BlackBull Markets Broker Review

BlackBull Markets is a true ECN broker that allows clients to buy and sell over 300 financial instruments across different asset classes, including equities, Forex, commodities, CFDs, and more. The broker provides traders with institutional-grade trading conditions and exceptional customer service and support.

In this broker review, we will pay attention to the important aspects of BlackBull Markets, which you may want to consider before deciding whether to trade with this online brokerage.

Key Pros and Cons

Before we continue, let us briefly look at BlackBull Markets’ advantages and disadvantages.

Company Information

BlackBull Markets Group is comprised of the following corporate entities with their respective regulated offices:

• Black Bull Group Limited, regulated by the FMA: office address: Level 20, 188 Quay Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
• BBG Limited, regulated by the FSA: office address: Seychelles

Note that BlackBull Markets does not offer its services to residents of some countries, such as North Korea, Russia, Spain, the United States, and other regions.

Why Trade with Blackbull Markets?

Now, let us provide a quick list of the key features that we like about BlackBull Markets.

Regulation

The BlackBull Markets trading brand is authorized and regulated in various jurisdictions.

BlackBull Markets is a trading name of the BlackBull Markets Group, which is registered with the New Zealand Financial Services Provider Registry (FSPR). It holds a derivative issuer license issued by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). This government agency is responsible for regulating financial markets in New Zealand.

The broker is also a member of the New Zealand Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) dispute resolution scheme. The FSCL is a conflict resolution scheme that ensures that promotes a high level of transparency, ensuring that conflicts are dealt with impartially and independently.

BlackBull Markets’ international operations are also handled by BBG Limited, which is incorporated and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles. However, this regulation by FSA is not as solid as the FCA or ASIC.

The various financial authorities that make up BlackBull Market’s regulatory regime are shown below:

The broker lacks strict regulation from tier-1 regulatory authorities like the CFTC, ASIC, and FCA.

The lack of CFTC regulation means that the broker does not offer its services to the residents of the United States. Moreover, the absence of an FCA regulation indicates that UK-based are not covered under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if the broker fails to meet its financial obligations in the United Kingdom.

KYC Procedure for Account Creation and Depositing

It is pretty easy to create an account with BlackBull Markets. You can complete the process in less than 5 minutes, but you may have to wait for about 24 hours for your account to be verified. BlackBull Markets’ process of account creation complies with the industry-standard procedure; it involves the following steps:

1. Setting your login details: Enter a valid email and your preferred password
2. Filing the account opening form: Fill in your name, address, city of residence, postcode, phone number, and date of birth.
3. Choosing you’re your preferred account type: Select your preferred trading platform and account type (ECN Standard, ECN Prime, or ECN Institutional Account).
4. Ascertaining your suitability status: The broker will want you to disclose information about your employment status, sources of income, and trading experience. Based on the information you provide, you may be allowed to move to the next step of the process. However, if any of the information you provide does not match the broker’s internal requirements, your application may be rejected.
5. Agreeing to the terms and conditions: Ensure you tick the box at the bottom of the application page to indicate that you agree to BlackBull Markets’ Terms and Conditions.
6. Getting your documents verified: The broker will want you to provide documents for your proof of ID (such as Driver’s License, International Passport, or National ID card) and proof of residency (bank account statement or utility bill that is less than three months) for BlackBull Markets to verify your account.

The account creation may be fast (can be completed within a few minutes), it may take up to 24 hours to verify your trading account. When your account is verified, you will have to fund your account using any of the available payment methods before you can start trading.

Account Types

The broker offers three main live account types: ECN Standard Account, ECN Prime Account, and ECN Institutional Account. Traders can choose the account option that best meets their trading objectives and trading styles. Let us take a look at the available trading account options:

Islamic Account (Swap-Free)

BlackBull Markets offers swap-free trading on the ECN Standard and ECN Prime accounts. The swap-free Islamic account is best suited for traders who cannot receive or pay swaps due to religious beliefs. Although this account type does not incur any swaps or interest charges on overnight positions, the account holder may be charged an administration fee on trading positions.

Demo Account

The broker provides traders with MT4 and MT5 demo account, which they can use to practice their trading strategies on multiple financial instruments without risking real money. Demo accounts allow beginners to learn how the market works and also get used to the broker’s trading platform and tools.

