Moneta Markets Review 2023

Trust

Moneta Markets Regulations

In our reviews, we examine the licenses and regulations of each entity operated by a broker. This allows us to compare their different levels of protection. We rank licenses by various regulatory bodies on a three-tier system, where Tier-1 licensing indicates the highest level of regulation.

This is what I discovered about Moneta Markets’ three entities:

• Moneta Markets Ltd is licensed and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles under licensing number SD144. We rank the FSA as a Tier-3 regulator. The same entity is also registered in Saint Lucia but not regulated there.
• Moneta Markets is a trading name of Moneta Markets Ltd, registered under Saint Lucia Registry of International Business Companies with registration number 2023-00068.
• Moneta Markets South Africa (Pty) Ltd is registered and regulated in South Africa by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) under license number 47490. The FSCA is ranked as a Tier-2 regulator on our system.
• Moneta Markets International Pty Ltd is a corporate authorized representative (CAR no. 001298177) of AGC Capital Securities Pty Ltd, which is licensed and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) with license number 481024. We rank ASIC as a Tier-1 regulator.

We have summarized the most essential aspects of Moneta Markets in terms of regulation and safety in the table below:

Why is it Important to Know Where Your Broker’s Subsidiaries are Regulated?

Brokers operate multiple entities because it allows them to serve clients worldwide. However, licenses obtained by regulators in different jurisdictions do not always entail the same degree of protection. Some regulators mandate compliance with the strictest financial frameworks, whereas others are less rigid. That is why traders need to familiarize themselves with the safety mechanisms ensured by the entity they want to open an account with beforehand.

Here is what you need to be looking for in a broker in terms of safety mechanisms:

• Segregation of client funds. Keeping client funds in segregated bank accounts from the ones used for the broker’s corporate capital negates the risk of accounting errors. All of Moneta Markets’ entities comply with this requirement.
• Negative balance protection. This safety mechanism removes the risk of trading losses exceeding the account balance. In other words, the losses you incur from trading are capped at the amount you have put in your trading account. This is especially important in volatile markets. All of Moneta Markets’ entities comply with this requirement as well.
• Compensation scheme. A compensation scheme protects traders against the broker’s liabilities in the unlikely event that the company becomes insolvent. None of Moneta Markets’ entities have such a compensation scheme or private indemnity insurance.
• Maximum leverage. Capping the maximum leverage limits the maximum market exposure to retail traders. The higher the leverage, the higher the potential profits and potential losses. Retail clients with the Seychelles entity can enjoy a maximum leverage of 1:500, whereas clients with the FSCA-regulated entity can opt for a maximum leverage of 1:400.

Is Moneta Markets Safe to Trade With?

Moneta Markets can be overall considered a safe broker. Both of its entities ensure segregation of client funds and negative balance protection. And even though there is no compensation scheme in place, the risk of the broker going bankrupt is relatively negligible. Moneta Markets should also be praised for issuing a ‘best execution policy’.

Stability and Transparency

In our tests for the Trust category, we also cover factors relating to stability and transparency. Here, we focus on how long the broker has been in business, how big the company is, and how transparent it is in terms of readily available information.

Moneta Markets has a very detailed spreads and commissions page where its trading costs are described in the most minute detail. Unlike many other brokers, Moneta has integrated a widget that displays all commissions for the two account types and per asset class. This is a strong indication of its overall transparency.

I found minor transparency issues, such as a discrepancy between the list of available instruments on the website and what is actually available on Pro Trader. Further still, there seems to be a different assortment on MetaTrader 5. Nevertheless, this is a minor issue and does not represent a major trust problem.

While not a major transparency issue per se, some traders might be confused as to which legal entity they sign up with. When I opened my trading account from monetamarkets.com, I was aware I was signing up with ‘Moneta Markets Ltd’. However, I did not see any notice that I was opening an account with a legal entity that is registered but not regulated in Saint Lucia. I was able to find only the confirmation in the Client Agreement, which can be accessed from the Legal Documents section of the website.

