BlackBull Markets Review 2023

How we ranked fees

We ranked BlackBull Markets's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

First, let's go over some basic terms related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of BlackBull Markets for each asset class. For example, in the case of forex and stock index trading the most important fees are spreads, commissions and financing rates.

We also compared BlackBull Markets's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, TMGM and Fusion Markets. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of BlackBull Markets alternatives.

To have a clear overview of BlackBull Markets, let's start with the trading fees.

BlackBull Markets trading fees

BlackBull Markets trading fees are low. There are different pricing structures for the different accounts. In this review, we tested the Prime Account account as this is the most popular account type.

We know it's hard to compare trading fees for forex brokers. So how did we approach the problem of making their fees clear and comparable? We compare brokers by calculating all the fees of a typical trade for selected products.

We chose popular instruments in each asset class usually provided by forex brokers:

• Forex: EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, EURCHF and EURGBP
• Stock index CFDs: SPX and EUSTX50

A typical trade means buying a leveraged product, holding it for one week and then selling. For the volume, we chose a $20,000 position for forex and a $2,000 position for stock index and stock CFD transactions. The leverage we used was:

• 30:1 for forex
• 20:1 for stock index CFDs

These catch-all benchmark fees includes spreads, commissions and financing costs for all brokers. Let's see the verdict for BlackBull Markets fees.

Forex fees

BlackBull Markets forex fees are generally low. However, the fee is not as low as its closest competitors.

BlackBull Markets forex fees are generally low.

CFD fees

BlackBull Markets has generally low CFD trading fees.

Non-trading fees

BlackBull Markets has average non-trading fees. There is no account or deposit fee, however, withdrawal carries a price tag.

No inactivity fee

The withdrawal fee is

• $5 (or 5 units in any other account currency) per withdrawal for credit/debit cards or electronic wallets. 
• $20 (or 20 units in any other account currency) per withdrawal for bank transfers.

In addition, there is a 5% fee if you deposit and withdraw without trading. 

Can you open an account?

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74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

What is the minimum deposit at BlackBull Markets?

At BlackBull Markets, the required minimum deposit is $2,000 for Prime Accounts and $0 for Standard accounts.

Account types

BlackBull Markets provides three ECN account types that differ in pricing and minimum deposit requirements.

*R/T stands for round trade, which means a buy and sell order. 

BlackBull Markets provides a swap-free / Islamic account that operates in full compliance with Sharia Law. Swap-free accounts are offered as a variant of Standard, Prime and Institutional Accounts.

You can also select different account types based on ownership:

• Individual account - account is owned by one individual
• Joint account - account is owned by two or more individuals
• Company account - account is owned by a legal entity

How to open your account

The BlackBull Markets account opening process is easy and fully digital. The online application takes roughly 10-15 minutes and our account was approved within one business day. 

The 7 steps of account opening at BlackBull Markets:

1. Select the account type based on ownership and enter your name, email address and phone number
2. Enter other personal information, such as the birth of date or source of income
3. Select the account type (e.g. Standard or Prime), the account base currency and the leverage
4. Upload documents to verify your identity and address. Passport, driver's license, national ID are accepted as proof of identity, while bank statements and utility bills are accepted as proof of residence.
5. After you upload the documents you will have to confirm your email address.
6. You will get trading account credentials when your account is approved.
7. Lastly, fund your account.

Account base currencies

At BlackBull Markets, you can choose from 9 base currencies.

This selection is great compared to competing brokers. Both TMGM and Fusion Markets offer fewer base currencies.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your trading account in the same currency as your bank account or you trade assets in the same currency as your trading account base currency, you don't have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. These usually offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates, as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

Compare digital banks

Deposit fees and options

BlackBull Markets deposits are free of charge. Besides bank transfer, you can deposit funds by using credit/debit cards or the following electronic wallets:

• Skrill*
• Neteller**
• China UnionPay
• FasaPay

*The Skrill account is a USD account. You can still fund with multiple currency options, but doing so may incur exchange rate fees

**Depositing with Neteller offers multi-currency options. Available currencies: USD, AUD, EUR, GBP, CAD, JPY and SGD

A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card is instant.