Trading fees and other costs

As a trader, you should always consider a broker’s trading fees and other costs before deciding whether to trade with the broker or not. Just like other CFD and Forex brokers, BlackBull Markets offers two types of trading fees, namely:

• Trading costs – This includes the spreads, commissions, and overnight financing rates;
• Non-trading costs – account management fees, deposit and withdrawal fees, non-activity fees.

Let us take a quick look at the trading fees that are available at Blackbull Markets.

Spreads

At BlackBull Markets, traders enjoy low ECN spreads across all the available live trading account options:

• ECN Standard Account — Spreads start from 0.8 pips with no commissions
• ECN Prime Account — Low ECN spreads (starting from 0.1 pips) and a commission of $6.0 per round turn.
• ECN Institutional Account — Raw ECN spreads (starting from 0.0 pips) and a customized commission structure that is subject to negotiation based on trading volume.

Below are the average spreads offered on the three account types for the three most actively traded currency pairs:

From the above, we can see that the average spread on the Standard Account is marked up by 0.46 pips to cover the costs of trading since no commission is charged on that account.

Let’s now see which of the ECN Standard and ECN Prime accounts offer cheaper trading costs. For this, we will consider a 1 Lot trade on EUR/USD (one pip movement = $10). We will also assume that the trade is opened and closed at the same price. Taking cognizance of the spread values, the cost of trading with the Standard and Prime accounts are as follows:

ECN Standard Account

• Spread – 0.83 pip
• TOTAL COST – 0.83 x $10 = $8.30 per side and $16.60 per round turn

ECN Prime Account

• Spread – 0.27 pips
• Spread cost – 0.27 x $10 = $2.70 per side and $5.40 per round turn
• Commission – $3.00 per side and $6.00 per round turn
• TOTAL COST – $5.40 + $6.0 = $11.40 per round turn

From the above comparison, it can be deduced that the ECN Prime account offers cheaper trading costs. This is because of its tight spreads and fair commission fees. The ECN Institutional account was not part of the comparison since its commission fees are always subject to negotiation based on trading volume.

Finally, let us compare BlackBull Markets Standard Account average spreads with what other major brokerages offer on the three most actively traded Forex pairs.

The table above shows that the spreads offered by BlackBull Markets Standard STP Account are more or less within the range of those offered by its competitors, such as IC Markets and Fusion Markets.

Commissions

No commission fee is charged on the ECN Standard account; however, on the ECN Prime account, the broker charges a commission fee of $3.0 per lot per side ($6 per round trip).

The commission fee on the ECN Prime account can be interpreted this way:

• A 1 Standard Lot trade (100,000 units) will require you to pay a $6.0 commission to open and close the position;
• A 1 Mini Lot trade (10,000 units) will require you to pay a $0.6 commission to open and close the position;
• A 1 Micro Lot trade (1,000 units) will require you to pay a $0.06 commission to open and close the position.

A commission fee of $6 per round turn on the Prime account is fair and within the range of those of its peers. But it is not the lowest commission fee that is obtainable in the industry since it is bigger than the $4.00 FXTM charges on its Advantage Account, which is about the cheapest among retail brokers.

Financing charges

As with other currency brokers, BlackBull Markets charges swap — an overnight or rollover interest (that is earned or paid) for holding positions overnight in foreign exchange trading. The broker’s financial institutional partners calculate the daily released swap rates using risk-management analysis such that each currency pair has its Forex swap charge, and interest is paid on currency sold and received on currency bought.

You can see the swap charges for a currency position by logging into their MT4 platform and taking the following steps:

1. Locate your product in the ‘Market Watch’ window. Right-click and select ‘Symbols.’
2. Select the product you wish to view from the list. Select ‘Specifications’.
3. You can then view the Forex swap rates for long and short positions.

Deposit fees

BlackBull Markets will not charge any deposit fees, just like most online brokerage firms. This is standard practice for brokers.

Withdrawal fees

BlackBull Markets will also not charge any withdrawal fees on all payment options available. However, payments to and from overseas banking institutions may attract intermediary transfer fees from either party, but such charges are not from BlackBull Markets.

Inactivity fees

BlackBull Markets will not charge an inactivity fee on dormant accounts. This is unlike most financial firms that would charge a certain amount on trading accounts after a prolonged period of inactivity.