In summary, my research indicates that Moneta Markets can be regarded as having a sufficient level of trust and stability due to the following factors:

• Complies with most safety requirements
• Has issued a ‘best execution policy’
• Provides clear and upfront information about trading costs.

Fees

Moneta Markets Trading Fees

Moneta Markets’ Spreads

I tested Moneta Markets’ spreads during the most actively traded times – the London open at 8:00 a.m. GMT and just after the U.S. open at 2:45 p.m. GMT. The test was conducted on 29 August 2023.

Broken down by asset class and compared to the industry average, Moneta Markets offers low spreads on FX pairs, share CFDs, indices, and cryptocurrencies. It also charges low-to-average spreads on commodities.

Moneta Markets’ Swap Rates

A swap fee is a trader’s cost for holding an open position overnight because of changing interest rates. Swap long refers to the charge deductible or credit receivable for holding a buy position open overnight. In turn, swap short relates to the charges/credits deductible or receivable for holding a selling position open overnight.

The values listed below are for one full contract (100,000 units) of the base currency.

The recorded swaps are average-to-high compared to the industry average. However, this can be partially attributed to heightened market volatility at the time of my review.

Moneta Markets’ Commissions

Moneta Markets has two types of commissions charged on its two ECN accounts. With regards to the Prime ECN account type, there is a $6 round-turn commission per traded lot (100,000 units) applied for trading FX pairs. Overall, I estimated the Prime ECN account’s commissions to meet the industry average.

With regard to the Ultra ECN account type, the round-turn commission is set at $2 per traded lot.

Moneta Markets’ Non-Trading Fees

The broker does not have any major non-trading fees. There is no inactivity fee, and deposits and withdrawals are charge-free.

Are Moneta Markets’ Fees Competitive?

My research indicates that Moneta Markets’ fees are indeed quite competitive. The broker offers extremely low spreads across all asset classes on its ECN accounts, with generally acceptable commissions (where applicable). Its swap rates were slightly elevated while I was carrying out my review, but this was partially due to increased market volatility. Finally, there are no non-trading costs.

Direct STP and Prime ECN Accounts Comparison

To help you better understand the difference between Moneta Markets’ different accounts in terms of trading costs, I have compiled the table below. It illustrates the spreads and commissions I have recorded on the EUR/USD pair for the two account types. The table shows how much you will have to pay to trade 1 full lot (100,000 units) on the EUR/USD when the pip value of the pair is $10.

To calculate the cost of such a full-sized trade, I used this formula:
Spread x pip value+commission

As you can see, my tests indicate that the cost of trade is nearly twice as low on a Prime ECN account. I thus concluded that the Prime ECN account is more suitable for high-frequency/high-volume trading.

Platforms and Tools

In my experience as a high-frequency trader, I have always looked for platforms that afford a deep and penetrating outlook into price action behavior. Scaling price action up and down with ease is a must-have, and I am happy to say that Pro Trader delivers on this front. It has a user-friendly design and essential features like one-click trading.

Accordingly, less experienced traders may opt for the beginner-friendly, albeit more cumbersome, MetaTrader 4 or its successor. The two renowned platforms also allow automated trading via their Expert Advisors (EAs) features. Moneta Markets even incorporates the ‘Alpha Generation’ plugins for MetaTrader.

To make the most out of your algo trading, you can take advantage of Moneta Markets’ free VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting, which ensures low latency and faster order execution. To qualify, you need to have at least $500 as equity in your account and trade 5 FX lots or more per calendar month.

Those interested in social trading will be happy to learn that Moneta Markets incorporates the seamless ZuluTrade, which is arguably the most sophisticated platform providing social trading solutions. The broker also has a copy trading app.

Moneta Markets’ Web Pro Trader Platform

General Ease of Use

The Pro Trader platform has a learning curve that may seem a bit overwhelming at first, especially to beginner traders. You can add or hide multiple panels from the main frame, which has an intuitive logic.

