commission are competitive with other players within the industry.

If you select to trade with the Standard account, then you will pay just the spread on each trade. The Raw account type offers lower spreads, but there is a $3.5 commission per lot traded.

Below you will find a non-exhaustive list of spreads charged by Eightcap.

Forex Trading

For major and minor Forex pairs the spreads start from 1 pip on the Standard account and from 0 pips on the Raw account. These spreads are highly competitive within the Forex industry.

Indices Trading

When trading indices with Eightcap you are trading cash CFDs. Spreads start from 0.5 pips for both accounts.

Cryptocurrency Trading

Eightcap has competitive spreads for the selection of cryptocurrencies they offer. Spreads on both accounts start from 30 pips for Bitcoin, 0 pips for Ripple and 4 pips for Ethereum.

At the time of writing this review, it’s worth noting that you can trade commodities, such as gold, with spreads from as low as 0 pips on both account types.

Eightcap charges a Swap (rollover) fee for overnight positions, which are costs that are related to the leverage used on the position. You can check the swaps you have to pay in the specifications section of each financial instrument in the MetaTrader platform. Swaps depend on the type of instrument and the type of order (buy/sell) placed. If you have positions that are kept open throughout the weekend, from Wednesday to Thursday a Swap will be charged for 3 days instead of 1. This is to cover the settlement of trades over the weekend.

Eightcap does not charge inactivity fees.

Eightcap offers their clients several options to deposit and withdraw funds. These options may vary for each client, depending on their country of residency. In your Client Portal you will be able to see exactly which methods are available to you. To view all the payment options offered by Eightcap, you can check the Funding and Withdrawals sections of the website.

Eightcap does not charge any fee on deposit and withdrawals, but for international payments fees may apply for intermediary transfers or conversion. In addition to this. Eightcap doesn’t process third party payments, meaning the name of the trading account opened with the broker has to match with that of the name listed on the client’s nominated bank account.

Please note that there may be limitations on certain payment options for different countries. The following payment options can be used:

• Credit /Debit Card via Visa and Mastercard. Deposit operations are processed instantly and are fee-free. The following currencies are accepted: AUD, EUR, USD, CAD, GBP, NZD, SGD.
• Wire Transfer is the slowest depositing option. It takes 1-3 business days and bank fees may be incurred (so it’s important to check what these are with your bank provider). The following currencies are accepted: EUR, AUD, USD, CAD, GBP, NZD, SGD.
• POLi Payment is a convenient option for Australian clients. Payments are processed instantly with zero fees.
• Bpay is an option for Australian clients, with zero costs. It takes 1-2 business days to execute deposit operations.
• Skrill can be used by international clients, seeking to fund their accounts in EUR or USD. Skrill has zero fees and requires 1-2 days to clear.
• Neteller is another option for international clients that seek to pay with EUR or USD. Neteller has zero fees and executes deposits instantly.
• China Union Pay is an option for Chinese clients that pay in RMB. It has zero fees and transactions are often executed instantly.

Eightcap Payment Options Offered

To withdraw funds you have to log into your Client Portal and choose your preferred withdrawal method. Withdrawals are processed within 24 hours and it takes several business days for the funds to realise in your account.

You can only use the following methods to withdraw funds: credit card, bank wire, Skrill and Neteller. The sum you deposited will be withdrawn via the method you used to deposit and the remaining balance (if any) via another available method.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit requirement is AUD$100 or equivalent in your currency. This is an acceptable level and allows for a large demographic of people to open a live account and start trading financial markets.

Eightcap is a licensed MetaTrader broker and offers the complete suite of platforms designed by MetaQuotes. They propose the standard versions, without any further add-ons, advanced trading tools or updates that improve the trader’s experience. The desktop platforms offered by Eightcap are:

• MetaTrader 4
• MetaTrader 5

To download any of these desktop versions you need to head to the “Platforms” section in the main navigation bar of their website.

MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 is the globally preferred trading platform used by traders worldwide. With Eightcap, you can download desktop versions that are compatible with Android and iOS.

Eightcap MetaTrader 4 advantages:

• Trade Forex, indices and commodities
• Intuitive interface
• MT4 is secure, highly customisable, stable and responsive
• It has advanced charting options with 9-time frames
• Offers the possibility to employ 30 built-in indicators and 24 graphic objects
• Several types of trading orders – market orders, pending orders and limit orders, trailing stops
• Provides one-click trading possibility directly from charts
• Proprietary coding language MQL4
• EA trading capabilities; you have the ability to use your own expert advisors or purchase a few from the MetaTrader market
• Encrypted data exchanges

Read this guide for more detailed information on the MetaTrader 4 platform.