Overall on Fees

BlackBull Markets offers low spreads for the ECN Prime and ECN Institutional account types, but the Standard STP account has marked-up spreads. BlackBull Markets charges fair commission fees. Also, traders are not charged with any additional fees on top of overnight financing charges.

Overall, BlackBull Markets may not get a 100% pass mark on fees: their commission fee of $6 per round turn is a bit higher than the fees of their competitors, such as Fusion Markets.

Desktop Trading Platforms

BlackBull Markets offers a good choice of intuitive trading platforms that traders can use to trade all the available financial assets. These trading platforms include the following:

MetaTrader 4

BlackBull Markets provides traders with the MT4 trading platform, an advanced trading platform that was introduced in 2005 by MetaQuotes. MT4 has become one of the choicest trading platforms among forex and CFD traders. The platform is built with strong security features to ensure the safety of your transactions and data.

The MT4 trading platform has an intuitive user interface, which makes it easy for traders to navigate through the platform. It 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.

MT4 is available as a desktop application for Windows and Mac computers, a web version (WebTrader), and a mobile app for Android and iOS devices. 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 the need to first download and install an application.

MetaTrader 5

This is a more advanced trading platform introduced by MetaQuotes in 2010 to offer access to multiple assets, including actual stocks (not just stocks CFDs). The MetaTrader 5 platform is reputed for being the choicest multi-asset platform for traders and investors from around the globe. It allows traders to trade Forex, CFDs, exchange-traded instruments, stocks, and futures. The platform offers advanced charting and trading tools and more options for automated trading. In addition to offering all of the features of MT4, the MetaTrader 5 trading platform comes with more advanced capabilities, such as 21 timeframes and nine chart types.
The MT5 trading platform is available in desktop, web, and mobile versions.

Benefits and Features

• Thousands of markets
• Level II pricing
• Trading robots
• VPS support
• Easy to use
• Superior charting
• Free market data and news
• Education market

Copy-trading with BlackBull Markets

BlackBull Markets offers various copy-trading tools, and they include:

ZuluTrade:

ZuluTrade is a world-leading, peer-to-peer, social trading platform that can be used to copy the trading strategies of thousands of registered, talented currency traders from 192 countries. . ZuluTrade offers a perrformance evaluation algorithm, which is known as Zulurank; it can be combined with the feedback from the social trading community to help BlackBull Market clients to customize trades according to their preferences and risk tolerance.

Myfxbook:

This is one of the leading social trading sites; it allows users to share, analyze, track, and compare their trading activities. BlackBull markets traders can use Myfxbook to set up auto-trading to follow traders they believe have superior trading edges. They can also use this copy trading tool to set themselves as the main trader in an auto trading network. The Myfxbook is built with an intuitive user interface, making it convenient for all levels of traders. Interestingly, BlackBull Markets partners with Myfxbook; as such, the broker’s MetaTrader 4 trading program is completely integrated with the Myfxbook system, allowing clients to easily sign-up for a Myfxbook account and link it to their BlackBull Markets Account. Some key benefits of Myfxbook include the following:

• An innovative and intuitive user interface to keep traders up to date with the market
• A record of competency for Money Managers
• Myfxbook community
• Multiple chart setups
• Allows for automated trading
• Allows customization of trades
• High order execution capabilities

Mobile Trading Platforms

The broker provides traders with the mobile versions of the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms, allowing traders to enjoy the full functionality of the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms from the small screens of their mobile handheld devices. This brings some form of convenience to the entire trading process as traders can access their trading accounts and place trades on the go, as long as they are connected to the internet. The mobile apps are compatible with Android and iOS devices and can be downloaded from the respective app stores. The MT4 and MT5 Android apps require Android 5.0 or a later version, while the iOS apps require iOS 9.0 or a later version.

Trading Instruments

BlackBull Markets offers a selection of over 300 investment products, which comprises 64+ currency pairs, indices from major markets, precious metals such as gold and silver, and commodities including energy, gas, and oil. Their range of available financial assets compares fairly to other big brokers, such as IC Markets and Fusion Markets.

In this section, we will take a closer look at the various financial instruments available at BlackBull Markets

Forex

BlackBull Markets offers access to the most liquid global FX markets, offering over 64 major, minor, exotic Forex pairs. The broker offers all major currency pairs, as well as several other minor and exotic markets. Through its deep FX liquidity pools, the broker provides traders with institutional trading conditions.

