IG
CMC Markets
FOREX.com
XTB
FP Markets
Plus500
AvaTrade
BlackBull Markets
TickmillBlackBull Markets Review
Written by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by John Bringans
Fact-checked by Blain Reinkensmeyer
BlackBull Markets offers the full MetaTrader suite (MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5) alongside multiple social copy trading platforms and a web app powered by TradingView.
However, its sparse education and modest research materials leave BlackBull Markets struggling to compete with the best forex brokers in those categories.
-
Minimum Deposit:
$0 -
Trust Score:
74 -
Tradeable Symbols (Total):
26000
BlackBull Markets pros & cons
Pros
- Available to residents of New Zealand – unlike many brokers that don’t have the required full FMA license.
- Provides the full MetaTrader suite (MT4 and MT5).
- Offers a growing range of third-party trading tools from Autochartist and Acuity.
- Supports multiple third-party copy trading platforms, such as ZuluTrade, Duplitrade, and Myfxbook.
- Integration with the TradingView web platform was made available in 2021.
- With the launch of BlackBull Shares, traders can access overwith over 26,000 tradeable symbols.
Cons
- BlackBull lacks additional Tier-1 regulatory licenses outside of New Zealand.
- BlackBull’s Seychelles-licensed entity only offers light regulatory protection.
- The narrow scope of BlackBull’s educational content can’t compete with what the best MetaTrader brokers offer.
- Based on the average spreads we obtained, commissions and fees at BlackBull Markets appear to be in line with the industry average.
Overall Summary
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Trust Score | 74 |
| Offering of Investments |
|
| Commissions & Fees |
|
| Platform & Tools |
|
| Research |
|
| Mobile Trading |
|
| Education |
|
ForexBrokers.com has been reviewing online forex brokers for over six years, and our reviews are the most cited in the industry. Each year, we collect thousands of data points and publish tens of thousands of words of research. Here's how we test.
Is BlackBull Markets safe?
BlackBull Markets is considered average-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 74 out of 99. BlackBull Markets is not publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by one tier-1 regulators (high trust), zero tier-2 regulator (average trust), and zero tier-3 regulators (low trust). BlackBull Markets is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - New Zealand. Learn more about Trust Score.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
| Year Founded | 2014 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No |
| Bank | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 1 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 |
Offering of investments
BlackBull Markets has significantly expanded its range of markets with the launch of BlackBull Shares. The broker now offers over 26,000 tradeable symbols; 2,500 are available on MetaTrader 5 and TradingView, and 311 symbols on MetaTrader 4. The table below summarizes the different investment products available to BlackBull Markets clients.
Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency trading is available at BlackBull Markets through CFDs, but not available through trading the underlying asset (e.g. buying Bitcoin). Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 26000 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 72 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No |
| Cryptocurrency (CFD) | Yes |
| Disclaimers | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). |
Commissions and fees
Trading costs at BlackBull Markets are about average for the industry, and will vary depending on which of its three account types you choose.
Spreads: The average spread for the Standard account came to 1.25 pips in October 2021, making it a pricier option than BlackBull Markets’ ECN Prime account (my preferred choice). After including the round-trip commission equivalent of 0.6 pips per trade on the ECN Prime account, the effective average spread for the EUR/USD is 0.824 for October 2021.
Accounts comparison: The Standard account is commission-free and has no minimum deposit requirement. The ECN Prime account offers lower spreads, but requires a $2,000 minimum deposit, and there is a commission of $3 per side or $6 round turn per lot. The ECN Institutional account is BlackBull’s more exclusive option for active traders that deposit at least $20,000, with commission rates that are negotiated with the broker on a case-by-case basis.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.827 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.827 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Mobile trading apps
With no proprietary mobile app available, BlackBull Markets trails behind industry leaders such as IG and Saxo Bank. For our top picks among trading apps, read our guide to Best Forex Trading Apps.
Apps overview: As BlackBull Markets is a MetaTrader-only broker, iOS and Android versions of the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) app come standard and are both available for download from the Apple App Store and Google Play store, respectively.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
| Android App | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 15 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes |
| Charting - Multiple Time Frames | No |
| Forex Calendar | Yes |
Other trading platforms
BlackBull Markets offers the full MetaTrader suite, including MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) for desktop and web. Also available are TradingView, as well as the broker’s BlackBull Shares platform (powered by Interactive Brokers’ TWS platform).
Platforms overview: With a limited range of markets and no platform add-ons, there is simply not much to say about the broker’s MT4 offering. The special features that are available come by way of third-party providers, such as support for Virtual Private Servers (VPS) hosting and the integration of third-party social copy trading apps. Besides MetaTrader, TradingView and HokoCloud are also available at BlackBull Markets.
Social copy trading: BlackBull Markets offers several third-party apps for social copy trading, in addition to the native Signals market available in MT4. Supported copy trading platforms include ZuluTrade and MyFxbook.
VPS hosting: For algorithmic traders that want to run their MetaTrader platform 24-7 from a Virtual Private Server (VPS), BlackBull Markets offers VPS service from BeeksFX for a monthly fee. Free VPS service is also available if you deposit at least $2,000 in the ECN Prime account and complete at least 20 standard lots (2,000,000 units worth of trading volume) each month.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | No |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes |
| DupliTrade | No |
| ZuluTrade | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 15 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 |
Market Research
BlackBull Markets recently expanded its market research coverage with the acquisition of research firm ATM Strategy. Considerable progress has been made in the broker's research offering, though BlackBull Markets still trails behind the best forex and CFD brokers in this category.
