Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
Monaxa is a hybrid broker, a mainland regulated entity exposed also to the offshore market, a situation that undoubtedly benefits it as well as many users. As such, Monaxa offers more liberal trading and payment conditions, at the expense of some level of transparency.
Regulation and safety
Monaxa functions as a brand name of a couple of entities. These work under the same domain, and each contributes to the well-being of the broker.
The first one, and arguably the one that gives Monaxa the building and supporting pillars, is Monaxa AU PTY Ltd, a firm fully regulated and authorized by the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC). Officially, Monaxa is regulated by one of the world’s best regulators, one that has been advancing at a relative pace to most EU-based regulators, in turn increasing its clientele and boosting its popularity. But in this industry, when a regulator experiences a spike in cases, it also is faced with the responsibility of boosting its protective layers. And arguably ASIC has been on top of this for years now, offering a safe environment to trade in. It makes sure no bad cases impenetrate its systems by requiring a ton of prerequisites that make sure a candidate is up for the job. Most notably, these includes a AUD $1 million capital hold as proof of stability, segregated client funds to curb any internal money mismanagement, adherence to client protection protocols, as well as other rules to curb risks and fraud. Clients are protected especially well by policies such as the negative balance protection, KYC laws, and stop-out-levels.
However, it is worth noting that ASIC does not offer any client reimbursement schemes, unlike the FCA or CySEC.
Monaxa Ltd is the offshore branch, registered with the Financial Services Authority of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Note that we said registered and not “regulated”, which is the correct framing here. The Financial Services Authority of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is not an FX regulator, but a sort of registration base where companies can be incorporated, as well as the nation’s banking overseer. The truth is that Monaxa has no chances of being regulated in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, because there is no regulator in place. The country is known for being the most notorious jurisdiction for FX scammers, with only a percent of all its broker population being worth something. The good news is that Monaxa is part of that percent, but it may still bring about an ambiguous quality to the broker. The only reason we see for Monaxa being registered here is to allow its impressive 1:4000 leverage, and to avoid certain legal structures which will make it seem more profitable and approachable by a larger audience.
A major reason for brokers’ regulatory dichotomy – regulated as well as based in a non-FX jurisdiction – is to take advantage of a higher leverage, more specifically to offer higher leverage to its traders. The leverage cap on Monaxa is 1:4000, which would be impossible if the broker was only based in Australia, where a current on-going legislation curbs retail leverages to 1:30.
Trading Platform
The broker is equipped with a popular Metaquotes alternative, the cTrader, made available here on mobile Android and iOS devices, as a desktop trader, and on all browsers. cTrader is a great platform, and has acquired a very positive reputation, and is actually not new to the industry, meaning that it has been able to survive and thrive in a MetaTrader-dominated environment.
The software comes with better visuals than the MT4 or MT5, which is a big plus, considering that many traders nowadays judge by looks first and foremost. Another major feature of the cTrade is the ability to access the liquidity of the broker directly from the software allowing for better asset prices. On top of that we have cAlgo, a C# instruments algorithm writing component that allows the allocation of bots to trade in the user’s stead. Clients can expect industry standard features and options that are the bread and butter of any legitimate trading software.
Users can take advantage of the cTrade Copy, allowing users to copy strategies of more advanced clients, or if they can, offer their own strategies for profit. It’s a very useful feature for users who want automated trading and don’t have that much time, but still are interested to grow.
Trading conditions
There are three accounts to chose from here.
The Standard account offers a minimum spread starting from 1.8 pips. The Pro account cost of trade starts at 0.9 pips. The last account, the Zero one, offers a 0 pips spread but with its default $6 round turn commission, the spread ends up being 0.6 pips, at the least.
All three accounts have a leverage cap of 1:4000. This leverage is great for quick profit, but it is as equally dangerous, and all users are basically throwing a coin each time they apply it. You can either win big, or lose it all within a market’s fluctuation.
The available financial instruments are forex currency pairs, cryptocurrencies, stocks, indices, and commodities.
Overall, these are great trading conditions, very nonchalant, and when combined with the cTrader make for a great experience.
Minimum Deposit and Payments
One major downside to Monaxa is its limited means of investing. There are only cryptocurrencies, which may seem shady, and we admit that it is, considering the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines incorporation. However, Monaxa is also warranted by ASIC, putting all our suspicions to rest.
The available cryptocurrencies are mostly based on Tether: USDT ERC-20, USDT BEP-20, USDT TRC-20, and USD COIN.
The minimum deposit is $100 on the user area, however the account section of the site indicates that the minimum is $15 needed to open the Standard account. We don’t know if this is some sort of lapse on the broker’s part, or if it’s accurate, where the user is required to invest $100 but can start trading with just $15. Perhaps.
The same methods are used for withdrawing, where the minimum allowed to withdraw is $100.
On the website, we are told something interesting, but also a bit worrying. It tells us that the deposit and withdrawal methods may vary from nation to nation, changes that will be reflected on a client’s dashboard.
There are fees entirely dependent on the payment systems, not payable by the broker. But Monaxa itself does not initiate payment fees.
There are fees mentioned in the legal documents, including administrative, financing, and others. The problem is that there are no further details on these, and we don’t know what they are, when they apply, and how much they cost. Any unpaid fees will accumulate interest.
Here is one of the rare cases where Monaxa acts suspiciously, and we can only hope it will mend its inconclusive fee structures.
Conclusion
At the times that Monaxa acts like an offshore and dubious brokers readers should be reminded that the firm holds a license from one of the best regulators around, which does not come easy, especially in today’s market climate. This broker is fully authorized to offer services and, despite a few predicaments, we recommend it.