At BlackBull Markets, Forex trading is available on the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. Traders can also practice Forex trading on the demo account option. BlackBull Markets offers low-cost institutional spreads to retail Forex traders; spreads start from 0.0 pips. The average execution speed is 20ms. Traders can start trading with as little as $200, and there is flexible leverage of up to 500:1.

CFDs

CFDs are agreements between a trader and the broker to pay the other the difference between the current price of an asset and the price when the contract was entered into. The CFDs offered by BlackBull Markets include commodities, popular US shares, and several global equity indices. Cryptocurrency trading is available at BlackBull Markets through CFDs, but not available through trading the underlying asset (e.g. Bitcoin trading).

BlackBull Market clients can trade various commodities, including gold and silver, crude oil, natural gas, and cash crops like sugar and soybeans as CFDs. They can also trade over 60 popular US stocks (such as Tesla, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Facebook) and various indices from major global exchanges, such as the Nasdaq100, S&P500, Footsie100, ASX200, and DAX30, as CFDs.CFD can be traded on the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms with flexible leverage of up to 1:500.

Commodities

The broker allows you to trade your favorite commodities, including gold and silver, crude oil, natural gas, and cash crops like sugar and soybeans. The commodity market presents a way for traders to diversify their trading portfolios, and this broker allows to trade the market with leverage of up to 1:500. Commodity trading with BlackBull Markets is available on the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms.

Energies

BlackBull Markets allows you to trade the energy markets via the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms with a low-cost pricing model and flexible leverage. BlackBull Markets cliets are allowed to trade CFDs across energy commodities, including crude oil, natural gas, gasoline, and heating oil. This allows them to benefit from the volatility in the prices of those commodities. Energy commodities are essential to modern economies and are affected by various factors, including significant geopolitical events.

Precious Metals

With BlackBull Markets, Gold and Silver can be traded at their spot prices or via futures. The broker allows traders to benefit from the precious metals markets by offering CFDs in various precious metals, which traders can use to speculate on the price movements or hedge against inflation.

With a BlackBull Markets MT4 or MT5 trading account, traders can seamlessly open short-term or long-term trades in gold and silver. They can also trade in both long and short directions and can hedge their positions as they want.

Trade Execution

BlackBull Markets uses the STP and ECN execution models with no dealing desk intervention. The STP (straight-through processing) model offers real market quotes with marked-up spreads, and orders are routed directly to the liquidity providers that make up the interbank market. The broker uses this model in its Standard Account option.

The ECN execution model, which BlackBull Markets uses in its ECN Prime Account, offers direct price quotes with raw interbank market spreads. Trade orders are routed directly to the interbank market. ECN liquidity is integral to the service offered by BlackBull Markets; it bridges clients directly to the markets. When combined with the broker’s aggregation system, the ECN ensures that the liquidity providers directly compete to guarantee clients the best trading experience.

Other benefits of BlackBull Markets’ ECN Liquidity include:

• Unrivaled depth of market (up to 100 lot trades per click at 1:500 leverage)
• Very low spreads (from 0.0 pips)
• Fewer slippages and failed executions

Additionally, the broker’s multiple fintech solutions, including a proprietary in-house trade-order aggregation software, ensure that the cheapest liquidity provider processes trade in the broker’s system at every instance.

The broker’s main trading servers are located in Equinix global data centers within the world’s largest multi-asset electronic trading ecosystem. The broker has trading servers across five strategic locations: New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

Deposits

BlackBull Markets supports different deposit methods to enable traders to fund their accounts with ease. The broker allows traders to fund their trading accounts in multiple currencies. This prevents traders from paying expensive currency conversion fees.

The following payment methods are available at BlackBull Markets for account deposits: bank wire, credit cards, and various electronic payment processors. The time to process transactions may vary depending on the payment method you use. For example, some payment methods, such as credit cards and online payment processors are instant, while bank transfers may take several days to be processed.

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. The broker does not charge any deposit fees, and it allows its clients to open accounts and deposit funds in multiple base currencies.

BlackBull Markets does not accept third-party payments, so all funds deposited into your trading account must be under the same name as your BlackBull Markets trading account. Payment from joint bank accounts or credit cards may be accepted if the trading account holder is one of the beneficiaries.

