Last updated: May 7th, 2020
We have performed a thorough review of IQ Option, without the broker knowing.
Is IQ Option a scam OR one of the best trading platforms in the world ?
Read further!
IQ Option brand has been founded in 2013. IQ Options Europe LTd. is a Cyprus based financial company that has started its career as a super successful binary options trading platform. During the last few years IQ Option brand has quickly transformed into a user friendly all-in-one trading platform for novice traders.
Here is our true experience with this famous trading platform.
Pros
- Forex + FX Options + Binary Options+ Crypto
- Min. deposit only $10
- Large community of traders who interact
- Very user friendly trading platform
- Easy to use
- Good customer support
- Demo account free
- Many local payment options for your country
- Islamic account available
Cons
- No VPS
- No MT4/MT5
- Slightly more expensive
- Not accepting USA traders
- No Bonuses
Broker’s Rating:
**Your capital might be at risk.
Details
IQ Option trading instruments
The investor initially has a choice of 79 trading instruments at iqoption in the following categories: commodities
- foreign exchange (forex)
- binary options (not for EU citizens)
- forex options
- crypto currencies
- indices
- equities (stocks)
While gold is the only one commodity and only six different stock indices are offered by iqoption, the selection for the other two categories is significantly larger.
Even if one or the other may find this selection too small, our experience with iqoption platform has shown that the values for the trade seem to have been carefully chosen. With the exception of indices, 24 hours a day trading is possible in all categories, with at least one asset from a specific sector being always available in the equities category. Thus, strategies that focus on a specific economic segment are very well possible.
1. Forex Trading
A quick glance at the foreign exchange offer:
IQ Option offers all combinations of the majors. Some other currencies such as the New Zealand dollar, the Russian ruble or the Swiss franc can be traded here.
There are a total of 22 currency pairs are available.
- EURUSD spread 14 pips
- GBPUSD spread 5 pips
- EURGBP spread 15 pips
2. Binary Options
As the name of broker implies, Iq Option started as top notch binary options brand but has quickly turned into global trading brand (not only binary options but all kinds of trading instruments!
You can choose between two types of trading, as is the case with binary trading:
Put options and call options
Traders can use put options to speculate on falling prices, and use call options to bet on rising prices. Turbo options with particularly short expiration time frames with durations of 30 and 60 seconds are also available for trading, but due to the associated high risk, they are more suitable for more experienced traders.
Time Frames
The following time frames are available at Iq Option for binary options platform:
- 30 seconds
- 60 second
- 2 minutes
- 3 minutes
- 4 minutes
- 5 minutes1
- 5 minutes
- 30 minutes
- 60 minutes
- 24 hours
- 7 days
- 30 days
Particularly noteworthy is the fact that investors can also trade during the weekend when the regular trading venues are closed. For this, IQ Option platform offers OTC trading. This abbreviation stands for “over the counter” and means that trading takes place directly between the parties, ie between the broker and the investor, outside the regular stock exchange. Interesting are the regularly organized competitions in which traders can compete against other traders.
As of 2nd July 2018 ESMA European Union has banned the trading of Binary Options for retail traders who reside in European Union.
3. FX Options offered by IQ Option
A brand new offering that was recently added into portfolio of trading instruments.
FX Options are basically a combination of real option trading and forex trading.
Why is it better than binary options ?
- there is not anymore “0 or 1” OR “earn something or loose all” principle – meaning even in case you dont guess the trade right, you will not lose the whole amount you put at stake !
- earning potential in case your assumption was right is unlimited
- if you think the currency pair will go up in specified time frame then you do CALL OPTION and vice versa use PUT OPTION for declining market price
- you will not lose more than you put at stake
4. Crypto currencies
Currently there are totally 12 different cryptocurrencies that you can trade on IQ OPTION platform:
- Bitcoin / Bitcoin CASH
- Ripple
- IOTA
- Dash
- ETHEREUM
- ETHEREUM Classic
- Monero
- OmiseGo
- Zcash
- Santiment
We think they will add more and more cryptos over time, as new ones become popular. So far we think this choice is wide enough.
5. Commodities
As the only commodity currently available, the precious metal gold can also be traded as a binary option.
6. Equities and Stock Indices
At the moment IqOption made 49 Stocks available for trading.