There is a chart screen on the left side with all supporting indicators and analytical tools; an orders placing panel in the middle; and an info panel on the right side of the screen. You can manage your watch lists of selected instruments from there and gain instant access to the latest financial news via Moneta Markets’ news screener.

As I alluded to above, what makes the platform stand out to me is the ease with which you can scale price action up and down, and left to right. Unlike MetaTrader, the Pro Trader platform allows you to expand your charts in a full-screen mode, which gives you an excellent vantage point into the intricacies of price action behavior. Chartists will find this especially useful since they can easily observe even minute details of each candle, such as its body, tail, and shadow.

Charts

As I like to point out in each of my reviews, the charts screen is probably the most important component of every platform. It is the window through which traders can observe price action behavior and understand where the market might be headed next.

It is vitally important for a chart to be as clear and informative as possible and allow traders to manipulate price action freely by scaling it up and down. Additionally, a good chart should be supplemented by a broad range of technical indicators, drawing tools, and other such instruments to accommodate technical analysis.

My overall impression of Pro Trader’s charts is that they can be populated with multiple technical indicators and drawing tools and still retain a great degree of flexibility. Price action does not get obscured easily even if you use 2–3 or more analytical tools.

I have broken down these by class below:

• 105 technical indicators. The platform supports trend-based, volume-based indicators, oscillators, Bill Williams indicators, and more. These can be applied to study price action behavior and determine the underlying market sentiment. In general, technical indicators are used to gauge where the market is likely to head next. By virtue of being powered by TradingView, Pro Trader affords access to an impressive range of indicators.
• 60+ drawing tools. Drawing tools, such as Fibonacci retracement levels and Elliott waves, are used to study repeatable price patterns. Additionally, they can be applied to determine key support and resistance levels and potential breakout or breakdown levels. The Pro Trader platform also supports trend lines, channels, pitchforks, and other analytical tools.
• 11 timeframes. Pro Trader allows multi-timeframe analysis of price action behavior. The greater the number of timeframes, the more intricate examinations that can be carried out across the short-term and long-term. One minor drawback is that the lowest timeframe has a 1-minute period. The lack of lower timeframes makes it more difficult to implement scalping trading strategies.
• 16 chart types. Price action can be represented as a line, bars, area, or multiple types of candlesticks. This diversity is one of the stand-out features of the platform.

Orders

Another advantage of the chart is that you can compare the price actions of multiple instruments. This allows you to gain a better understanding of where a given market is headed in general by spotting possible convergences and divergences, thereby helping you make a more informed decision as to how to trade an underlying opportunity. In the chart above, I compared the prices of crude oil and gold in the commodities market before placing an order.

I have broken down the available order types on Pro Trader below:

• Market orders. Market orders are used for immediate entry at the best possible price. If triggered, they guarantee volume filling, though there could be a discrepancy between the requested price and the price where the order actually gets filled.
• Limit orders. Unlike market orders, limit orders guarantee exact price execution. However, a limit order will not be filled if the price action does not reach the pre-determined execution price.
• Stop orders. They are used to support open positions by limiting the maximum loss that can be incurred if the market turns in the opposite direction. A stop-loss order is placed at a fixed price below or above the spot price. If the market does indeed turn and triggers the stop-loss, it will transform into a market order and get filled at the best possible price.

App Trader

Moneta Markets’ mobile app affords traders quick and easy access to the market on the go. It is very useful when you have to check the performance of your running trades and, if necessary, make adjustments. The market is volatile and always changing, so it is always a good idea to stay on top of the latest developments with the intuitive and user-friendly App Trader.

You can use the app to place market, limit, and stop orders, as well as to adjust the exposure of your open trades. The app is highly customizable and features multiple technical indicators and drawing tools. Nevertheless, my professional advice is to carry out your technical analyses on wide-screen devices because a low-resolution smartphone is not ideal for examining the intricacies of price action behavior.