The broker’s selection of deposit methods is rich and includes the following:

Withdrawal Methods

Clients can withdraw funds online by logging into the secure BlackBull Markets client portal and selecting the withdraw tab from the menu. Once traders log into teir secure client portal, they can easily choose the payment option thatis most convenient for them for both account deposits and withdrawals. While all available deposit methods (bank wire, credit/debit cards, and various electronic payment processors) are also available for account withdrawals, withdrawals must be made using the same method that you originally deposited. For instance, debit/credit card withdrawal can only be used for accounts that made deposits using a debit/credit card.

BlackBull Markets does not charge any internal fees for deposits or withdrawals. But, it is important to note that some payments to and from overseas banking institutions may incur intermediary transfer fees from either party independent of BlackBull Markets.

Due to AML / CTF laws, BlackBull Markets cannot deposit funds to third parties. As a result, all money withdrawn from your account must go to a bank account in the same name as your BlackBull Markets trading account.

Customer Support Contacts

BlackBull Markets has a knowledgeable client support team that is very polite and highly responsive to clients’ problems. The support team is available 24 hours a day and five days a week — from Mondays to Fridays. You can contact the support team through any of the following channels, including the following:

1. Live Chat: This efficient channel allows you to chat directly with the broker’s support team live. This contact channel is located at the bottom right corner of the broker’s website. Upon clicking the Live Chat icon, you will be prompted to fill in your name and email address. Next, type your message in the bigger box to interact with the customer support team live.
2. Telephone contact: You can also contact the broker’s support team in New Zealand over the phone from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday – Friday through any of the phone number that is displayed on their support page:
   New Zealand: (+64) 9 558 5142
3. Email Contact: You can send specific inquiries to the support email address: support@blackbullmarkets.com
   The broker’s support team is available 24/5 to respond to clients’ inquiries via email.
   In addition to the above contact channels, you can find answers to common questions from the broker’s Client Support page
4. Client Support: This is a comprehensive list of Frequently Asked Questions. It covers all traders’ most common questions and their corresponding detailed answers. The FAQs cover 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.

Research and Educational Materials

The broker provides traders with a good selection of learning resources to help traders understand how the market works. The available learning resources at BlackBull Markets include the following:

1. A Trading Academy that contains various educational resources, such as learning articles, trading guides, and more
2. A glossary that displays various trading terms and their detailed explanations.
3. Video tutorials on various trading topics. The tutorial videos offer visual guides on how to trade with the broker.
4. An Economic Calendar that shows future market events’ schedules and their expected impacts on the financial markets. With the economic calendar, traders can know what moves the market and when the markets are likely to move significantly based on the expected news event. So they can plan their trading based on upcoming economic releases and market events from around the world.
5. An extensive blog section that is replete with several trading articles, market reviews, and expert analysis. The blog section is replete with various educational resources that are designed to keep traders aware of the events that take place in the financial markets. New articles are regularly uploaded on the blog, while old articles are often updated from time to time.
6. Ebooks on various trading topics

Security and Money Guarantees

At bestbrokers.com, we are committed to ensuring that traders trade with only regulated online brokers, and BlackBull Markets is one of such. Our key findings include:

• Several years of business history and innovations
• Award-winning brokerage

To ensure that it does not use clients’ funds to run its operations, the broker keeps clients’ funds securely in segregated accounts with ANZ Bank in New Zealand. This way, clients’ funds are kept safe even if the broker goes broke.

Since BlackBull Markets 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, it abides by ethical brokerage rules. The broker is regulated by the Financial Markets Authority — the government agency is responsible for regulating financial markets in New Zealand.

However, the broker lacks strict regulation from a top-tier regulatory authority, such as the FCA, CFTC, or ASIC. This could be a red flag to many prospective traders. Nonetheless, the broker maintains a strict Anti-Money Laundering (AML) / Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT) policy to ensure that it abides by international best practices.

Conclusion

Putting it all together, we at BestBrokers.com can say that BlackBull Markets offers some of the best conditions for Forex trading among peers. Our reasons for this assessment include:

• Competitive trading costs on both the Prime account and the Standard ECN account
• Adequate liquidity
• Flexible leverage
• Reliable trading technology
• Fast trade execution via the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms
• Award-winning customer support service
• Free education to sharpen your skills
• Fully licensed, operating since 2014

E. Ifeanyi