Research overview: BlackBull Markets produces a daily series featuring technical and fundamental analysis for specific trading symbols. For example, the Trade in 60 Seconds series are one-minute recordings that focus on a particular trading symbol – such as a given forex pair or CFD.
Market news and analysis: Both the Market Reviews articles and the selection of videos produced by BlackBull Markets’ in-house team are high-quality, and provide depth from a technical and fundamental analysis perspective. I was just disappointed to find that there isn’t more daily content.
Resuming the production of live streams would be a step in the right direction for BlackBull Markets, along with a general expansion of daily content.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | No |
| Autochartist | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | No |
Education
BlackBull Markets’ overall educational offering has a long way to go to catch up to the best forex brokers for beginners.
Learning center: BlackBull Markets hosts a section on its website dedicated to education, with categories such as “Learn To Trade.” However, these are mostly devoid of comprehensive articles. It's worth noting that BlackBull Markets recently increased the number of educational videos available beyond just platform tutorials, with the edition of a playlists, such as its Elliot Wave Theory video series. I found these to be of decent quality, such as its Whiteboard Wizards playlist, available on the BlackBull Markets YouTube channel, which continues to grow with educational content.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
| Has Education - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes |
Final thoughts
Despite a growing product range on MetaTrader and support for social copy trading tools, BlackBull Markets falls behind the best brokers in several key categories, such as education and research. It’s also important to note that BlackBull Markets currently has a relatively small number of regulatory licenses.
BlackBull Markets is a maturing broker that has been in operation for nearly a decade and has made great strides over the last 12 months toward improving its value proposition to traders and investors. That said, BlackBull still has some room to grow in order to become more competitive. We’d love to see the broker acquire more regulatory licenses in Tier-1 jurisdictions, which would only improve its Trust Score.
About BlackBull Markets
Founded in 2014, BlackBull Markets is a forex and CFD broker headquartered in New Zealand. The broker has been fully authorized by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) in New Zealand since 2020, and registered on the Financial Services Provider Register (FSPR) since the end of 2014. The BlackBull Markets brand also holds a license in the offshore island nation of Seychelles with the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
2023 Review Methodology
At ForexBrokers.com, our reviews of online forex brokers and their products and services are based on our collected data as well as the observations and qualified opinions of our expert researchers. Each year we publish tens of thousands of words of research and detailed forex guides, and we monitor dozens of international regulator agencies (read more about how we calculate Trust Score here).
Our research team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of features, products, services, and tools (collecting and validating thousands of data points in the process). We test all available trading platforms for each broker – whether they are proprietary or come from third-party providers – and evaluate them based on a host of data-driven variables.
We also take an in-depth look at each broker’s commissions and fees, such as bid/ask spreads – including the average spread data for some of the most popular forex currency pairs. We research other trading costs, such as inactivity or custody fees, minimum deposit requirements, VIP rebates and/or discounts, and a range of other important fee-based data points.
Some of the other important research categories that are factored into our testing include mobile trading accessibility and capability, availability of market research and educational content, and each broker’s overall Trust Score.
Read our full explanation and accounting of our research and testing process to learn more about how we test.
ForexBrokers.com 2023 Annual Awards
For the ForexBrokers.com 2023 Annual Awards, brokers were evaluated against ForexBrokers.com’s 8 Primary Categories: Commissions & Fees, Offering of Investments, Platforms & Tools, Mobile Trading Apps, Research, Education, Trust Score, and Overall.
ForexBrokers.com also recognized brokers that demonstrated excellence and innovation with our exclusive Industry Awards. To see the complete list of Industry Award winners (and to learn more about our Annual Awards from our Director of Online Broker Research, Steven Hatzakis), check out our ForexBrokers.com Annual Awards page.
Primary categories
|
BlackBull Markets
|
Overall Rating | Offering of Investments | Commissions & Fees | Platforms & Tools | Research | Education | Mobile Trading Apps | Trust Score |
| Rating |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
74 |
| Rank #1 | ||||||||
| Streak #1 | ||||||||
| Best in Class | ||||||||
| Best in Class Streak |
Forex Risk Disclaimer
There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses. Read more on forex trading risks.
Popular Forex Guides
- Best Forex Brokers
- Best Forex Brokers for Beginners
- Best Forex Brokers for Copy Trading
- Best MetaTrader Brokers
- Best Forex Trading Apps
- Best Zero Spread Forex Brokers
- Compare Forex Brokers
Compare BlackBull Markets Competitors
Select one or more of these brokers to compare against BlackBull Markets.
Show allAbout the Editorial Team
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. A forex industry expert and an active fintech and crypto researcher, Steven advises blockchain companies at the board level and holds a Series III license in the U.S. as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
John Bringans is the Senior Editor of ForexBrokers.com. An experienced media professional, John has close to a decade of editorial experience with a background that includes key leadership roles at global newsroom outlets. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from San Francisco State University, and conducts research on forex and the financial services industry while assisting in the production of content.
Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.