History & OverviewTrading PlatformHow To TradeMarketsFeesLeverage ReviewMobile AppDeposits & WithdrawalsDemo AccountBonuses & PromotionsRegulation & LicenseAdditional FeaturesAccountsBenefits Of Focus OptionDrawbacks Of Focus OptionTrading HoursCustomer SupportSafetyShould You Trade With Focus Option?Accepted CountriesAlternatives to Focus OptionFAQWhat Is A Spread On Focus Option?Can I Choose How Long A Digital Option Lasts On Focus Option?Do I Need To Download Any Software To Trade On Focus Option?What Happens If The Focus Option Strike Price Is Not Met Within The Relevant Period?
Focus Option is a digital options and CFD broker offering access to forex, crypto, commodities, indices and stock markets. The brokerage offers an in-house trading platform alongside TradingView and a downloadable mobile app. This 2022 review will analyse the services and products offered by Focus Option, as well as examining its authenticity. Find out whether to open a trading account today.
History & Overview
Founded in 2021, Focus Option is a relatively new broker. The company was established by “traders and industry leaders,” although none of the founders are publicly named.
Focus Option Ltd is registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which means it is an offshore, unregulated brokerage.
The brand focuses heavily on digital options and CFDs, instead of vanilla options.
Apart from some restricted territories, the brokers trading products and services are open to investors around the world. Supported countries include: India, Singapore, the Philippines, Kenya, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, and the UK.
Trading Platform
Focus Option has its own in-house web trading platform, which means that no separate software downloads are required. The trading platform is compatible with any browser or system, including Windows 10.
While using the web trading platform, our experts found a range of useful features:
News and market analysis
High-low options for flexibility in predicting market movements
Indicators such as Bollinger Bands and moving averages to interpret market data
Various charts including candle and Heikin-Ashi with zoom in and out capabilities
Sentiment indicator to help users to gauge market participant’s views on asset prices
Focus Option’s minimum trade amount is $1. Expiry times on options contracts vary from 60 seconds to 30 days. Although slippage can occur while trading, the broker’s VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting may reduce this risk.
Focus Option does not support a broker API, which would allow clients to build their own trading bots using an open source programming language such as JavaScript.
Those who want to make use of a platform external to the broker to analyse the market in more depth may wish to use TradingView. However, users should note that Focus Option orders cannot be placed directly from external platforms.
Note, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) or MetaTrader 5 (MT5) are not supported by this broker.
How To Trade
While using the platform, we found the terminal user-friendly. To get started:
Select the asset you wish to speculate on using the drop down menu in the top left
Filter the contract duration using the time box in the top right
Check the potential payout in the ‘profit’ box on the right
Select ‘buy’ if you believe the price will rise and ‘sell’ if you think it will fall
Monitor your position to see if you finish ‘in the money’
Markets
There are over 60 financial instruments available on Focus Option covering forex, crypto and commodities:
39 forex pairs including majors and minors such as EUR/USD and EUR/GBP
25 cryptos including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP)
2 commodities (gold and silver (XAGUSD))
On the mobile app, stock and index CFDs are available, including the S&P 500 and DAX 30.
No ETFs are offered by Focus Option, unlike with other brokerages such as eToro or Zerodha.
Fees
Although many traders will look at commission rates when comparing brokers, the way that online brokerages earn money through digital options is slightly different. There is no commission per lot size at this broker. Instead, investors should focus on the payout or profit percentage. Payouts are usually between 70% and 95%, which is competitive.
For example, Bitcoin currently has a 96% potential payout whereas GBP/USD is much lower at 63%. As an example, a profit percentage of 70% would mean the trader would make $70 if they risked $100 and their prediction turned out to be correct.
While the profit percentage is important, remember that higher payouts are not everything. For example, brokers may offer high payouts on certain crypto markets because they are so volatile. This unpredictability can make it difficult for investors to make consistently profitable trades, which benefits the broker.
