OspreyFx Review | FX, Crypto & Stocks Trading | True ECN Broker

Introduction

The osprey is occasionally known as a sea hawk. The adept fish-eating bird of prey is known for its distinct hunting style and cosmopolitan range. Registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and named after the impressive sea hunter, OspreyFX is an unregulated, offshore Electronic Communication Network (ECN) broker established in 2019 that offers trading in several asset classes – Forex, crypto currencies, CFDs on commodities and stocks with full straight through processing (STP) execution.

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As an ECN broker, OspreyFX accumulates liquidity from more than 50 different global banks, hedge funds, and dark pool liquidity exchanges worldwide. Executable streaming prices (ESP) are dispatched from these types of liquidity providers directly to the broker’s platform, where clients are then free to trade in an environment without the presence of dealing desks, rate manipulation, or re-quotes. This allows them to offer competitive spreads and trade execution speeds with nominal slippage.

OspreyFX has a user-friendly interface, competitive trading conditions, flexible account types, and supports crypto currency. They offer online trading by way of the MetaTrader 4 platform on a range of trading instruments. The brokerage requires a $10 minimum deposit, and the leverage is flexible up to 1:500 depending on what’s involved. They also provide regularly updated articles and pieces in a News & Insights section to keep things fresh.

The OspreyFX ECN account appears to have been designed for day traders, scalpers, and expert advisors alike. Having said that, whatever your trading style, they seem more than willing to accommodate it. Traders of all experience levels and investment size can trade on institutional grade liquidity. Fortune favours the bold and unregulated, is clearly the business model here.

In this review, we will take a look at the important factors to consider for your online trading requirements and how OspreyFX stacks up.

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Trading Platforms and Tools

As mentioned, OspreyFX utilizes and offers the MetaTrader 4 platform for trading. Developed in 2005 by the Russian software company MetaQuotes, the popular platform is both fully customizable and quite user-friendly, enhancing its appeal to a variety of different trader types. The platform accommodates traders of varying skill levels through: supporting market and pending orders, instant execution, advanced technical analysis, multiple chart types and visuals, flexible trading system, algorithmic trading, Expert Advisors, and mobile trading applications.

Signals and Market are additional services that also extend MetaTrader 4’s range. The Signals service allows you to copy trades of other traders, while the Market provides you with various Expert Advisors and Technical Indicators that you can purchase.

MetaTrader 4 platform is available as a desktop application for Windows and Mac computers, and as WebTrader that runs directly on most web-browsers and is compatible with iOS and Android devices. The desktop version offers a bit more capability in terms of functionality.

No other trading tools are offered by OspreyFX other than those found within the MetaTrader 4 platform.

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Trading Accounts & Funding

A variety of account types are offered as well as several options of payment methods for account funding and withdrawal. The available account types are categorized as: Mini ($25), Standard ($50), VAR ($250) and PRO ($500) along with Demo accounts pre-loaded with virtual funds for simulation and practicing trading strategies. The notable difference between the accounts is the minimum deposit requirements, spreads and commission. All accounts have a leverage of up to 1:500 with minimum and maximum lot sizes of 0.01 and 1000 respectively. The account type you choose may depend on your investment size and trading strategy.

It is notable that Islamic accounts are not offered by OspreyFX, which is disappointing for prospective Muslim traders.

The process of opening an account is straightforward enough and features a short online application form. Some personal information will need to be provided (address, passport, and/or driver’s license). You will also need to be 18 years of age or older. Account confirmations generally take less than a day.

How to fund?

Primary way to fund OspreyFx account is via Bitcoin, we recommend buying Bitcoin on Binance

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OspreyFX support account funding via Bitcoin or Instacoins. Accounts can be opened in CAD. USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, BTC. Currency conversion fees do not apply when using accounts in your own currency. The transaction fees and processing time does tend to vary with the payment method used. 

Deposits and withdrawals happen by following a straightforward menu-driven process. Interesting to note that the total amount that you fund your OspreyFX account with (credit or debit card used) is the total amount that the broker is legally allowed to return to that card. The remaining balance should be withdrawn utilizing Bitcoin or bank transfer.

It should be additionally noted that not all of the same methods are available for deposit and withdrawal in all countries – some countries only use certain methods. Transaction times also tend to vary with the variables. Fees, transaction limits and restrictions can also apply when using various payment methods. As such, these may seem like minor details, however they are in fact a few intelligent things to be aware of when dealing with money and online trading.

