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Plus500.com Review 2019 – Pros & Cons Of Crypto Trading On Plus500

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Plus500 is a CFD trading company founded in 2008 by Gal Haber, Shimon Sofer, Alon Gonen, Omer Elazari, Elad Ben-Izhak and Shlomi Weizmann. The founders are from Israel, where the headquarters of Plus500 Ltd are located. The company has subsidiaries in some other countries such as the UK, Australia, Singapore and Cyprus.

Official Authorizations / Licenses

In Cyprus the broker is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commision (CySEC), with license 250/14. Furthermore Plus500UK Ltd is licensed by the FCA (#509909); Plus500AU Pty Ltd (ACN 153301681) is licensed by: ASIC in Australia (AFSL # 417727) as well as by FMA in New Zealand (FSP # 486026) and it is Authorised Financial Services Provider in South Africa (FSP # 47546); Plus500SG Pte Ltd is licensed by the MAS (#CMS100648-1) and IE Singapore (#PLUS/CBL/2018).

Plus500 is a CFD broker. This means that you do not own or have any rights to the underlying assets. Read more about the CFD products.

The service is available in more than 50 countries, most of them in the European Union and Latin America. Notably, American, Canadian and Chinese residents are not allowed to trade in the platform. It is focused on the European market, with a considerable percentage of their customers being from the United Kingdom.

Residents of Canada along with other 100+ countries are not allowed to trade on Plus500. So if you live in a country which cannot be served by plus500 you’ll find out right away in the account verification section.

Estimations based on data provided by the company itself state that their daily trading volume is around $1 Billion.

Cryptocurrency Trading on Plus500

As Plus500 is one of the best known CFD brokers in the world, they didn’t hesitate to top up their portfolio with cryptocurrency CFD trading.

You can trade Bitcoin price movements as well as CFDs of 11 other major cryptocurrencies. Here is a complete list of cryptocurrencies tradable on Plus500:

• Bitcoin
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• NEO
• Ripple (XRP)
• IOTA
• Monero (XMR)
• Stellar (XLM)
• EOS
• Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCH)
• Cardano (ADA)
• Tron (TRX)

On top of that they have 2 additional special cryptocurrency CFD products: One is Ethereum/Bitcoin together (ETHBTC), denominated in USD. The other special crypto CFD they have is the “Crypto 10 Index” which is an average of the top 10 coin.

Using The Plus500 Website

Demo Account?

You can test the platform for as long as you want using the demo interface. There are no separate accounts for the two, you can simply switch between them by clicking on the appropriate button.

Switching to demo mode – as simple as clicking the button at the bottom of the page.

Anonymous Account?

In order to enable deposits, you are required to verify your email, phone number and identity. Temporary email services are allowed, but anonymous accounts are useless for anything but getting used to the platform, in demo mode.

Signing Up on Plus500 To Trade Cryptocurrency

The account opening form for the demo account is simple, only asking for an email and setting a password. The platform will select your country based on your IP and set the currency to match it.

If you want to switch to live trading, verification is mandatory to enable deposits. First, you have to complete a quiz / survey about you, your preferences and trading in general.

Second, you must submit a valid identification (national ID or passport), a proof of address (bill or bank statement) and prove ownership over any deposit methods you will use. You also need to verify your phone number and email.

Required documents – due to regulatory obligation the CFD broker has to ask a lot of information.

We tried to verify our email but the code never arrived. We were using a temporary account, so they could be implicitly banned. Be careful and double-check when choosing country and currency, since changing any of them is possible only contacting customer support and giving a good-enough explanation.

Using The Site: Funding The Account

Right after passing the confirmation you will gain access to deposits. There are three available methods: Credit card (Visa and MasterCard), bank transfer and e-wallets (PayPal and Skrill).

The technical minimum is 100 USD/GBP/EUR, however, some currencies (such as COP) have lower limits (200,000 COP ~= 68 USD).

A minimum of 100 USD/EUR/GBP, or 200 AUD is required. However, it seems to be lower for certain currencies (such as COP). Maximum deposit depends on the method and the country. Any funds that arrive at your account must come from a source that belongs to you (at least jointly, in which case you have to provide additional documents).

No fees are charged for topping up your account. The site does not accept cryptocurrencies, not even Bitcoin.