Nowadays traders have up to 79 different asset classes available from commodities, forex, indices and stocks. The only commodity currently available is only GOLD and the stock indices are only six, the choice of stocks is much wider than the other two categories.
Stock indices are focused on London stock exchange index (FTSE 100), Frankfurt (DAX 30), Paris (CAC40) and New York (S&P500 / NASDAQ / Dow Jones).
Besides many European and American stock titles, some Asian shares such as Toyota and Bank of China are available for trading. Overall we can say that the emphasis is put on stocks from banking and financial services, energy, the internet and telecom industry with which you can speculate.

Welcome Bonuses & Promos
In line with the latst Cysec regulation and ESMA restrictions, there are unfortunately no deposit bonuses offered by IQ Option.
Regulation
IQ Options Europe Ltd. is registered in Cyprus, and is regulated by CySEC. IQ Option Ltd. is registered at Seychelles, this entity is not regulated.
Trading Costs And Fees
IQ Options are transparent with their fees and costs. In order to see what trading at IQ will cost, you need to consider:
- Spread – is the difference between buying (bid)and selling (offer) price. Spreads on this platform are variable spreads. That means the market price depends on current market volatility and liquidity at any given moment of the day.
- Swap Fees – These are fees being charged by the broker for positions held overnight. Charges vary and depend on the asset class and type of trade (long vs. short).
- Inactivity Account Fees – If an account is held inactive for 3 months, IQ will charge you with €10 per each month, assuming your account balance is positive.
- Withdrawal Fees – There are no withdrawal fees on the majority of payment service providers, but bank transfers usually charge a fee of $31.
- Commission – On certain cryptocurrency trades, commission of 2.9% will be charged.
How to fund your account
In addition to the two credit card variants VISA and MasterCard, IQ Option investors have the option of using a number of internet payment services for deposits and withdrawals. The list of available providers includes Skrill, Neteller, Webmoney, and of course WireTransfer. These services handle payments very reliably. However, no detailed information is available on the fees charged when using IQ Option service for payment services. It is therefore advisable to contact customer service on this matter in order to clarify this.
Because even the general terms and conditions help in this case only conditionally, as these currently, like many other contents, are only available in English. Here, from the customer’s point of view, there is still room for improvement.
Minimum deposit
The minimum initial deposit that is required by IQ Option is relatively modest at just $10. We think that this minimum deposit is low enough, that it allows even for traders Asia and South America to make a deposit and join the exciting world of online trading.
IQ Option demo
There is, of course, a demo account where you can practice your trading strategies without any risk using $10.000 virtual money. You can trade all types of assets completely stress free.
Customer support
IQ Option customer support can be reached by phone, email, and live chat.
In addition, there is also a snail mail contact (a little old-fashioned but you never know when you will need it). Upon calling for customer service, a responsible client support person will either immediately pick up the line and and try to resolve your issue right away OR the system will create a so called “Problem Ticket Nbr.” where you report a problem, and employees will call you back later. This is a nice service to have, because it could perhaps save you a lot of money on your phone bills.
Conclusion
“During this review we noticed that IQ Option platform and OVERALL services THEY OFFER are a step ahead compared to the direct competition! “
First of all, during this review, we noticed, that IQ Option brand puts really strong emphasis on trader’s education + on the quality and constant improvement of their trading software and last but not the least on the security of client’s funds.
Secondly, according to what we noticed, the client verification process is in line with the strictest regulation rules. In other words, IQ Option is one of few brokers out of all forex brokers that we reviewed, where you as a trader have the feeling that they want you to trade profitably and stay with them for long term, instead of just taking your money and run away (which is usually the case with many other brokers in this industry). That’s indeed a good signal for a new trader!
Last but not the least .. we think they have really knowledgeable customer support.
Broker contact details:
![]() | IQOPTION EUROPE LTD |
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Yiannis Nicolaides Business Center, Agiou Athanasiou Avenue 33, 4102, Agios Athanasios, Limassol, Cyprus | |
Phone | +357 25 262 010 |
support@iqoption.com | |
LiveChat | Yes for clients |
VIDEO tutorials
RISK DISCLAIMER: Trading CFDs carries a high level of risk since leverage can work both to your advantage and disadvantage. 87% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. As a result, CFDs may not be suitable for all investors because it is possible to lose all of your invested capital. |