BlackBull Markets

Blackbull Markets was founded in New Zealand in 2014 and has expanded its international presence significantly in recent years, with support offices located in London, New York, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, and Japan. BlackBull Markets has regulatory oversight from New Zealand’s FMA and the Seychelles FSA:

Black Bull Group Limited is a registered Financial Services Provider (FSP403326) and holds a Derivative Issuer Licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority of New Zealand.
BBG Limited is incorporated and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles

While BlackBull has yet to win any industry awards, they have twice been recognised by Deloitte as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the world, winning the Fastest Growing Exporter award for Auckland, New Zealand in 2018.

The New Zealand FMA is widely recognised as a strict and careful regulator and they ensure that BlackBull Markets keeps all client funds in segregated accounts and are audited on a regular basis. As an ECN/STP broker, BlackBull Markets operates a No-Dealing Desk policy and all trades are sent straight to market, ensuring no conflict of interest.

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BlackBull Markets Trading Conditions

BlackBull Markets is a true ECN/STP broker, operating a No-Dealing Desk Broker (NDD) policy. State of the art Equinix servers, based in New York (NY4), London (LD5) and Tokyo (TY3) allow for almost instantaneous market access and Straight Through Processing prevents slippage and failed execution that can sometimes occur with ECN brokers.

Spreads are variable though average spreads are not published. As an ECN, BlackBull Markets provides direct market access, so spreads will be close to 0 pips on the commission-based accounts for major pairs, and close to 1 pip on the commission-free account.

Account Types

BlackBull Markets offers three account types, the ECN Standard, ECN Prime and ECN Institutional. Leverage on all accounts is set at a maximum of 1:500.

ECN Standard: The ECN Standard Account has a minimum deposit of 200 USD and no commission, though spreads are marked up, with a minimum spread of 0.8 pips.

ECN Prime: The ECN Prime Account has a minimum deposit of 2000 USD and spreads start at 0.1 pips. A commission is charged of 3 USD per lot per side (6 USD round-turn).

ECN Institutional: This institutional account has a minimum deposit of 20,000 USD and spreads starting from 0.0 pips. This account is specifically for professional traders and commission is negotiable.

Spreads and Commission

BlackBull frequently mentions in its marketing literature that spreads on Forex pairs are as low as 0.1 pips but does not publish average spreads on its website. Spreads on the ECN Standard Account are marked up to make up for a lack of commission, so start at 0.8 pips.

Commission is charged on the ECN Prime Account at 3 USD per lot per side and is negotiable on the ECN Institutional Account.

Deposit and Withdrawal

BlackBull offers a range of methods to deposit and withdraw funds and all deposits are free of charge. Deposit and Withdrawal methods are as follows:

Bank Wire: Deposits are free of charge and take 1-3 days to process, but a 20 USD fee is applied for withdrawals to international bank accounts and processing can take 3-5 business days.

Visa/Mastercard: Deposits are free of charge and instant, but withdrawals incur a 5 USD fee and can take 3-5 business days to process. You can only withdraw funds to a credit card up to a maximum of your original deposit. Any profits or additional funds must be withdrawn by bank transfer.

Skrill/Neteller/fasapay/China Union Pay: Deposits are free of charge and instant, but withdrawals incur a 5 USD fee and can take 3-5 business days to process. You can only withdraw funds to a Skrill/Neteller account up to a maximum of your original deposit. Any profits or additional funds must be withdrawn by bank transfer.

BlackBull Markets also reserves the right to charge fees at their discretion after a certain threshold, though what this threshold is and what fees may be charged are not made clear.

BlackBull Markets for Beginners

BlackBull Markets is relatively poor for beginners with a brief education section and infrequent market analysis.

Educational Material

The educational material at BlackBull is divided into three sections: Trading Videos, Trading Guides and a Trading Glossary.