You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

BlackBull Markets withdrawal fees and options

The withdrawal fee at BlackBull Markets is $5 (or 5 units in any other account currency) for credit/debit cards or electronic wallets. Withdrawals via international bank transfers cost $20 (or 20 units in any other account currency).

In addition, there is a 5% fee if you deposit and withdraw without trading. 

If you use credit/debit cards, Skrill, FasaPay, Neteller, or UnionPay, you can only withdraw up to the amount you have deposited via the same method. Therefore, you have to withdraw any profit by using a bank transfer.

How long does it take to withdraw money from BlackBull Markets? We tested the credit card/bank transfer withdrawal and it took 1 business day.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from BlackBull Markets?

• Go to the BlackBull Markets' Client Login Portal
• Once logged in, select 'Withdraw Funds' under the 'Funding' section
• Select your MetaTrader account you would like to make the withdrawal from
• Enter the withdrawal amount and the withdrawal method
• Submit your withdrawal request

BlackBull Markets doesn't have its own self-developed trading platform, instead it offers the MetaTrader 4 third-party platform.

MetaTrader 4 is available in an exceptionally large number of languages.

Look and feel

The BlackBull Markets web trading platform has great customizability. You can easily change the size and the position of the tabs.

However, the platform feels outdated and some features are hard to find. For example, it took us some time to figure out how to add an asset to the watchlist.

Login and security

BlackBull Markets provides only a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be more secure.

Search functions

The search functions are OK. You can find the assets listed by category. However, we missed the usual search function where you can type in the asset name manually.

Placing orders

You can use the basic order types, but you will not find very sophisticated orders like 'one-cancels-the-other.' The following order types are available:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop-loss

If you are not familiar with order types, read this overview.

There are order time limits you can also use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til time (GTT)

Alerts and notifications

You can't set alerts and notifications on the MetaTrader web trading platform available at BlackBull Markets. This feature is available only on the desktop trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

BlackBull Markets has clear portfolio and fee reports. You can easily see your profit-loss balance and the commissions you paid. These reports can be accessed under the 'History' tab, but we didn't find a way to download them.

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74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Similarly to the web trading platform, BlackBull Markets offers MetaTrader 4 as a mobile trading platform. MetaTrader 4 is available for both iOS and Android, and we tested it on iOS. It can be also downloaded by QR code from the App Store and Google Play.

After you download the MT4 mobile trading platform, you have to access the BlackBullMarkets-Live server. 

Just like with the web trading platform, you can choose from many languages. Changing the language is a bit tricky on Android devices: you can do it only if you change the default language of your mobile.

Look and feel

The mobile trading platform is great, we really liked its design and user-friendliness. You will easily find each feature.

Login and security

Similarly to the web trading platform, the app provides only a one-step login. A two-step login would be more secure.

You can't use fingerprint or Face ID authentication. Providing this feature would be more convenient.

Search functions

The search functions are good. You can search by entering the name of the product or by navigating the category folders.

Placing orders

You can use the same order types and order time limits as on the web trading platfrom.

Alerts and notifications

Alerts and notifications are only available on the desktop trading platform. It would be much more convenient to have these features on the mobile trading platform as well.

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74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

BlackBull Markets offers MetaTrader 4 and 5 as desktop trading platforms. We reviewed MetaTrader 4 because of its high popularity. 

The platform has the same design, is available in the same languages, offers the same order types (plus Trailing Stop), and has the same search functions as the web trading platform. The portfolio and fee reports are clear as well, and you can download them if you right click on the History tab and select "Save as detailed report".

The major difference is that you can set alerts and notifications on the desktop trading platform in the form of mobile push and email notifications. To set them, you have to add your email address and mobile MetaQuotes ID, which you can find in the MT4 app's settings by going to the 'Tools' menu and then 'Options'.

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74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

BlackBull Markets is primarily a forex broker, but it also provides real stocks and some CFDs. To learn more about CFDs, read our CFD trading tips.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

BlackBull Markets' stock index CFD selection is better than it competitors. Forex and commodity CFD selection are similar to its competitors' offering. On the other hand, ETF, bond, and crypto CFDs are missing.

You can change leverage levels at BlackBull Markets, which is great. You can change the level of leverage on an existing account also, but can't have any open trades when doing so.