Importantly, when trading digital options, if your prediction is incorrect, you lose your entire stake. However, if your prediction is correct, brokers will almost always offer payouts less than 100%. This means you would still end up losing money to the broker if you made an equal number of winning and losing trades. These factors highlight the importance of following an effective trading strategy that leads to more winning trades than losing ones.
When trading margin FX contracts and CFDs on the mobile app, expect spreads of around 3 pips for GBP/USD and 1 pip for EUR/USD. These are relatively high as Focus Option is a market maker broker. You can find tighter spreads at an ECN broker, but commission will likely be charged.
Those holding CFDs (contracts for difference) overnight may also have to pay interest. This is why some traders may prefer short-term binary options.
Leverage Review
CFDs are a leveraged financial instrument, so trading on margin is possible with Focus Option. This means greater exposure and higher profits if the market moves in the right direction, but larger losses if the market moves against the trader.
Investors may need to deposit more with the broker to keep their leveraged position open if the required margin drops below certain levels. The initial margin on CFDs is typically between 2% and 5%.
Note, this is not relevant for binary options traders.
Mobile App
Focus Option has a mobile app available for download on Google Play (for Android (APK)) and the App Store (for iPhone and iPad iOS). This means clients at this broker can trade on the go. The Focus Option mobile app also offers alternate CFD markets including stocks and indices.
When using the mobile app download, we found the terminal reliable and user-friendly. Investors can also make deposits and withdrawals from the application and manage their account.
Focus Option App
Deposits & Withdrawals
Focus Option does not impose an additional charge on deposits for options or CFD trading. The minimum deposit is $10, and processing times are instant. The following deposit methods are available:
Bitcoin (BTC)
Tether (ERC-20)
Tether (BEP-20)
Ethereum (ERC-20)
BinanceUSD (BEP-20)
Visa and Mastercard
JCB card
Funds must be withdrawn using the same method as the deposit. Withdrawals are also not charged a fee by Focus Option. Withdrawal processing times are 24 hours.
Demo Account
A free $10,000 demo/practice account is offered by Focus Option. Although use of the account is limited to 30 days, this should be sufficient time to test a digital options trading strategy or to get to grips with the platform.
Whether you’re based in Europe, Asia or elsewhere, Reddit can be a useful place to research binary options strategies, prior to either using a brokers demo account or backtesting systems using historical market data. Discord servers are another example of a useful community discussion space.
Bonuses & Promotions
Although there are not any particular promotions or no deposit bonuses advertised by Focus Option, reference is made to trading credits for new and subsisting customers. Some traders may, therefore, receive a trading bonus when they open an account.
In recent years, brokers with no deposit bonuses and similar promotions have been clamped down on by certain regulators such as the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (CySEC). Though as an offshore broker, it is unlikely Focus Open would be affected by this.
Regulation & License
Focus Option Ltd is registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and is therefore under the jurisdiction of their laws. However, our experts were unable to find confirmation of an actual regulator or body that licences this broker. Therefore, it is not likely that any protection schemes and other regulatory protections are offered to clients.
As an offshore broker, Focus Option offers far less consumer protection than a European broker regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (CySEC), for example. This means that client funds may not be recoverable.
Additional Features
Focus Option does not offer many additional features. There is a small education section available on the trading platform dashboard, but this is limited to a guide on how to trade binary options rather than in-depth tutorials.
The lack of extra features is a real downside, especially for beginners new to the industry. This review would like to see the online broker bolster its suite of training materials.
Accounts
Focus Option offers four trading accounts: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Each account offers full access to the broker’s suite of assets and tools. However, the Silver account offers larger trade sizes plus faster payments. The Gold account then also provides an account manager, live signals, plus market insights. Finally, Platinum account holders benefit from all of the above, plus enhanced payouts up to 95% plus VIP events.