Account Types

There are no distinctions among users, besides the verification status (required in order to perform real trading). Demo and Real profiles are embedded under the same credentials, and available to everyone.

Multi accounts are not allowed in general, but exceptions may apply in a case-by-case basis.

Fees

Plus500 does not charge fees directly, instead, they get a cut from the spread. The only fees that technically exist are an inactivity fee billed monthly after three months of not login in (as long as the user has any remaining balance) and overnight fees, whose amount depend on the instrument; details are given prior to opening the position.

Fees generated by third parties may also apply, such as currency conversions. The user is also responsible for any taxes due to his jurisdiction, and Plus500 will never take care of it.

Using The Platform: The Dashboard

After signing in the trading interface is loaded by default, you can also navigate to it by clicking on the respective icon located to the left of the page.

Trading page, as loaded right after signing in.

A chart is presented at the bottom. You have some control over it, including zooming in and out, focusing on a point, changing the type or layout and going full-screen.

You can browse the available instruments with the controls to the left of the page, near the top-level menu. After choosing one, the assets under that category will appear, giving you options to buy or sell them.

Browsing the BTCUSD market.

Clicking either buy or sell will load an interface to fill in the required parameters and finally open your position.

There is an advanced section meant to give you more control. Under info you will find some important data, such as that to determine overnight fees. Leverage is also offered and will depend on the product (shares, forex, indices, commodities, ETFs, options).

Checking the advanced details / options before opening a position.

Once the position is open, it will be listed under the respective market.

A BTCUSD sell position – see how it is shown right under the respective market.

Open positions are also available to be browsed under the respective menu.

The position is also displayed under the “Open Positions” menu.

Both lists let you edit or cancel any open positions you have.

Using The Platform: The Plus500 Trading App

Apps exist for Android, iOS and Windows mobile devices, with mixed reviews received from users.

The Android app requires at least Android 4.1; it has an overall rating of 4.2 as of December, 2017. It was designed with speed optimization in mind and versatility to work from mobile devices.

The iOS app supports iPhones, iPads and Apple watches and is available in more than 35 languages. The last version holds a neutral 3-star average, but the cumulative rating stands at 4.0.

An official app is also available on the Windows store, with support for Windows Phone, Windows Mobile and the latest versions of Windows desktop.

Alternatively, the website is completely responsive and can be easily browsed from screens of any size.

Security on Plus500

The broker segregates all its user’s funds. They don’t use their customers’ funds for hedging purposes. Here is detailed information on all their security measures regarding their clients’ funds:

When it comes to data security, the website has full SSL support, with HTTPS enabled all over. SMS and/or email alerts can be configured from account settings, having control over whether to be notified or not about certain market changes, account updates or sensitive actions (such as withdrawals).

User experience

The company has been involved in multiple incidents, the most recent been a class action against them by Giambrone Law, which accused them of rigging the cryptocurrency trading market. They already published a defense, but the case has not been solved.

Back in 2015, customers complained in mass due to at least half of the UK accounts being blocked, in order to implement stricter AML policies, without prior notice. The movement also caused their shares to loss 40% in value in just a few days.

During 2012 they were fined and had to pay €205,128 for failing to report transactions.

The site is not as intuitive as other trading platforms, while the knowledge base and FAQ are slightly outdated and often require having an account already to get an answer.

Reviews on TrustPilot average to 4 out of 5 stars, with perfect feedbacks mixed with furious complaints about certain features of the site that do not work as users expect.

Their multilingual customer support (16 languages) is ready to be reached 24/7 via email and live chat. They are also present in social networks, where they are reasonably active.

Pros

• Apps available for all the major OS
• High liquidity
• No hidden fees
• Unlimited demo mode

Cons

• Website navigation a bit difficult
• Not for residents of USA, Canada and China
• Shady movements (incidents)
• Unreliable FAQ
• Verification is mandatory

Conclusion

Plus500 works great for experienced traders, located within their zone of influence (mainly, Europe). The platform portrays world class security, with careful funds management, a solid company behind and alerts available to monitor every movement in almost real time.

Some of the controls are not intuitive for newer investors, and cryptocurrencies are not an area of focus for the company. AML / KYC policies are strongly enforced which is normal at regulated CFD brokers. Overall, there are better choices for crypto enthusiasts, but it’s recommended for speculators interested only in taking advantage of the price swings.