ZuluTrade

ZuluTrade is one of the most popular hubs for social trading. The platform connects over 10,000 signal providers and signal followers from around the world. Clients of Moneta Markets can connect their live accounts to ZuluTrade and search from the thousands of trading strategies for the one that best fits their style, goals, and capabilities. In short, ZuluTrade is an excellent tool if you want to build a strong portfolio but lack the time to watch the market 24/7.

ZuluTrade has implemented a sophisticated algorithm that ranks trading strategies based on different aspects, such as maximum returns, average returns, maximum dropdown, and more. Its so-called ‘Margin-Call-o-Meter’ estimates the risk you will be taking with a given strategy, and you can also simulate its likely performance in the future based on its current parameters and past performance.

Copytrader App

Moneta Markets’ Copytrader App is the broker’s proprietary solution for social trading. Similarly to ZuluTrade, it connects signal providers and signal followers who are members of Moneta Markets. The app allows them to exchange trading ideas so that less experienced traders can generate profits from the trialed and tested strategies of seasoned pros by subscribing to them.

The Copytrader app ranks signal providers by their performance. They are evaluated based on average returns, profit, losses, and more. What I found quite interesting and unconventional is the so-called “inverse” trade features that allow you to subscribe to the strategies that always seem to lose. In my experience, I came to realize that psychology plays a significant role in determining success, and I always appreciate such intuitive methods for turning a negative into a positive.

Tradable Instruments

What I consider very useful is that some of the available instruments are denominated in different currencies. For instance, you can trade XAUUSD (Gold vs. US Dollar), XAUEUR (Gold vs. Euro), or even XAUAUD (Gold vs. Australian Dollar). Traders can avoid paying conversion fees when trading with instruments denominated in their account currency.

What Are CFDs?

Contracts for difference (CFDs) are derivatives used to speculate on the price of the underlying without physical delivery. For example, a long position on gold would generate a profit as the price rises or incur a loss as it falls. This is achieved without having to purchase actual bars of gold. One of the biggest advantages of trading CFDs is that traders can get in and out of the market almost instantaneously, thereby catching even minute changes in the price of the derivative.

What Can You Trade With Moneta Markets?

I have broken down the available instruments by asset class:

• 45+ Currency Pairs
  • Majors, Minors, Exotic
• 17 Commodities
  • Metals, Energy, Agriculture
• 25 Indices
  • U.S., Europe, Asia
• 840+ Share CFDs
  • Technology, Retail, Financial, Other.
• 43 Cryptocurrencies
  • Major and Minor
• 51 ETFs
  • Financial
• 18 Futures
  • Bonds, Indices, and Commodities

Compared to the broader industry, Moneta Markets offers an average number of FX pairs, and an above-average number of share CFDs, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies. These afford traders access to multiple markets with varying degrees of underlying volatility.

Customer Support

The easiest way to get in touch with Moneta Markets is via live chat, which is available from the bottom-right corner of the main page. Before getting connected, you are required to provide your name and email address.

Customer Support Test

When we test a broker’s customer support team, we evaluate the agent’s knowledge of their own website, how long it takes them to respond to questions, and how detailed their answers are.

I reached out to Moneta Markets on 29 August at around 1.30 p.m. CET via live chat, however, no agent connected to the chat. I received a response over the email nearly 1,5 hours later.

The email itself was well-structured and easy to understand. However, the answers to my questions were not particularly direct. I had asked whether Moneta Markets has a compensation scheme but was instead told that the broker keeps all client funds in separate bank accounts. To my question regarding what their average execution speed is, I was referred to the section of the website where it is stated that the broker has access to global servers. Overall, the point of my questions was avoided and no further context was provided.

Deposit and Withdrawal

Moneta Markets Deposit Methods

Clients can deposit $500 or more to get 50% worth of bonus credits, which convert to real cash when they trade FX, gold, and oil products. They can see the daily calculation of cashback from their client portal.

Moneta Markets Withdrawal Methods

Withdrawal requests are processed from the Client Portal once your account is fully verified. Most requests will be processed on the same business day. It is important to remember that while the broker does not charge anything for deposits or withdrawals, third-party banking fees may apply. Especially for international transfers.

