my review on Simple FX
I wanted to trade btc via mt4, since I despise bitstamp and bitfinex UI. been using MT4 for years. I happen to like it. no need to change the status quo. so I found simplefx. seems liked here, so I tried them.
Pros:
-Absolutely **simple** AND user friendly interface. actually one of the best I've used
-Allows me to trade bitcoin on MT4. this is an absolute must.
-fantastic knowledgeable support.
-trades execute immediately.
-doesnt seem to have any spikes in prices. I believe this is because they average bars together. very handy b/c you dont have to worry about flash crashes or getting stopped out from pins.
Cons:
-their system is SLOW to update.
-their "LP" is apparently screwing me. BAD.
-when I first started, my spread was 2.7 dollars . around price BTCUSD 1500 USD. we are back in the 1900's again. at first I thought it was due to the increased price + volatility. apparently not. while the market has been volatile, not like it was a few days ago when it was shooting to the moon. and even then it wasnt so expensive on spread. then it went to 3.8-4 dollars. now it ranges from a minimum of 10.1 dollars to 30 dollars. I believe part of this is due to update differences between the reference site bitcoinwisdom, or bitfinex(their LP), so I wrote some code to watch the price myself and viola, they are constantly messing with the price.
-price is typically 5-30 dollars lower than market price. thats in ADDITION to the spread.
-the system is deliberately slow. volume is essentially worthless on simplefx.
here is an example
https://ibb.co/dPwdyFI actually love their system. its great. but they are effectively asking me to pull my account with 30 dollar spreads. Im debating on closing out open positions that I was waiting for finish. but now I'm thinking its time to move on.
Anyone else have a similar experience with them?
Edit: I should also add... bitfinex's taker fee is .2 % ... thats .002, so on a trade at 2000 USD, that should be about 5 bucks a trade. I do understand that I should have to pay more for a trade at a broker. they need to earn too. when I started, my spread was below cost. but minimum 100% mark up? often times at resistance, where there would presumably be an oder directly above the price, they charge 200% mark up. as in 20+ dollar spread. for a trade likely 10 cents above me.
any time the price drops as well, your spread shoots up, so you can effectively never take advantage of price changes.
2 months update.
ok after running simplefx for 2 months. heres my opinion:
first things first. I am a modestly profitable trader. its fair to say I know my way around a technical chart. that being said , the first time I have traded bitcoin was from may to june. and it was a wild ride.
I both shorted and long. and came out profitable. I've used a number of MT4 platforms, both facilities worked. shorts occasionally showed 'off quotes' , especially before crashing. this may be due to liquidity provider, and not them.
the good:
-I was not kicked off for being a profitable trader.
-I've decided simplefx Bar averaging is a good thing. you dont get get flashed crashed out and stopped out. on the down side you cant take advantage of the same. but really you should be trading large moves anyway, not micro second moves.
-trades were relatively fast
-bar update speed was improved.
-spread was improved. new low was 7.1 and up to 17.8 in times of volatility. with an average of around 10. this is much better than the ridiculous spreads of 10-15
-pricing started to vary a lot more. but buy price + spread was often within 3 dollars of bitfinex. I believe they pushed part of the spread into the buy price to hide the spread. but still if you venue shopped you can find good opportunity. especially when spread = 7.1 (high liquidity)
-customer service is very knowledgeable. by far the best I have used. they know their product very well. they are trained well, and they are very helpful.
the bad:
-volume still sucks. how can you trade without volume?
-occasional off quotes message , usually on shorts, not so much longs. could be their LP
-small withdraws seem instant, and large ones seem very very slow. I tested with .1 first. it was instant. I am still waiting for hours for a larger withdrawal, but not large by mid size trader standards, to complete. as I write this Im watching 2 h4 bars off the bounce at 2200 bitfinex become far too large far too fast. if I miss my opportunity to liquidate I will be very disappointed. and I will likely only stick with bitfinex or bitstamp in the future.
-no ability to liquidate. (USD wallet) this means you have to withdraw. if the price is hot, you had better be ready to short. of course if it too hot, you will get margin called. not good.
All in all, they offer a great product. if they mess up my withdrawal I will be very very disappointed. b/c this mean they are not usable in effect. b/c you cannot liquidate on them.
will write final update depending on their withdrawal speed for larger orders.
