Logging in to your Opteck trading account is a very simple task that can be done from practically anywhere; their proprietary trading platform operates on a cloud and hence can be directly accessed via a web browser; however, if users desire they can also download it via an app on their laptop or PC. Trader on the go? Not a problem as Opteck’s trading platform also supports mobile functionality for both Android and iOS as well as a downloadable app for tablets as well. The number of platforms that Opteck has made its trading platform available in is truly impressive and really sets it apart from its competitors, many of which do not even offer simple mobile functionality.

Overall, traders using Opteck’s platform should have little to no problems logging into Opteck’s trading platform anytime, anywhere, what with all the various options made available. Given this wide range provided, Opteck is highly suitable for traders who are constantly traveling or perhaps those with a significant commute via public transportation; imagine being able to trade and make money while sitting on the train on your way to work! You could even trade while being stuck in long, boring, and pointless corporate meetings as well, although we here do not take any responsibility for any consequences that may result from such an action.

Is Opteck a Scam?

In the complex world of financial instruments and derivatives, binary options are still considered fairly new and are still viewed in a suspicious light by many in the public as well as by certain regulatory agencies. This is due in no small part to the actions of the binary options brokers themselves, as many of such brokers have been exposed as engaged in various fraudulent or unethical practices; a cursory Internet search will bring up numerous horror stories from disgruntled traders with claims varying from unprocessed withdrawals, arbitrary conditions, and false information provided by supposedly knowledgeable account representatives.

Ever wonder why binary options brokers do not solicit customers from the USA or Israel? Well, the simple answer is that the negative reputation of the industry has led to regulations that any broker wishing to solicit customers from those countries would have to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodities Futures Trading Commission in the case of the USA, or the Israeli Securities Authority in the case of Israel. All those agencies have indicated in the past that they would be unlikely to grant any such licenses anyway; in the USA binary options are traded on regulated exchanges instead of through brokers while in Israel it was discovered that most of the unscrupulous binary options brokers were operating out of Israel itself!

This unfortunate characteristic of the binary options broking industry can and should be a major cause of concern for all those who are considering entering binary options trading. They may have researched binary options trading by itself and determined that it was a viable way of generating income, however, they may be put off when they begin to research potential brokers and read the many negative reviews and bad experiences out there. Not to mention that many of the review sites they may find are nothing but obviously biased affiliate marketing websites promoting their favored broker. While there is nothing wrong with affiliate marketing and in fact many such sites are filled with legitimate reviews and resources, after reading numerous highly biased websites, they may become disillusioned with the binary options broking industry as a whole.

That is why that in addition to review sites such as this one, the best and safest option for customers to avoid scam brokers is to select a broker that is regulated by a proper regulatory body as that would not only be a legal sign of legitimacy, but would open up a broker to legal liability in the case of fraudulent practices. The most popular regulatory body covering binary options brokers today is the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (“CySec”), which in 2013 became the first regulatory body to include binary options under the purview of its regulation of financial instruments. Further, due to the European Union financial harmonization directives (known as the MiFID or Markets in Financial Instruments Directive), CySec regulations are recognized throughout the European Union. The second European jurisdiction to enact such a move was the Malta Financial Services Authority; however, it has not gained much traction in comparison to CySec.

So is Opteck a regulated broker? Good news, because the answer is yes! Opteck is indeed a regulated broker, as it is owned by Centralspot Trading Ltd, which acquired the company in 2015 and is a licensed Cyprus Investment Firm under CySec. This is prominently stated on Opteck’s ‘About Us’ section of their website, and they also provide a direct link to the official CySec website proving its regulated status.

So is Opteck a scam? Based on the simple fact that not only is it CySec regulated but also being one of the more established brokers in the market (established in 2011), we can confidently say that the probability of Opteck being a scam broker is extremely low. Any such fraudulent activities are sure to be severely punished by CySec, which is trying to improve its own reputation as regulatory agency by being stricter on investment firms under its jurisdiction. For example, in 2016, Banc de Binary reached a EUR350,000 settlement with CySec for soliciting US customers and failing to disclose an affiliated business enterprise, CySec has also imposed financial penalties on brokers such as ZoomTrader, OptionBravo, and ChargeXP in addition to frequently issuing warnings informing the public that certain brokers have never been regulated under CySec (warnings were issued regarding brokers such as NRGBinary, LBinary, and PlanetOption)

Opteck Demo Account

Demo accounts, which are basically mock trading accounts that allow a trader to make real trades without putting actual money on the line, is one of the best ways for a beginning or aspiring trader to learn the real in-and-outs of binary options trading or simply to gain more trading experience. The bad news is that based on our numerous broker reviews, it seems that only a minority of brokers offer demo accounts to its customers. The good news? Opteck is one of those minority brokers.

