FxBrew is a foreign exchange and CFD trader based in Ireland. They sell themselves as having advanced technology, institutional-grade trading, user-friendly solutions, great customer support, and more. The purpose of this review is to look at the services being offered so you can see if they are the right broker for you to trade with.
Account Types
When signing up with FxBrew there is a choice of three different account types, each one has its own requirements to open as well as its own trading conditions, so let’s briefly look at what they are.
Micro Account: The amount required to open this entry-level account is just $5. The account can use both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 as a trading platform, it uses market execution and has forex pairs, commodities indices, and cryptos available to trade. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots and the maximum is 100 lots, leverage on the account can be up to 1:500. The account can have a base currency of USD, EUR, GBP, or BTC. There is an added commission on the account which is $2 per round lot traded and the spreads start as low as 0.02 pips. Scalping and hedging are both allowed as is the use of expert advisors. The margin call is set at 70% and stop out at 50%, there is also a bonus of up to 100% available with this account.
ECN Account: The ECN account requires a minimum deposit of $100 to open, it has spread starting from 0 pips and there is a commission of $2 per lot traded on the account. It has access to MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 as trading platforms and the account can be in USD, EUR, GBP, or BTC. OIt uses market execution and has access to forex pairs, commodities, indices, and cryptos to trade. Leverage can be up to 1:500 and lot sizes start from 0.01 lots and go up to 100 lots. Scalping, hedging, and expert advisors are all allowed and the margin call level is set at 70% and stop out at 50%, there is also a 100% bonus available with this account.
VIP Account: The VIP account is the top-level account on offer from FxBrew, it requires a minimum deposit of $5,000. It comes with spreads starting at 0 pips and has a commission of $2 per lot traded. It uses market execution and has access to forex pairs, commodities, indices, and crypto, its minimum trade size is 0.01 lots and the maximum is 200 lots. Leverage is up to 1:500 and the base currency can be in USD, EUR, GBP, or BTC. Scalping, hedging, and expert advisors are ok to use and the margin call and stop out levels are 70% and 50% respectively. The account comes with a 100% deposit bonus as well as a free VPS service.
Platforms
FxBrew is offering two different trading platforms, both from the MetaQuotes family. These include MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). Obviously, these are two of the best, if not the best, Forex trading platforms in the world. As such, there are no problems to report in this area.
Leverage
Leverage on all accounts has a maximum setting of 1:500, leverage can be selected when opening up an account and should you wish to change it on an already open account you will need to contact the customer service team with your request.
Trade Sizes
Trade sizes on all accounts start from 0.01 lots (micro lot), they then go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. The maximum trade size for the Micro account and ECN account is 100 lots, the VIP account has a maximum trade size of 200 lots. We would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage. The number of open trades at any one time is currently unknown to us.
Trading Costs
All three accounts use a commission-based system, the current commission is $2 per round lot traded for all three account types. Swap charges are also a factor, these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight, they can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice.
Assets
There seems to be a large number of tradable assets and instruments, FxBrew has broken them down into four different categories, let’s take a look at some of what is included in them.
Forex Pairs: A wide range of products available at least 60 different pairs including the likes of AUDUSD, EURJPY, GBPUSd, USDCZK, EURHUF, USDMXN, GBPNZD, EURSEK, GBPTRY, NZDUSD, CADCHF and, NOKSEK.
Commodities: Five different commodities are available including Gold, Silver, Natural Gas, WTI Crude Oil, and Brent Crude Oil.
Indices: A few different indices are also available including GBP 100, Dow Jones, SPX, Nasdaq, German 30, France 40, JPY 225, AUD 200 and, HKD 33.
Crypto: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and Bitcoin Cash are the cryptos available to trade with FxBrew.
Spreads
Spreads on the Micro account start as low as 0.02 pips, the spreads on the ECN and VIP account start from as low as 0 pips. The spreads are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 0.1 pips, other assets like GBPJPY may start slightly higher.
Minimum Deposit
The minimum amount required to open a micro account is just $5, in order to open an ECN account you will need $100 and for the VIP account $5,000. Once an account is open, additional deposits to the same account do not have a minimum value.
Deposit Methods & Costs
Just two methods on offer for depositing, these are Bank Wire Transfer and Bitcoin. There are no additional fees added by FxBrew but be sure to check with your own bank or bitcoin wallet to see if they add any fees of their own.
Withdrawal Methods & Costs
Both Bank Wire Transfer and Bitcoin are also available to withdraw with, just like with deposits there are no additional fees added by FxBrew but be sure to check with your own bank or bitcoin wallet to see if they add any fees of their own.
Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time
Withdrawal requests are normally processed within 24 to 48 hours, once a request has been processed Bitcoin withdrawals will take as long as confirmations on the network take, bank withdrawals will take between 1 to 5 business days depending on your bank’s processing time.
Bonuses & Promotions
There is a 100% deposit bonus available from FxBrew. Simply deposit and they will double your account balance with the bonus funds. It states that you can withdraw the funds once a volume requirement is met but it does not actually say what the requirement is on the site. Only one bonus per person or IP address and should you withdraw prior to meeting the volume requirement then some of the bonus may be removed.
Educational & Trading Tools
There is a basic economic calendar available which tells you of any upcoming news events and the markets they may affect. Apart from that, there doesn’t appear to be anything in regards to education or trading tools. This is a shame as a lot of brokers these days are looking to help their clients improve and become more profitable with educational courses or tools to help them trade or analyze. It would be nice to see FxBrew do something similar for their clients.
Customer Service
Should you need to get in contact with FxBrew there are some limited ways of doing it. You can use the online submission to fill in your query and then you should get a reply via email. Other than that, there is just a simple email address to use. It would have been nice if there were more ways available, especially a phone number as sometimes it is good to speak to someone directly.
Demo Account
Demo trading and accounts are available but there is no information about them on the site, just a simple button to sign up. Demo accounts are there to give you a fee for the markets and to test out the trading conditions of the broker. It would have been nice for there to be information regarding which account type they are mimicking and also if there is a time limit on them.
Countries Accepted
The information about which countries are accepted and which are not is not present on the website, so if you are interested in joining, be sure to get in contact with the customer service team to check if you are eligible for an account or not.
Conclusion
FxBrew offer some very competitive market conditions, they provide you with plenty of information around their trading conditions and deposit/withdrawal methods which is great, they also show that there are no additional fees for depositing or withdrawing which is another big plus, the only downside seems to be the lack of ways to contact the customer service team is restricted to email is a little disappointing. If you are able to get over the support issue then FxBrew could be a good broker to trade at.