Trading Videos: This is a small collection of 11 videos, each only a few minutes long, mainly focused on MT4 and how to use its features. Videos include Support and Resistance in MT4, Crosshairs and Pips in MT4 and Candlestick and Timeframes in MT4. These are well summarised but are focused on traders who already understand the terminology.

Trading Guides: The trading guides are just brief explanations of important aspects of Forex trading. Titles include What is a Support Level, What are Swaps and What is a Japanese Candlestick? While these are important factors to cover in Forex trading, a more structured and detailed guide would be more useful for beginners.

Trading Glossary: As you may expect, this a list of the common terms you will read and hear when trading Forex.

Analysis Material

Like its approach to educational content, BlackBull Markets offers little in the way of market analysis. A member of the BlackBull Markets team updates a market review blog most days, focussing on specific assets or markets. A look at the week ahead is also compiled and presented every Monday.

Like most other brokers, BlackBull Markets also provides an economic calendar with the dates and times of economic news releases.

Customer Support

BlackBull Markets offers live customer support 24/5 via live chat. Email and telephone support are only available 10:00-23:00 NZT (22:00 – 11:00 GMT).

BlackBull Markets Trading Platforms

BlackBull Markets only offers support for the MT4 trading platform. Optimised for Windows, the BlackBull Markets Metatrader 4 Forex trading platform has been designed to provide traders with a competitive edge in the modern trading environment. It contains an array of institutional features, comprising in an all-in-one trading solution from a single program. These include real-time market quotes and live charts on financial data, along with extensive coverage of breaking financial news, and analytics. BlackBull Markets MT4 includes full support for Expert Advisors and indicators, allowing you to enhance your trading experience.

MT4 is available for Windows, Macs, Android, iOS and in the browser.

BlackBull Markets Trading Tools

BlackBull Markets offers a free VPS service for clients with Prime Accounts and FIX API for institutional clients who want to connect directly to BlackBull’s ECN grid.

VPS

BlackBull Markets offers free VPS services to any clients who are interested. The only requirements are a BlackBull Markets Prime account and a minimum of $2,000 deposit with 20 lots traded per month.

BlackBull Market’s VPS service is perfect for traders that cannot afford to have downtime. VPS also supports Expert Advisors, so that your strategy can run full-time without needing a computer to run on. This creates a truly customisable experience, allowing you to augment your personal trading strategy within the BlackBull Markets system.

FIX API

FIX is the coding protocol used to place trader’s orders live on the market and MT4 is the FIX application that BlackBull Markets uses. However, some traders require the use of their own FIX application, and for this, BlackBull Markets offers a FIX API. FIX API allows institutional clients to bypass the BlackBull MT4 application and directly connect into the ECN grid using their own FIX.

Evaluation Method

We value transparency and openness in the way we review the partners. To bring transparency to the forefront, we have published our review process that includes a detailed breakdown of the BlackBull Markets offering. Central to that process is the evaluation of the reliability of the broker, the platform offering of the broker and the trading conditions offered to clients, which are summarised in this review. Each one of these is graded, and an overall score is calculated and assigned to the broker.

Risk Statement

Trading Forex is risky, and each broker is required to detail how risky the trading of Forex CFDs is to clients. BlackBull Markets would like you to know that: Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade foreign exchange, you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and, therefore, you should not invest money you cannot afford to lose. You should make yourself aware of all the risks associated with foreign exchange trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any questions or concerns as to how a loss would affect your lifestyle.

Overview

BlackBull Markets is a decent ECN broker from New Zealand, with a background in institutional trading and MT4 support. Spreads are unpublished, though we are assuming they are tight – all ECN brokers provide direct market access. Blackbull Markets also has advanced tools for professional traders, including a free VPS service and FIX API.

Education and market analysis are poor compared to other brokers, and the commission-based account has a high minimum deposit. Withdrawals are also relatively expensive and slow, the only real option for profitable traders is to withdraw via bank wire – which incurs a 20 USD fee (before bank charges).