FirewoodFX is an offshore broker offering the traditional 4-digits pricing with fixed spreads from 1 pips combined with modern STP execution to its global liquidity pool. The broker has no price requotes and offers high leverages.
Discover the trading advantages of FirewoodFX by gleaning through this broker review.
FirewoodFX Background & Safety
Firewood Global Ltd, the brains behind the FirewoodFX brand in the trading industry, is a company registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, making it an offshore broker. On its official site, the broker did not stipulate the year when it was founded. Rather, the broker’s official site has a 2014-2018 copyright embedding it stated that the company was formed by a group of professional forex traders.
Being an offshore broker, FirewoodFX is at a disadvantage in terms of regulatory credentials compared to other financial service providers. Offshore brokers are known to have high leverages and offered client bonuses, and it goes without saying that FirewoodFX has the same kind of offering. The broker proudly claims that one of its main advantages is providing of high maximum leverage level of 1:1000.
Moreover, the lack of transparency in terms of business information is another concern with FirewoodFX. More importantly, the safety of clients’ funds is also questionable as the broker has no claimed negative balance protection policy or compensation fund affiliation. However, the broker gives a 20% Deposit Bonus to cover negative balance.
Despite having a low trust rating due to its weak regulatory credentials, FirewoodFX is a stunner, being recognized by several international award-giving bodies. To name a few, FirewoodFX is awarded “Best STP Broker 2019” by the EuropeanCEO Awards 2019, Best Forex Trading Platform Asia 2019 by the International Business Magazine, “Best STP Broker 2018”, and Best STP Broker in South East Asia 2017 by the Global Banking and Finance Review Awards.
With these recognitions, we can say that FirewoodFX is an excellent STP broker. Fortifying its regulatory affiliation will definitely be a plus to the broker to improve its trust rating among investors and potential clients.
FirewoodFX Features & Fees
Market Coverage
This is another aspect that FirewoodFX has not much to offer and needs some upgrading. The broker only covers the forex and commodities markets – offering only a handful of currency pairs and 2 metals (gold and silver).
Account types
FirewoodFX provides three account types for traders to choose from – Micro, Standard, and Premium. The account offering comes with two options of pricing format. On the above reference, the Micro and Standard accounts have the same minimum initial deposit amount at $10 and minimum trade size (0.01 lots).
All account types are similar in terms of the maximum number of open position, (200 positions), maximum leverage level (1:1000), (zero) commissions, stop and limit levels (2 pips), stop out level (20%), and allowed strategies (hedging, scalping, and Expert Advisors).
Meanwhile, the three account types vary when it comes to spreads, maximum trade size, and pricing format. They are also all convertible to swap-free accounts, also known as Islamic Account.
Funding methods
From instant online payment systems to straight forward bank transfer and credit/debit cards, FirewoodFX has got its clients covered.
Depositing through wire transfer or USD Tether, clients need to take note of the minimum deposit fee of $100. Good thing, there are no deposit fees using these options. Meanwhile, debit/credit cards including VISA and Mastercard have a $50 minimum deposit and a 0.5 + 5% deposit fee.
Other modes such as Skrill, Neteller, and UnionPay require a $10 minimum deposit fees (3.9%, 4.4% min $1 + $0.29, 2.6% respectively). Some options including local banks, Perfect Money, and Fasapay do not incur deposit fees and require a $1 minimum deposit fee.
For withdrawals, the same options are available to clients which have almost the same minimum transaction scheme as that of the deposit means.
Local banks have no withdrawal fees incurred. Wire transfers have bank fees while USD Tether has a 0.5% fee. Using cards will incur a 10% fee while eWallets also charge fees.
Promotions
Aside from 20% Deposit Bonus, FirewoodFX offers up to a $5000 trading reward bonus. For every FirewoodFX standard lot (10 micro lots) closed within 30 days from the first deposit, the trader earns a $10 reward.
The broker also facilitates a trading contest to engage its traders.
FirewoodFX Trading Platforms & Tools
FirewoodFX is a MetaTrader-only broker. It offers the full MT4 arsenal – MetaTrader 4 PC, MetaTrader 4 Mobile, MetaTrader 4 Web, and MetaTrader 4 MultiTerminal. Most of the basic trading tools are included in all the MT4 platform versions. In this sense, average retail traders are given the standard forex trading experience through the MT4 platforms.
PAMM accounts, coupled with the Forexcopy technology are also part of the broker’s offering, engaging professional fund managers and investors.
Bottom Line
Despite having an apparent winning culture, FirewoodFX falls short in several aspects of forex trading services.
Here are some of the major concerns it needs to work on: (1) widen its market coverage to have more financial instruments available for trading; (2) secure a regulatory certification from a major financial institution, and; (3) enhance its educational resources to cater to professional or experienced traders.