Research & Knowledge

It is always a good idea to be educated and stay informed. There is a section of the website dedicated to educating the reader entitled News and Insights. It includes the latest Crypto and Forex news as well as any interesting or trending financial stories and frequently updated relevant articles.

Regulation

Regulation plays an important role to ensure that brokers abide by the set rules and standards, as well as ensuring that they adhere to the law and keep practices legal. OspreyFX is not regulated by any government or non-government agency; that is to say there is no designated oversight on its activities or any reliable mechanisms in place to resolve complaints or disputes.

A regulated broker simply means one whose financial activities are monitored and controlled by a local regulatory body. Also known as the ‘watchdogs’ for the financial market, a regulatory body’s primary goal is to prevent fraudulent activities and excessive risk in the market, and set standards for accountability, while also increasing awareness to consumers.

When a brokerage company is licensed and regulated, it implies that all its trading activities and operations are carried out in accordance with the policies, guidelines, and industrial standards stipulated by the appropriate local regulatory body. Regulated brokers are also subjected to regular audits from the supervisory authorities. When a regulated broker fails to follow the guidelines and standards set by its regulator, then legal action can be taken by the agency, which can lead to invalidation of its license. This does not apply to OspreyFX as an unregulated broker.

Osprey Fx states that client funds are held in an independent bank account to ensure that the broker’s own funds and assets are kept separate from client funds. By keeping the client funds off-balance, they would not be used to pay creditors in the event that OspreyFX were to stop operating. This is a standard legally required practice of the registered broker community.

OspreyFX also affirms that they regularly identify, examine, monitor and regulate each type of risk associated with its day-to-day operations. This includes evaluating on an ongoing basis the performance of the policies and procedures which they put into operation; a self-regulation, if you will. This enables the brokerage to cover all of their financial and capital requirements.

There doesn’t, however, seem to be any regulatory information whatsoever on the OspreyFX website. They do answer a question about it in there FAQ section by stating: Regulation takes a very long time to setup and we are in the process of applying for a license to be regulated.

Customer Service

OspreyFX offers a fairly bare-bones customer service approach.  Any inquiries, questions or concerns for the support team are taken care of through an online form, which you complete and they subsequently make an effort to get back to you within 24 hours. They also have an automated chat bot that attempts to get you back on track with pre-prepared responses to frequently asked questions.

It’s always going to be better having in-person customer service with a phone number to call and a human on-line chat/support option. For this reason in particular, the customer service element of OspreyFX seems somewhat lacking considering that many contemporary online brokers offer multiple layers and levels of support. More comprehensive support is often offered by regulated brokers.

Risk Disclosure

This section of the site explains the responsibility of risk and contains a risk warning which reads like a detailed legal waiver with contractual style language explaining the agreement between Osprey Limited and the Client. Osprex FX advises prospective clients to study the published risk warnings very carefully. They also acknowledge in this section that they do not explore or explain all the risks involved when dealing in Financial Instruments.

Some standard disclaimer material also suggests that unless a client knows and fully understands the risks involved in each Financial Instrument, they should not engage in any trading activity. This along with a statement that clients should not risk more than they are prepared to lose and that Osprey LTD will not provide clients with any investment advice in relation to investments, nor any investment recommendations, possible transactions in investments, or Financial Instruments.

This section is quite comprehensive and also covers areas like Communication, Abnormal Market Conditions, Effect of Leverage, Collateral and range of other considerations. This is where you come to see where the risk lies, and a lot of it lies with you.

Conclusion

OspreyFX is an unregulated, offshore ECN broker that offers basic online trading in several asset classes and utilizes the MetaTrader 4 platform.  They have a selection of crypto currencies for trading and provide some limited educational material, and even more limited customer service. There are also a few other limitations such as no social trading platform integration and no additional trading tools, among others.

With many positive features, and a few notable negatives, the biggest factor for many in deciding on whether to trade with this platform will ultimately be the lack of regulation. Some traders will relish the open-style playing field, but for many, the total lack of regulation coupled with a minimal customer service framework adds up to a bit too much risk for the potential reward.

As brokers terms may change and evolve over time, please verify that all information is current directly from the OspreyFX site itself and have a look around.

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