There are many ways to profit from global financial markets – currencies, stocks, commodities, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and indices. But as average retail traders, we can’t have access to most of them. For instance, purchasing Gold – in reasonable quantities – is quite expensive. As a retail trader, it is almost impossible to purchase crude oil; even if you do, there is a storage problem. Shorting of stocks is mainly a game for large fund managers.
Does that mean we can’t participate and profit from the markets? No! Technology advances are making it possible for us to speculate on the price movements of these financial assets without actually owning them. These innovations are called “derivatives,” and popular among them is binary options. Binary option trading simply involves betting on the direction of financial assets’ prices, in exchange for a fixed reward when your bet turns out correct.
In essence, you stake on the direction of financial instruments such as currencies, commodities, and stocks, amongst others; for this, you get a typical payout rate of between 70% and 85% of the amount which you bet (or even more) when your “bet” goes right; in like manner, you lose a fixed amount as well if it goes the other way.
To, however, be able to trade binary options South Africa, you need a broker. Although several brokers offer binary options trading services all over the internet, the importance of going for one which is credible and trusted cannot be overstated. This is due to the countless IQ Option scam that traders encounter when they go for the wrong brokers. As such, it is very much advised to conduct a proper appraisal of binary options brokers of your choice. One such binary options broker is Close Option South Africa. Covered in this piece is a review of CloseOption South Africa and its key features to help you make informed decisions.
Close Option Binary Review South Africa
CloseOption as a binary options brokerage platform was established in 2017 by Organic Tech LLC (which can be traced to as far back as 2013). The company’s head office is located in Georgia, and it currently has a membership headcount of over 400,000 traders who trade on its platform, out of which 180,000 own and trade live accounts.
Close Option is known for not accepting traders from some “key” countries, including those where binary options trading is very much legally allowed. Fortunately, it accepts South African traders.
Amongst other things, Close Option South Africa offers commendable binary options brokerage services to traders aimed towards giving a better trading experience. Some of these services or features are unique or can’t be readily found with most brokers.
For one, Close Option South Africa provides really lengthy expiry period options to traders. This simple feature has the probability to boost the profitability of traders as it enables them to make better analysis over the long term. Close Option South Africa provides you with an expiry period as long as 30 days.
Furthermore, CloseOption South Africa provides traders with educational resources that will help traders grasp their trading skills.
However, there are several features or services provided by Close Option South Africa that do not seem satisfactory, especially considering that they don’t measure up to what you get with many other brokers. One of such is its ultra-low payout rate. The typical payout rate for most pairs or instruments ranges from as low as 17% to 85%. The 17% minimum payout rate is ridiculous. With other binary options brokers, you can get as high as 75% minimum payout for successful trades. Similarly, the 85% maximum payout figure, while not entirely bad, is not the best in the industry.
Close Option Login South Africa
You can have access to the services of CloseOption South Africa via its website only, as it has not released any binary trading apps in the present. The Close Option trading platform (accessible via the web) is known as Trade Room. And here, you can access all services of Close Option South Africa, from trading the markets to educational resources.
For one, it must be noted that the platform is only available in the English Language; and this is one of the noticeable inadequacies of the platform. Technological advancement has made it possible for persons worldwide, irrespective of their tribe or language, to access trading services, as most binary options brokers are multilingual. Sadly, Close Option South Africa does not follow this important trend.
There are 2 methods through which you can use for binary options registration:
1) Social Media Account: You can register on the platform through your social accounts. However, the allowable ones are Google Plus and Twitter. You click on the social media account through which you wish to register, give the necessary “permissions,” and create your account.
2) Registration Form: If you choose not to go with the social media option, you can fill out a form further down on the same page sign up page. Upon filling the form, you click “Register.”
Upon registration, you are expected to confirm your email address by clicking a link sent to that address. Once all these processes have been observed, then your accounts are set up and you can proceed with binary login. This is because the same registration process applies to all the 3 types of accounts provided by CloseOption South Africa.
You are, however, required to go through some further verification process to confirm your identity if you want to use to access some services such as deposit and withdrawals.
CloseOption Demo Account South Africa
It is an unspoken rule for good brokers to provide a binary options demo account for their traders, and true to this rule, Close Option South Africa provides you with a demo account, although the amount you are given to trade in the account is not stated. A demo account is simply an account provided by the broker to you for free; Like the IQ Option Demo, the demo account typically contains virtual money, which you can use to make trades. However, the money in the demo account is not real, and can never be cashed out.
We simply can’t overstate the importance of first trading with a demo account before you commit actual funds to a live account. For one, demo accounts help you practise your trading skills and are useful to test trading strategies to ascertain their profitability. You also need to demo-trade if you want to choose a broker, but first, need to test its platforms.
One good thing about Close Option’s demo account is that it comes with almost exactly the same services as you will get with a live or real account. For one, you have access to the Trade Room, Close Option South Africa’s trading platform. This is the same platform on which you get to trade if you choose to deposit funds and trade with a live account.