Account Types and Terms

Why is Choosing the Right Account Type Important?

Your account should reflect your goals, needs, and ambitions on the market. You should take into consideration several things, such as whether the account type has a minimum deposit requirement, what its spreads and commissions are, what the execution method is, and more.

What Account Types Does Moneta Markets Offer?

I have broken down Moneta Markets’ account types in the table below:

Out of the two retail account types, Prime ECN is more suitable for high-frequency trading. However, its competitive prices and availability of futures also make it suitable for longer-term trading. And with a minimum deposit requirement of $200, the account type is quite accessible.

One of the reasons why the Direct STP account type is deemed more suitable for beginners is because of its markedly lower minimum deposit requirement ($50). However, one should keep in mind that it costs nearly double to execute the same full-sized EURUSD trade on a Direct STP account compared to the Prime ECN account.

To put these numbers into perspective against my earlier findings, to execute one standard EURUSD contract on a Direct STP account with a bare minimum equity will result in more than 1/5th of the account balance being paid for spread and commission charges.

Pro tip: If you can set aside $50 dollars for a trading account but can’t manage $200, it will be better if you just stay away from the market. The chances of you making it in the long run are overwhelmingly low.

Moneta Markets’ Execution Model

As the names of the two retail accounts suggest Moneta Markets has two execution models. STP stands for Straight-Through-Processing and ECN for Electronic-Communications-Network. I will focus on the latter since I am reviewing the Prime ECN account.

ECN execution takes place without a dealing desk, meaning that traders’ orders are routed directly on the interbank level. Essentially, this ensures faster execution with a lower risk of slippage. This model is particularly useful for the execution of market orders when the broker has access to deep liquidity.

Suppose you wish to go long 100,000 units (1 lot) on the EUR/USD at 1.07650. You place your buy order, but there is not enough liquidity in the market at that price level, not enough to fill your order. Hence, no trade is opened. The price then climbs to 1.07700, where there is enough liquidity to fill that volume, and your trade is finally executed. If the value of 1 pip is $10, then you would have missed a chance to generate a $50 profit due to this discrepancy (5 pips).

The clear advantage of this model of execution is that with it, you are guaranteed entry, in that your order request will eventually be filled once there is enough liquidity. However, the corresponding disadvantage is that you are exposed to price discrepancies in the form of negative slippage.

In my experience, market execution is better suited for day trading and position trading strategies where volume is important. But it is less so for intraday trading strategies, such as scalping, where precise order filling is more important.

What is CFD Leverage?

The leverage determines a trader’s overall market exposure. When trading Contracts for Difference (CFDs), positions can be opened for a fraction of their value because of the leverage. Essentially, the broker lends the trader money so that the latter can open bigger-sized positions. The leverage multiplies the profits a trader generates from winning positions but also the losses incurred from failed trades.

Moneta Markets Account Opening Process

I have summarized the account creation process with Moneta Markets in the following easy steps:

• Step 1. Click the ‘Sign Up’ button in red at the top of the main page.
• Step 2. State your country of residence, first and last name, and email address. You can also sign up with a social media account.
• Step 3. Fill in your address information.
• Step 4. Provide your employment and financial details as well as trading experience.
• Step 5. Configure your account by choosing a platform (Pro Trader, MetaTrader 4 or 5), account type, and base currency.
• Step 6. Verify your account by uploading proof of ID and proof of residency.
• Step 7. Fund your account.

Why is a Demo Account Important?

Moneta Markets offers demo accounts that introduce traders to the broker’s services and allow them to tweak their strategies in a risk-free environment. The market is continually evolving and never static, so it is important to hone your skills in a safe environment. You can set up a demo account for yourself alongside your live CFD account.