Changing the leverage is a very useful feature when you want to lower the risk of your trade. Be careful with forex and CFD trading, as preset leverage levels may be too high.

Stocks and ETFs

Social Trading

BlackBull Markets offers a social trading service, they has partnered with social trading providers. Clients can follow trades made by other Traders that are participating in BlackBull Markets' Social Trading System directly from their trading accounts.

2 social trading providers are available:

• ZuluTrade
• Myfxbook

ZuluTrade is a peer-to-peer, social trading platform where you can mimic the trading strategies of thousands of registered currency traders from 192 countries. Using ZuluTrade’s proprietary performance evaluation algorithm and feedback from ZuluTrade’s knowledgeable community, BlackBull Markets clients can customize trades according to their preferences and risk tolerance.

Myfxbook is a social trading site, which allows users to share, analyze, track and compare their trading activities. It also allows users to set up auto-trading to follow selected traders. Myfxbook is an affiliate of BlackBull Markets and MetaTrader 4 is fully integrated with the Myfxbook system. All that a BlackBull Markets client has to do is sign-up for a Myfxbook account and link it to their BlackBull Markets Account.

You can find BlackBull Markets' research tools on its website and the MetaTrader trading platform.

Trading ideas

BlackBull Markets provide some trading ideas through their analyses, which are accessible in the 'Market Review' section of the 'Client Support' tab.

Fundamental data

You can find some fundamental data in the Economic Calendar.  We found that the design and user experience of the Economic Calendar could be improved. For example, filtering for different event types would be a great feature.

Charting

BlackBull Markets has OK charting tools. You can use 31 technical indicators.

News feed

There is no news feed in MetaTrader 4.

Other research tools you may enjoy

There is a great research tool for testing your strategy versus automated trading. It is called Strategy Tester and you can find it by clicking on 'View' and selecting 'Strategy Tester'.

Compare research pros and cons

You can contact BlackBull Markets via:

• live chat
• phone
• email

BlackBull Markets has great live chat support. It is fast and we always received relevant responses. Phone support is also fast and helpful.

Email support speed varied but the answers were clear and contained all the necessary information.

We missed 24/7 availability, as support is only 24/5.

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74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

At BlackBull Markets you can learn in the following ways:

• Demo account
• Platform tutorial videos
• General educational videos
• Quality educational articles

BlackBull Markets offers many videos demonstrating how to use the trading platform, including detailed guides on how to configure templates in MT4, use technical tools and customize the platform. The most important concepts are explained in the Trading Glossary.

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74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Is BlackBull Markets regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) of New Zealand and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Seychelles. 

Is BlackBull Markets safe?

To be certain if a brokerage is safe, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• what the background of the broker is

How you are protected

Clients are onboarded under two legal entities that are regulated by different authorities. However, it's not transparent which countries are onboarded under which entity.

BlackBull Markets provides negative balance protection. If the balance on your account goes negative, it will be covered by the broker.

Background

BlackBull Markets is based in New Zealand and was founded in 2014. The longer the track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

Find your safe broker

We recommend BlackBull Markets for forex traders looking for low fees who prefer the metatrader platform.

Below you can find links to all aspects of BlackBull Markets in this comprehensive collection.

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our BlackBull Markets fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

Our ultimate guide to the BlackBull Markets minimum deposit is updated regularly.

How to start your BlackBull Markets account?

Look no further than our evaluation of the BlackBull Markets account opening.

How's their trading app?

Here's our expert view after checking the BlackBull Markets trading app.

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the BlackBull Markets customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is BlackBull Markets legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.

Free or premium? Or both?

A glance at actual costs and whether BlackBull Markets is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is BlackBull Markets good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on BlackBull Markets?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on BlackBull Markets guide

I want to trade options, are they available at BlackBull Markets?

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on BlackBull Markets?

What is the minimum account balance at BlackBull Markets?

Check out the current account balance requirements at BlackBull Markets in our What is the minimum account balance at BlackBull Markets article.

Looking for commission and fees data for BlackBull Markets?

We collected them in BlackBull Markets commission and fees.

How do you withdraw money from BlackBull Markets?

We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on BlackBull Markets.