Currently, Opteck’s demo account policy is to provide its traders with a demo account with  the amount of ‘funds’ in each demo account varying by individual account tier. To illustrate, the minimum deposit amount for a Silver account, its third lowest tier, is $1000, and Silver traders get a $10,000 demo account. The maximum amount of funds offered in a demo account is $50,000, offered to its Black account holders. However, we should note that Opteck does not offer any demo accounts to its Green account holders, its lowest tier, with a $250 minimum deposit. We view this as a slight negative in our overall assessment of Opteck as such beginner traders are the ones who are most likely to benefit from having a demo account in the first place. Nevertheless, on an overall basis, we view Opteck’s offering of demo accounts in a positive light.

What is the Minimum Deposit with Opteck?

Opteck has various minimum deposit amounts based on account tiers, from as low as $250 for a Green account up to $25,000 on a Black account. There are 6 total account tiers and each one has its own minimum deposit amount as well as its associated benefits. We summarize them below:

• Green – $250 minimum deposit, 25% welcome bonus, daily market reviews, live chat and phone support, free access to binary options trading ebook and 22 educational video tutorials.

• Bronze – $500 minimum deposit, $5,000 demo account, 35% welcome bonus, daily market reviews, live chat and phone support, free access to binary options trading ebook and 22 educational video tutorials, introduction session with a junior account manager. 

• Silver – $1,000 minimum deposit, $10,000 demo account, 45% welcome bonus, daily market reviews, live chat and phone support, free access to binary options trading ebook , 22 educational video tutorials and an introduction webinar on market liquidity, introduction session with a senior account manager.

• Gold – $5,000 minimum deposit and $50 minimum trade, $15,000 demo account, 65% welcome bonus, live chat and phone support, free access to binary options trading ebook , 22 educational video tutorials and 2 webinars, introduction and strategy session with a senior account manager, 1% extra payout, 20 to 30 daily trading signals, and alerts ahead of big market events.

• Platinum – $10,000 minimum deposit and $100 minimum trade, $25,000 demo account, 85% welcome bonus, live chat and phone support, free access to binary options trading ebook , 22 educational video tutorials and 3 webinars, introduction and strategy session with an executive account manager, 1% extra payout, 30 to 40 daily trading signals, alerts ahead of big market events, private sessions with a senior analyst and a priority access line.

• Black – $25,000 minimum deposit and $250 minimum trade, $50,000 demo account, 100% welcome bonus, live chat and phone support, free access to binary options trading ebook , 22 educational video tutorials and 4 webinars, introduction and strategy session with an executive account manager, 2% extra payout, 40 to 50 daily trading signals, alerts ahead of big market events, weekly sessions with senior analysts and a priority access line.

Opteck Mobile Trading

As we have mentioned at the beginning, Opteck’s proprietary trading platform comes equipped with mobile functionality for both iOS and Android operating systems, meaning that the vast majority of mobile users will be able to access and trade on Opteck’s trading platform. Perfect for the busy trader that is always on the move.

Opteck Bonus

One of the ways that binary options brokers use to attract customers is via bonuses. Bonuses are usually free credits provided to a trader’s account, however, we strongly caution against customers viewing bonuses as ‘free money’. As everybody knows, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and blind acceptance of such bonuses without proper consideration can often become a trap for traders. This is because bonuses typically come with a minimum trading volume requirement for withdrawal, and until that trading volume is met, a trader will not be able to withdraw any funds from an account that has been credited with a bonus without paying stiff penalties to the broker.

Minimum trading volumes for bonus-credited accounts are typically expressed as a multiplier of the total account balance of customer deposits plus any credited bonuses with the multiplier usually ranging from 20 – 60x. To give a hypothetical example, suppose a trader, Jack, signs up with XYZ Broker with a $5,000 deposit amount and is given a generous $2,000 bonus, with a multiplier of 50x total account balance in order to withdraw funds. Jack blindly accepts this bonus and begins trading however he soon finds that he is unsuccessful, and wishes to stop pursuing binary options trading.

