Focus Option Review 2024

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Focus Option is a digital options and CFD broker that provides investors with a simple way to speculate on the price movement of a wide range of assets. Our team of experts has compiled this 2024 review to guide new investors in their decision to sign up with Focus Option and take advantage of its trading platform, account types, mobile app download link and competitive fees.

About Focus Option

The firm’s official company name is Focus Option Ltd and it is registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This means Focus Option is an offshore broker with less robust consumer protection. Brokers with no named founders or directors, as is the case here, should be approached with caution.

Focus Option offers options and CFDs to clients around the world, including the UK. However, traders in the USA and other restricted territories will have to look elsewhere.

Assets & Markets

Rather than vanilla options, Focus Option majors heavily on digital (binary) and high/low options. Although the firm is an offshore broker, the FCA (the UK’s regulator based in London) and other regulators’ tough stance toward binary options should remind readers about the risk of these financial instruments.

Investors looking for a more conventional broker experience will find forex and commodity CFDs are available using the firm’s mobile app. This is in addition to cryptocurrency speculation.

The broker offers more than 60 assets, broken down as follows:

• Commodities: gold and silver, each against the USD (XAU/USD & XAG/USD)
• Crypto: 25 pairs, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP)
• Forex: 39 pairs, including EUR/USD, EUR/GBP and GBP/US

This is a good range of assets to speculate on using digital options. However, medium to long-term investors searching for higher levels of diversification with this broker may be disappointed by the lack of ETFs, stocks and indices.

Leverage

Leverage is not available to digital options traders with this firm. That said, CFDs are a leveraged financial instrument, so traders can expect an initial margin rate of down to 2% with Focus Option. This is fairly high leverage (1:50) and is typical of an offshore broker that is not restricted by the requirements placed on it by stringent regulators like the FCA.

Account Types

Focus Option offers Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum accounts. The Bronze account provides access to all the firm’s tradeable instruments and 24/5 customer support. The Silver account builds on this to include faster deposits and withdrawals and a higher maximum position size.

Gold account holders get even more, with exclusive trade signals and market analysis updates from the broker’s own team of experts, as well as a personal account manager to answer any questions you may have. The Platinum account is the premium offering, boasting payout levels of up to 95% and exclusive VIP client events.

Demo Account

In addition to the live account types above, Focus Option has a $10,000 demo account that is available for up to 30 days. This practice account is free, so we would suggest beginners use it to become familiar with the platform and test their trading strategies.

Investment Platform

Focus Option has one in-house trading platform. This can be used on any browser or operating system, including Windows 10, and without any additional software downloads for PC, as is the case with MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). The proprietary platform offers more than eight expiry timeframes, an integrated sentiment indicator and one-click quote trading, so you can execute your positions quickly. Other available indicators include Bollinger Bands, moving averages, the Average True Range (ATR) tool, Heikin-Ashi chart views and hollow candles.

The brokerage platform can also be supplemented with a link to TradingView for advanced technical analysis and strategy backtesting using historical market data. However, orders must still be placed within the Focus Option portal. Moreover, those wishing to automate their investment strategies will not be able to do so, as there is no support for an API or VPS from the firm. This means that any scripts and trading bots using common code languages like java (JS) will not be able to integrate with the platform.

Step-By-Step Guide To The Focus Option Platform

When buying and selling binary options with this broker using the online trading platform, the following steps need to be completed:

1. Select your desired instrument from the top-left of the chart area
2. Carry out any graphical analysis required by your strategy using the available tools and indicators
3. Choose an expiry time (usually from 30 seconds to 1 week)
4. Specify the amount (minimum $1)
5. Check that you are happy with the profit percentage
6. Click buy if you predict the price will rise or sell if you think it will fall
7. Wait for the expiry time to see if you win the payout

Mobile App

The Focus Option mobile app is available for free from the App Store for iPhone and iPad iOS or Google Play Store for Android (APK). The broker’s mobile platform is focused on buying and selling CFD products. This mobile-download application has an intuitive interface and prioritises user experience. The presented charts are simple to analyse, with zoom-in and zoom-out capabilities and several simple indicators and graphical tools.

Payment Methods

Deposits

Our team found the minimum deposit on Focus Option to be $10. This is fairly low compared to many competitors, demonstrating its attention to accessibility for beginners. There are also no fees for deposits and the processing times are instant. Below is a list of the available deposit methods:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ERC-20)
• BinanceUSD (BEP-20)
• Tether (ERC-20 and BEP-20)
• JCB, Visa and Mastercard payment cards

While wire transfers and e-wallets are notably absent from this list of payment methods, the presence of three of the largest card providers should cover most clients. Moreover, the wide range of crypto deposit options is good to see.