MetaTrader 5

MetaTrader 5 is the lesser known version of MetaTrader 4, but it’s the improved version. If you don’t want to deal with desktop version installations, you can use the web version of MetaTrader 5 directly in your browser.

Eightcap’s MetaTrader 5 advantages:

• Trade all instruments from the broker’s offer
• Superior order management capabilities
• Market depth features and 1-click dealing directly from any chart
• User-friendly interface and a faster, highly secured connection
• Improved charting with 21 timeframes, and over 80 built-in trading indicators and drawing objects
• Economic calendar and financial news
• MQL5 Wizard and MQL5 IDE development environment to build your own robots, indicators and automated strategies
• Improved backtesting thanks to MQL5

Read this guide for more detailed information on the MetaTrader 5 platform.

Mobile Trading Platforms

Having the possibility to access your trading account on-the-go and not only when you’re in front of your desktop is a great feature of mobile trading, which is offered by Eightcap. There are separate mobile versions of the MetaTrader platform available, which enable you to trade on-the-go, and to check your account whenever and wherever you are.

The mobile versions of MT4 and MT5 integrate most of the features and functionalities that are available on the desktop version, some of which include the news feed and economic calendar. Since MT5 is a more advanced version than MT4, the mobile version of MT5 is superior to that of MT4.

To install the mobile version of MetaTrader for iOS and Android, browse the “Platforms” section of the site or the respective Google Play and Apple Store apps.

Eightcap has a reasonably sized market analysis section and basic qualitative training courses, which are available – free of charge – for all their clients. However, in comparison to other brokers competing within the industry, Eightcap has a lot to improve upon.

In terms of analysis, they have a Markets News and Analysis section that is updated daily with market updates, technical and fundamental reports written by Eightcap’s in-house team of analysts. The articles are straightforward and most often include video explanations. They offer weekly market overviews, real-time market coverage when breaking news hits, trade ideas and tips, strategies and fundamental market insights appreciated by beginner and advanced traders alike.

The Market News and Analysis section include:

• Market News
• Forex News
• Market Updates

Some examples of content written are Market Commentary:

• EURUSD – EURJPY, Trade comments fail to break risk rallies
• Market Focus: Oil, Trading Week Ahead: 22nd June – 26th June 2020
• AUDUSD gearing up for a new move higher?

Eightcap lacks advanced analytical tools requested by advanced traders.

In terms of education there is a dedicated section, which consists of many long-form articles, few qualitative articles, but the depth of these articles is quite useful for beginner traders. The Education section includes articles and tutorials related to:

• Fundamentals
• Trading Strategies
• MetaTrader Guides

In this section, you will find topics that include trading strategies, elements of technical and fundamental analysis like Why is Bitcoin so Volatile?, What Drives Stock Market Indices? Margin & Leverage, How to Recover from a Significant Trading Loss, Sellers Back into the EUR/USD, Important Economic Indicators Explained, Trading The News: How to Trade after a News Release

A responsive and tentative broker is highly appreciated by traders in general. As trading on leverage is a high risk activity, it requires prompt client service, support and solutions to technical or administrative issues. If a broker doesn’t prioritise their customer service capabilities, then this could amount to a loss of clients and ultimately lost revenue.

Eightcap’s client service department is available 24/5 in 9 languages, namely English, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, German, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean. You can reach customer support via:

• Live Chat: you will find the chat window in the right bottom corner of each page
• Email
• Phone
• Social Media channels

Eightcap also has a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions section that answers a wide variety of common questions and issues incurred when trading.

Bonus and Promotions

To check current promotions offered by Eightcap, you can browse the “Promotions” section of the website.

Currently, the only promotion available is a referral program titled “$100 Trading Cash Bonus”. This type of referral program offers a $100 bonus when you recommend a friend to open a live trading account with Eightcap and fund it. The promotion is subject to terms and conditions, so check those prior to getting involved with the promotion.

Awards

Eightcap has a simple and transparent offering and proposes a qualitative and smooth trading experience particularly for beginners and intermediate traders.

They have a limited collection of financial instruments but does include the most traded markets and asset classes. It offers traders the ability to trade on world-class MT4 and MT5 platforms, which are recognised and used worldwide. Eightcap offers competitive market spreads with fast, direct market execution. The market news, analysis and education sections are also robust and a good read.