Furthermore, Close Option South Africa runs a Demo Account Contest, which is held from time to time. Here, traders compete against each other using their demo accounts; 10 winning traders are selected for each week, and $2,400 live money is shared between them, with the top winner going with $750.
There is an active contest leaderboard that shows former participants who have earned the most from the weekly contests. The good thing is that former winners are as qualified for every contest as non-winners.
Similarly, Close Option, from time to time, runs monthly binary bonus events on social media platforms where winners are credited with live funds.
CloseOption Minimum Deposit South Africa
Close Option South Africa offers different types of live accounts, which operate much like “levels,” and, unlike the Binary.com minimum deposit, you are expected to put up is dependent on the account type you go for.
There is the Copper Level account that comes with between $0 and $1,000 deposits; you get the Bronze Level account when you deposit between $1,000 and $2,000; next, is the Silver Level account issued for a deposit ranging between $2,000 and $10,000; the Gold Level account is issued when you deposit between $10,000 and $50,000, and finally, the Diamond Level account, which comes with a deposit of $50,000 up till $1,000,000. Each account type comes with different payout rates, amongst other perks.
Close Option offers a range of options through which you can make deposits into your trading account. The common channels include:
- Bank cards: This can be a debit or credit card. However, it is preferable and highly recommended that you use a card powered by Visa or MasterCard.
- Bank Transfer: Close Option makes it possible to make transfers from your local bank account in almost any country. However, the problem with this is that it might take longer periods for the deposit to reflect in your trading account.
- E-wallets such as Neteller, Skrill, WebMoney, PayPal, and much more.
- Cryptocurrency: A feature that is not yet common in the binary options world; you can deposit to your trading account using Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Deposits don’t attract any charges, but withdrawals may attract some fees.
Furthermore, you must note that the same channels through which you choose to make deposits are the same channel through which you receive your withdrawals. Furthermore, if you are making deposits or withdrawals through bank transfer, it is quite important that the bank account must belong to you. Otherwise, you may not get paid.
In addition, you must ensure that your account gets verified before you request withdrawals.
You can also make crypto withdrawals through other coins like Monero, Litecoin, Dash, and Ripple.
Is Close Option Regulated South Africa?
One of the features that we highly recommend traders to look out for in a binary options broker of their choice is if it is regulated. Being regulated in this sense means being registered with and recognised by notable and relevant international financial regulatory authorities, and is thus subject to their rules and regulations. Such notable financial authorities include the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the International Financial Commission (FinaCom), and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius, amongst several others. In South Africa, the responsible institution is the Financial Services Board (FSB).
This is because choosing to trade with a binary options broker that is regulated comes with many benefits. For one, these regulatory bodies issue strict rules to firms registered under it to ensure clients’ money security.
One of such strict rules that they must participate in a compensatory scheme. Here, the binary options broker is expected to dedicate a portion of their earnings to a scheme aimed towards compensating clients of the broker if the brokerage firm goes bankrupt or in case of fraudulent acts by the broker.
Unfortunately, Close Option South Africa does not appear to be regulated by any financial authority, at least in the present. This is understandable, bearing the fact that it is still a relatively new broker. CloseOption claims to be registered with and regulated with the National Bank of Georgia, which happens to be the country’s central bank (CloseOption has its head offices in Georgia). However, it is common knowledge that ideally, central banks are not in the business of regulating any brokers, not to talk of binary options brokers.
CloseOption Scam South Africa
Based on checks made on Close Option, we just can’t label it a scam or anything of sorts. However, there are noticeable red flags that every intending or prospective trader must take note of.
When you trade with a broker that is not regulated, your trading capital simply is not safe. This is because of the checks that most regulators put in place, which they expect brokers to comply with. One such check is the compensatory scheme mentioned above. In this case, the binary options broker is expected to contribute some percentage of their income to a central pool of funds. In the incidence of bankruptcy or insolvency of the concerned broker, its clients get compensated to some levels, with the broker’s funds into the compensatory scheme.
This is closely related to the Deposit Insurance schemes that most banking regulators operate on behalf of commercial banks.
One other thing that you might open yourself to when you trade with an unregulated binary options broker is the chances that service delivery will not be up to standard. Regulators do hold most brokers to certain standards, but in the absence of a regulator, there would be no one to stipulate or enforce them.
Is Close Option Legit?
For one, the fact that CloseOption is not regulated by any respected financial services regulatory authority whatsoever is somewhat of a big issue. This is because just as there are real massive benefits derived from trading with a regulated broker, there are some real potential risks associated with trading with a broker that is not.
Trading with an unregulated broker opens you up to potential fraud and manipulations. Most regulators carry out regular oversight on the firms they regulate, and whenever violations are noted, they get punished. This greatly reduces the propensity of such a broker to engage in fraud.