Withdrawals

Withdrawals at Focus Option must be made using the same method as your deposit. However, Visa and Mastercard payment cards are not supported as withdrawal options. As with deposits, this firm does not impose any withdrawal fees, though processing times are slightly longer at 24 hours.

Fees

Focus Option does not impose trading fees on its binary options products, instead making money from the stake on positions ending “out of the money”. There is no commission charged on the firm’s CFD products, instead acting as a market maker and imposing its variable spreads. When using the demo account, we found spreads to average around 1.0 pips for EUR/USD and 4.0 pips for EUR/GBP during periods of decent liquidity. This is fairly competitive for a market maker, though more than a typical STP brokerage and much higher than an ECN firm.

There may also be other charges at Focus Option associated with CFDs, such as overnight swap fees (not relevant for digital options) if a position is maintained across more than one trading day.

Regulation & Security

Our experts were unable to confirm the regulatory status of Focus Option, suggesting that it does not hold an official license, as all that do are required to display these details on the homepage of the site.

Despite this, the broker does claim to use segregated bank accounts, where the company funds are separated from client capital and stored in a European bank. Although this may provide some reassurance, there is no guarantee that this is true and investor protection schemes like those offered by the FCA and CySEC are often more effective in mitigating financial risk to a trader.

Focus Option is required to meet its know-your-customer (KYC) obligations during the sign-up process by requesting ID such as a passport or driver’s license. These documents can be uploaded to your account or sent to the broker by email. This helps reduce the risk of criminal funds being deposited into the company for money laundering purposes.

We were happy to see that the broker offers support for two-factor authentication (2FA) using the Google Authenticator application.

Customer Support

Focus Option offers various customer service channels and a helpdesk to support you with any technical errors, issues or general queries, whether your login has failed or your broker platform is not working. As well as a live chat portal on the broker’s website and an online contact form, you can get in touch with the firm using the below methods:

• Email Address: support@focusoption.com
• Phone No.: +(62)21 2002-2012

Although Focus Option has accounts on various social network sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp, LinkedIn and a YouTube channel, there is almost no content on these pages, which could indicate that the broker lacks responsiveness and customer interaction.

Additional Features

Fundamental analysis is a key consideration for those trading options with longer expiry times. Focus Option provides financial news and market updates, such as central bank decisions to help traders better manage volatility. Unfortunately, the education section of the broker’s trading platform is limited to a simple article on how to trade binary options. We would have liked to see a more substantial tutorial offering, incorporating CFDs and various trading strategies, risk management approaches and best practices.

Benefits Of Focus Option

When using Focus Option, our traders found multiple advantages:

• Instant deposits
• No commissions
• No software download
• Crypto funding options
• Intuitive trading platform
• Binary options & CFD support
• Free deposits and withdrawals
• Simple sign-up and login process
• Various customer support options

Drawbacks Of Focus Option

Our experts also found several cons to Focus Option:

• High spreads
• Not a regulated broker
• Limited education section
• Limited information available
• Market maker execution model

Promotions

While no popular “no deposit bonus” is offered by the firm, reference is made on the website to trading credits for new and existing customers. However, no further details are proffered, so there is no guarantee that you would receive these upon registering.

Trading Hours

Investing with Focus Option is open from Sunday at 22:00 GMT to Friday at 22:00 GMT. Individual markets may also have their own variations in market hours. Crypto derivatives at many other brokers are provided 24/7, so we would prefer to have seen this flexibility here. That being said, the company may have taken the decision not to keep crypto markets open for prolonged periods whilst customer support is unavailable.

Focus Option Verdict

Focus Option offers a competitive range of binary options products, with payouts as high as 95% and an array of short and long-term timeframes. Moreover, UK clients can access CFDs on forex, crypto and commodities using the broker’s simple-to-use mobile app. However, the firm is not regulated and there is somewhat limited important information provided, suggesting that it may not be trustworthy.

FAQ

Compare Focus Option with Other Brokers

These brokers are the most similar to Focus Option:

1. World Forex - World Forex is an offshore broker registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, offering commission-free trading with a $1 minimum deposit and 1:1000 leverage. Digital contracts are also available, offering beginners a straightforward way to speculate on popular financial markets.
2. Videforex - Launched in 2017, Videforex offers access to stock, index, crypto, forex and commodities markets via binary options and CFDs. The proprietary platform, mobile app and integrated copy trading are user-friendly and will suit new and casual traders, and the market analysis tools and trading contests provide good ways to improve your trading skills.
3. Dukascopy - Dukascopy is an online broker operated by a Swiss-regulated banking group. It offers a good selection of 500+ markets, with forex, stocks, gold, ETFs, indices, bonds and cryptocurrencies available. It also offers flexible trading opportunities through the choice of CFDs or binary options. Traders will use MetaTrader 4 or a proprietary platform that is well-suited to automated trading.

Focus Option Feature Comparison

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