Moneta Markets Restricted Countries

Moneta Markets Ltd does not accept clients from: Afghanistan, American Samoa, Albania, Australia, Belarus, Bermuda, Bosnia And Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Burundi, Canada, Central African Republic, Crimea, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Guam, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, ISIL (Da’esh) & Al-Qaida & The Taliban, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Mali, Montenegro, Myanmar, North Korea, Puerto Rico, Republic of Guinea, Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Romania, Russia, Sierra Leone, Serbia, Sevastopol, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, Somalia, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Syria, United States of America, United Kingdom, United States Virgin Islands, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

Research

Research Tools

I have broken down the various types of research materials below:

Technical Rating Indicator

A screening tool that highlights the underlying market sentiment per trading instrument for a given time period. It shows whether there is a strong bullis or bearish bias, or if the underlying market sentiment is neutral.

Economic Calendar

A staple of research content, the economic calendar informs traders of upcoming economic releases that are likely to cause upsurges in market volatility. This, in turn, creates viable trading opportunities. The economic calendar shows how the market is likely to react to set events.

Moneta TV

Moneta TV broadcasts daily breakdowns of the most important market drivers. The content consists of a section dedicated to fundamental analysis and an economic portion supported by a chart.

Pro Trader Tools

The package consists of market buzz, trading ideas, market analyses, and more, all developed by Trading Central, which is one of the most trusted signal providers in the trading industry. These different types of content analyze in depth the underlying technical and fundamental outlooks on various trading instruments and highlight potential trading opportunities. Each trading idea is supported with a chart, pivot points, potential break-out/down setups, target levels, and stop-loss levels.

To gain access to this content from the client portal, you need to have funded your account with $500 or more.

Trading Calculators

These help traders to quickly and easily calculate their margin, market exposure, potential profits and losses, and more.

Daily Global Market Updates

Essentially, a breakdown of the day’s top trading opportunities. Each article consists of such breakdowns of several instruments, which are supported by a chart with several indicators and drawing tools. There is also a brief explanation of the opportunity. Each article highlights the global financial outlook and upcoming economic releases of importance. The written articles are also presented in a video format.

Education

I broke down Moneta Markets’ educational content by type:

Written Articles

There are 50 highly informative articles available from Moneta Markets’ website that cover a wide range of trading topics. Many articles are dedicated to price patterns explaining what the patterns represent and how they can be used.

Market Masters

Essentially Moneta Markets’ educational course, the ‘Market Masters’ section contains a collection of video materials covering a wide range of trading topics, such as technical analysis, fundamental analysis, and the psychology of trading. Brief previews are available for free, though the full package is available only to fully active clients.

My overall impression of this type of content is that it does a good job of giving first-time traders an insight into essential trading concepts and knowledge. It is great as a starting point into technical analysis and reading price action behavior.

Platform Videos

Moneta Markets also has a decent range of videos explaining how to use its proprietary Pro Trader platform. These are available from the broker’s YouTube channel.

The Bottom Line

Moneta Markets is a derivatives broker that offers over 950 CFDs from different asset classes. The broker was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Moneta Markets also has offices in Hong Kong, Seychelles, and Saint Lucia.

It operates several entities that are licensed and authorized in different jurisdictions. One is regulated in Australia by ASIC, one in South Africa by the FSCA, and another in Seychelles by the FSA. The broker adheres to most safety requirements and is fairly transparent, though I found some minor discrepancies.

Moneta Markets’ fees are very competitive, especially on its ECN account. I found it suitable for the implementation of high-frequency intraday trading and longer-term swing and day trading strategies.

Its proprietary Pro Trader platform is feature-rich and highly customizable. Being powered by TradingView, it affords traders an intricate outlook into price action behavior. The broker also incorporates the widely popular MetaTrader 4&5, along with a range of supporting tools.

I was not, however, particularly impressed by Moneta Markets’ customer support. It took them quite a while to respond to a couple of queries of mine, and the answers they gave me were not overly detailed. Additionally, the broker could expand the scope of its educational content to make it more well-balanced and comprehensive.

Overall, Moneta Markets is a good broker that caters to the needs of all kinds of traders, from shorter-term intraday traders to longer-term swing traders. Automated and social trading is also available.

FAQ