Jack is in for an unpleasant surprise. Assuming he has lost $1,000 while trading, his total account balance is now $6,000 ($5,000 + $2,000 – $1,000); with a multiplier of 50x, Jack now finds that he is unable to withdraw his funds until he has a minimum trading volume of $300,000! Even though he has already begun trading, his trades are nowhere near sufficient to meet that volume. His funds are now locked in and he has no choice but to continue trading (and potentially lose even more money) or pay severe penalties to withdraw said funds (if it is even allowed).

From the example above, we can clearly see why traders should be extremely wary about blindly accepting offered bonuses. However, Opteck clearly distinguishes itself in this regard, as any minimum trading volume requirement only applies to the bonus portion itself and not the total account funds! Bonuses are also kept in a segregated account until the volume requirement is satisfied, meaning that traders can withdraw their initial deposits (but not the bonus) according to regular procedures even before the requirement is met. This is a huge plus in our opinion, as it indicates that Opteck values customer trust above all, as with this policy, the customer would not feel cheated at having all of his or her funds suddenly locked in just because of the blind acceptance of a bonus (some unscrupulous brokers may even credit a trader’s account with a bonus without even asking or informing).

References/Further Reading:

1.  Deposit Insurance and Financial Development (Robert Cull, Lemma W. Senbet and Marco Sorge)
2. Deposit Rate-Setting, Risk Aversion, and the Theory of Depository Financial Intermediaries (C. W. SEALEY Jr.)
3. Predicting bank financial failures using neural networks, support vector machines and multivariate statistical methods: A comparative analysis in the sample of savings deposit insurance fund (SDIF) transferred banks in Turkey  (Melek Acar Boyacioglu, Yakup Kara, Ömer Kaan Baykanc)
4.  Objectives for successfully participating in trade shows (Manfred Kirchgeorg, Christiane Springer, Evelyn Kästner)
5. Non-sequential consumer search and the consequences of a deregulation of trading hours  (Gerhard Clemenz)
6. The Geography Of Investment: Informed Trading And Asset Prices   (Joshua D. Coval  Harvard Business School – Finance Unit; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)  Tobias J. Moskowitz )
7. Trading patterns, bid-ask spreads, and estimated security returns: The case of common stocks at calendar turning points  (Donald B. Keim)
8. Unpacking collaboration: the interactional organisation of trading in a city dealing room (Christian HeathMarina JirotkaPaul LuffJon Hindmarsh)
9. The Rise of High Frequency Trading: The Role Algorithms, and the Lack of Regulations, Play in Today’s Stock Market (Nathan D.Brown)
10. Conflicting Codes and Codings How Algorithmic Trading Is Reshaping Financial Regulation (Marc Lenglet)
11. Fairness in Financial Markets: The Case of High Frequency Trading(Douglas McCabe)
12. Greenhouse gas accounting for inventory, emissions trading and life cycle assessment in the land-based sector: a review (Annette Cowie A D , Richard Eckard B and Sandra Eady)
13. Time‐intensity trades revisited (Lamar L. Young Jr.1 and Judith Levine)
14. PREDICTION OF TRADES APPRENTICES’PERFORMANCE ON JOB SAMPLE CRITERIA ( KEITH HATTRUP, NEAL SCHMITT)
15. Special Information and Insider Trading (Jeffrey F. Jaffe)
16. United States v. O’Hagan: Agency Law and Justice Powell’s Legacy for the Law of Insider Trading (A.C.Pritchard)
17. Does Recognition versus Disclosure Matter? Evidence from Value‐Relevance of Banks’ Recognized and Disclosed Derivative Financial Instruments Anwer (S. Ahmeda, Emre Kilicb, and Gerald J. Lobo)
18. New techniques to extract market expectations from financial instruments (Paul Söderlinda, Lars Svensson)
19. The Effect of Financial Statement Classification of Hybrid Financial Instruments on Financial Analysts’ Stock Price Judgments (Patrick E. Hopkins)
20. Tax Smoothing with Financial Instruments (Henning Bohn)