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BearsMarkets Review

***IMPORTANT***

From the time this review was written until the date it was to be published, the BearsMarkets website was taken down. We’re going to go ahead and publish this content on the off-chance that the brokerage does return. As of now, we are not entirely sure if or when that will be, but we will certainly provide an update if you receive any new information.

BearsMarkets is a CFD broker with a particular emphasis on Cryptocurrency trading, so much so that trading of forex currencies is not available through them. BearsMarkets is the trading name operated by Danha Solutions KFT, this is a company incorporated under the laws of Hungary. Its registered office is found in Budapest Hungary (Regulation Number: 26527866241). Hungary is a member-state of the EU and trading is part of its regulatory framework which is modeled after the ESMA guidelines.

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Whilst we were going through their website, we failed to find any information about any kind of licensing by Hungarian Authorities, so it seems like BearsMarkets does not fall under any regulatory oversight. After some online searches, we also found that this broker was issued an official warning by the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) in Belgium. These official warnings are based on the findings of the FSMA, particularly as a result of consumer reports, so potential clients should take this into consideration before deciding to open up an account with this broker.

Moving on from these worrying facts, BearsMarkets offers a variety of accounts that can be traded upon via a web-based trading platform. Leverages are quite high and we also came across a number of withdrawal fees which could be unattractive for potential clients. If after all this information, you’re still curious to know more about this broker, keep reading to find out what else BearsMarkets has to offer.

Account Types

This broker offers its clients a choice of 5 accounts; Mini, Silver, Gold which BearsMarkets claim to be their best value account, Diamond and VIP account. All accounts have a different minimum deposit required, ranging from 2BTC for the MINI to more than 45Btc for the VIP. The Mini account, which is suited for beginner traders, or those still discovering the trading of crypto, has access to daily news, weekly market reviews, account manager, weekly live stream and trading webinars.

Apart from these perks, the other accounts also have daily reviews, one on one sessions with top analysts, personal chief broker, daily market signals and customized education. You can see what BearsMarkets’ accounts include on their main website page. All accounts have a margin loan; up to 25% for the Mini, up to 35% for the Silver, up to 50% for the Gold, up to 75% for the diamond and finally up to 100% margin loan for the VIP account as well as super-tight spreads for the latter. This broker also offers an Islamic account that is catered to clients who follow the Sharia Law.

Platforms

BearsMarkets make use of a simple web-based interface. This platform looks very straightforward and easy to use, with the most important information such as; Balance, Equity, M. Margin and Profit seen on the top right corner. Although it seems very user-friendly, many features such as automated trading, Expert advisors, advanced charting and customization options are not present. It would be ideal if this broker could also provide popular platforms such as MT4 or MT5 which are by far the most popular platforms for traders all over the globe.

Leverage

The leverages this broker offers depend on the type of account the client has. The highest leverage, which is very high when comparing it to leverages offered by other CFD Crypto brokers, is of 1:400. Although this leverage suits most trading styles, volatile assets such as Cryptocurrencies involve high risk for the trader. The Mini, The Silver, and the Gold all have a leverage ratio of 1:200 and the Diamond account has increased leverage of 1:300.

Trade Sizes

Unfortunately, we could not find any information regarding minimum and maximum trade sizes available for clients of BearsMarkets on their website, so we cannot comment on this at the moment.

Trading Costs

Potential clients can get an idea of what costs are applicable when trading with this broker on their Walking time and Fees page from their website. Here they state that their daily overnight financing rate, or swap rate, is (At the time of writing this review) 0.0128% for Bitcoin (4.5% per annum) and 0.0392% for other cryptocurrencies (14.3% per annum) when going long. If clients are going short, their account will be credited with annualized overnight fee charges of 0.009% per day (3.2% per annum) for bitcoin and 0.0128% (4.5% per annum) for positions on the rest of the cryptocurrencies opened after 23:00 (Paris Time). Overnight financing fees are regularly reviewed and updated on their website in the Trading Conditions segment.

Apart from these, BearsMarkets also charges administrative fees of 2.5% per annum. This is applied to all positions. We also found that this broker charges a dormancy fee for accounts that have been inactive for over six months. Dormant accounts will be subject to a deduction of 10% each month, so be cautious when opening up an account with this broker and make sure you do not fall victim of these high fees.

Assets

Unlike most brokers, BearsMarkets does not have any Forex currencies available for trading. This is because they have focused on Cryptocurrency CFD’s as their main asset available for trading. CFD’s offer clients the opportunity to invest in a diverse number of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and Ripple (all available with this broker) in an instantaneous and direct manner to benefit from their high volatility. Obviously one will encounter risks as well as benefits when dealing with such high volatility, but the broker does not mention that on their website. Apart from listing the above-mentioned cryptocurrencies, this broker does not offer any more information regarding the assets that they offer.