Benefits Of Focus Option
When we used Focus Option, our pro traders found several key advantages:
$1 minimum trade
Payouts up to 95%
Easy sign-up process
Turbo options trading
No brokerage commission
Crypto payments supported
Free deposits and withdrawals
$10 low minimum deposit levels
Beginner-friendly trading platform
Secure broker and platform login protocols
Drawbacks Of Focus Option
Our experts also found several disadvantages to trading with the Focus Option broker:
Offshore regulation raises safety concerns
No guarantee that personal data is safe
No verifiable information about founders
Unable to trade 24/7, even on crypto digital options
Clients based in the USA cannot use the broker’s products
Trading Hours
Focus Option’s trading services open on Sunday at 17:00 EST and close on Friday at 17:00 EST. Trades cannot be placed with this broker outside these hours. Investors should also check the opening hours of individual markets as there will be variations here too.
Customer Support
There are good customer support options, including live chat and a contact number/helpdesk offered by Focus Option. The team can help with questions about account error codes or if the platform is not working or failed.
The full list of support methods is as follows:
Live chat
WhatsApp
Online contact form
Phone (+(62)21 2002-2012)
Email (support@focusoption.com)
Focus Option has created accounts on various social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and a YouTube channel, although these pages have almost zero content. There is also limited information on the broker’s FAQs page.
Safety
Focus Option states that client funds are segregated from funds belonging to the broker at all times. In theory, this helps to protect trader funds from any mismanagement of the broker’s finances. Despite being an offshore broker, funds are stored in a European bank.
In relation to the broker’s account security, clients can enable two-factor authentication on their account through the Google Authenticator app.
Focus Option also undertake the usual KYC (Know Your Client) name and identity verification as part of their anti-money laundering obligations. ID such as a passport is required as part of the sign-up process with this broker.
Because this brokerage is offshore and unregulated, there is no guarantee that they will store your KYC data securely.
Should You Trade With Focus Option?
Whether you are from Germany, the UK or Canada, the online brokerage provides a simple way to speculate on various markets. Although the binary options offering is focused heavily on currency pairs and cryptos, the CFDs available provide access to a broader range of markets.
On the downside, there is limited publicly available information about the company’s founders. The fact that the broker is keeping the names of its team members anonymous raises concerns about its legitimacy. Only invest what you can afford to lose.
Accepted Countries
Focus Option accepts traders from Australia, Thailand, Canada, United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Qatar and most other countries.
Traders can not use Focus Option from United States.
Alternatives to Focus Option
If you are looking for alternatives to Focus Option we have compiled a list of the top 5 brokers that are similar to Focus Option below. This list of brokers like Focus Option is in order of similarity and only includes companies that accept traders from your location.
ActivTrades – ActivTrades offers online trading on the MT4, MT5 and ActivTrader platforms. Over 93.60% of orders are executed at the requested price.
Spectre.ai – Spectre.ai is a blockchain-based binary options broker
BinaryCent – Deposit and trade with a Bitcoin funded account. BinaryCent offers binary options, FX and CFD trading. 1:100 leverage is also available.
Ayondo – Ayondo offer trading across a huge range of markets and assets. They also offer negative balance protection and social trading.
Eightcap – Eightcap is a multi-regulated FX and CFD broker offering MT4 and MT5. The brand provides award winning trading platforms, zero commissions, free education and low spreads.
FAQ
What Is A Spread On Focus Option?
The spread is the difference between the bid and ask prices i.e the difference between the price the asset is selling at/can be bought at and the price you as the customer can sell it at. Spreads are how many market maker brokers like Focus Option generate profit.
Can I Choose How Long A Digital Option Lasts On Focus Option?
Yes, the trader can set the expiry time on the digital option. Expiry times generally range from 60 seconds to 30 days.
Do I Need To Download Any Software To Trade On Focus Option?
Focus Option’s trading platform can be run on any browser, which means that no separate download is required. A free mobile app can also be downloaded.
What Happens If The Focus Option Strike Price Is Not Met Within The Relevant Period?
This would result in you losing 100% of the amount you risked. This underscores why having an effective strategy for trading digital options is important.