Spreads

BearsMarkets does not offer much information regarding the spreads that it offers for clients on their website, apart from a short sentence in their Trading Training page which states that in times of high volatility, their minimum spreads may increase significantly.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposits required to open up an account with BearsMarkets depends on which one of the 6 accounts available you choose. The cheapest minimum deposit available is for the Mini Account, up to 2Btc. The price increases as follows for the rest of the accounts; up to 10Btc for the Silver, up to 45% for both the Gold and Diamond Accounts and the VIP account can be opened with a deposit of more than 45Btc.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Clients who want to deposit money into their BearsMarkets account can do so via Visa, QIWI Wallet, Mastercard and WebMoney including others. This broker states that in order to certify that a SWIFT confirmation is authentic, it has to be sent to BearsMarkets to confirm the origin of the money. Clients that do not comply with this WD policy, may be prevented from depositing money through Bank or Wire transfer. Whilst we assume that the above-mentioned deposits are transferred instantaneously, clients should allow 5 business days for deposited funds via Bank/Wire transfer to appear in their account.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals can only be performed through the same bank account or credit/debit card that was used to initially deposit funds. If clients deposit or withdraw money using alternative payment methods, they can be faced with additional fees, which will be deducted from the withdrawal amount. In order to withdraw, clients must submit a withdrawal request which can be found in the Client Area.

Unfortunately, clients of this broker will encounter high withdrawal fees including; $50 for wire transfer, $25 for credit cards and a processing fee of $10 and $25 for ePayments. Apart from this, a charge of 10% of the withdrawal amount will be charged to any withdrawal from an account that has not executed more than 200 in turnover and/or from accounts that have not been verified.

The minimum withdrawal permitted for wire transfers is $250 and $100 on any other method. The above-mentioned charges exclude the transaction fee imposed by this broker, for instance, if a client withdraws $250 by bank wire transfer, a transaction fee of $50 will be charged.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

On their site, BearsMarkets state that withdrawal requests will be processed within 4-7 days of receipt, which is quite long. Funds are then sent to clients’ credit cards once the credit card merchant has debited the funds from their accounts. This process will again take up to 5 business days. BearsMarkets also make it clear that they are not committed to any time frame and that additional charges imposed by third parties shall be deducted from the withdrawal as applicable.

Overall, we feel quite uneasy about this broker’s withdrawal methods and conditions, as clients will face numerous fees which they might not even be aware of. We also came across a number of online reviews and complaints regarding withdrawing with this broker, so we urge you to do some research yourself so as not to have a bad experience with BearsMarkets.

Bonuses & Promotions

At the time of writing this review, no bonuses or promotions seem to be available with BearsMarkets.

Educational & Trading Tools

When it comes to educational content, this broker offers a number of steps and tips to follow on their Trading Training page on their website. The information given, which is practically two articles, may help beginner traders, especially those new to Cryptocurrency trading.

Apart from having a boring, text-only layout, the information provided leaves much to be desired. We suggest potential clients do their own research using alternative websites before opting to use this broker for their trading.

Customer Service

It seems like this broker isn’t the easiest one to get in touch with. They do not offer any live chat options, and we managed to locate their e-mail address hidden in the FAQ page of their website. Their Contact page, which for some reason is listed under their LEGAL menu on their front page, currently lacks any information and is completely empty. On their website, they do have a CALL BACK button which allows clients to fill in their name and phone number. We did fill in this information, but after 48 hours, we did not receive any call back from this broker, yet. The only other option left for clients to contact this broker is to call the broker themselves. Find BearsMarkets contact details down below;

Telephone: +44 20 36 70 17 63
Email: [email protected]

BearsMarkets’ customer service seems to be very limited and not very reliable. This is usually a sign of a broker that doesn’t like to get contacted often which in most times, only leads to bad experiences.

Demo Account

From what we could see on their website, this broker does not offer any Demo accounts for clients to experience what it would be like to trade using BearsMarkets’ trading platform and trading conditions.

Countries Accepted

Although we found no concrete list of what countries are accepted by this broker, they do mention in their footer that users of their website must be sure that the use of their services are not contrary to legal norms and acts of the country of residence. We also went through the list of available countries when opening up an account and we did notice that the US was not listed as an available country. If you have any issues with finding your country in this list, try and contact the broker for more information.

Conclusion

BearsMarkets have a user-friendly website and available trading platform available for their clients. They offer a number of accounts that clients can use with leverages set quite high. We failed to find some basic information on their website such as spreads and trade sizes which is obviously essential for clients to determine whether they want to use this broker or not.

Deposits and withdrawals are available through a number of methods but we feel the fees charged are way too high and disadvantageous for their clients. Their customer support leaves much to be desired as we were left with unanswered questions after 48hours, as well as the lack of a live chat option, is irritating in this day and age. Overall we highly suggest people interested in this broker to do some in-depth research beforehand, as some things seem pretty fishy to us.

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