Warning! CryptoBase is an offshore company! Your deposit may be at risk.
RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
CryptoBase claims to offer fertile grounds for making solid trades with many instruments despite its name calling attention to crypto derivatives. However, there is something quite unsettling with it. Read on to find out what it is.
CryptoBase not only has a very technically unimpressive site (it’s slow, heavy with images, and unprofessional), but it is also UNREGULATED, as proven by the lack of any kind of license information. The Contact Us page gave us an address in Switzerland which we assure you to be completely fake, since this country is probably the most demanding nation for forex brokers, only behind the United States, and a Legal Framework in the Risk Disclosure stating that MiFID is involved, which is a decree that increases the transparency across the European Union’s financial markets. There is no connection between both claims since Switzerland is not a part of the EU. The Environment sub page claims that the broker is regulated by the NFA, CySEC, by the FCA (which it has mistaken for the FSA), and a number of other regulators, some offshore.
We urge traders to trade with actually regulated brokers which not only enforces a strict set of rules and demands detailed reports on company activities.
We were able to open a demo account on the MT4 platform, which gave us a very low spread of 0,3 pips. Two things. This spread is quite favorable to us, and thus is suspicious seeing at the broker is fraudulent; and second the MT4 platform does not actually belong to the broker, but to a third party company.
The leverage is limited at 1:100, which is quote low for an unregulated, probably, of shore broker.
The broker claims to offer Forex Pairs, Crypto, Indexes, Stocks, and Commodities, even thought it, on multiple occasions, claims to be offering crypto-only assets.
The languages made available are Russian, Italian, Spanish, and English.
CRYPTOBASE LOGIN
As mentioned the MT4 here does not belong to CryptoBase but to a third party company by the name of GelkoPartners.
This simply means that the broker has no trading platform, so any spread values, leverage, and assets it claims to offer are in fact nullified by the this fact. This is probably the biggest tell of CryptoBase’s illicit nature.
CRYPTOBASE MINIMUM DEPOSIT
Depositing methods according to the dashboard are Xpate, Credit Cards, Paytrio, VoguePay, and crypto.
The minimum amount with which we were able to continue the depositing process was $250.
Due to the broker’s lack of an authoritative regulation, we advise against depositing any amount whatsoever. If traders wish to invest in online forex, they will find that any FCA/CySEC regulated broker will surely do. These agencies are at the top of their game, demanding a strict conduct from brokers, and requiring regular reports on their activities.
DON’T PROVIDE YOUR CREDIT CARD CVV CODE
The three digit CVV code is essential to making purchases or completing transactions online. By handing this info to someone claiming to be a broker, your are exposing your savings to the biggest risk of all!
DON’T PROVIDE ACCESS TO YOUR COMPUTER AND BANK ACCOUNT VIA ANYDESK OR TEAMVIEWER
AnyDesk and TeamViewer software are double edged. For one, you provide complete access to your computer to someone else who, essentially, takes over as the new user. This can be helpful if the person with access is a friend, colleague, or acquaintance; or it can be devastating to your private information, including bank info, if you provide entry to someone with a shady background. Hence the double edge. Note that these software are 100% legal meaning that your approval will be needed if someone is to tinker inside your PC.
CRYPTOBASE WITHDRAWAL TIME AND FEE
According to the legal documents. The minimum withdrawal for Wire Transfer is $250 which is way to high. For all other methods the minimum is $100. Usually minimum withdrawals are much lower than this: this way they reassure clients that their money can be easily recovered. Not the case here.
Withdrawals take up to 5-7 days to process (legal documents are contradictory to one another), if they are processed at all, i.e probably no one will ever see a trace of their money.
Fees are as follows: $50 for Wire Transfers; $25 for Credit Cards plus a $10 processing fee; $25 for ePayments.
Furthermore, there is a 10% charge if a trader has not executed mire than 200 times in turnover his/her deposit, which is always a kind reminder of the frauds behind the broker.
ADDITIONAL FEES AND TAXES
There are no clauses worth mentioning, but we assure our readers that this broker will not return any deposits or profits. Either the broker will find a loophole in the terms and conditions that is completely made up, will firmly advise you against withdrawing, or they will ask more deposits needed if one wished to withdrawal. Scammers come up with additional fees and taxes for the sole purpose of keeping you on stand-by, and to deplete as much money from you as is possible.
ACCOUNT VERIFICATION
If a broker is unlicensed, never give you ID and personal details to it, because the broker will use these details against you once you file for a charge back. Furthermore, any allegation held against the brokerage will be easily refuted if they have in their possession a copy of your ID and proof of address.
The most important thing to note is that this broker will not return your deposit, nor will it pay your winnings. It never had this intention in the first place. The best advise is to walk away from it, and go straight for a regulated broker. The FCA and CySEC are the top non-US license issuers, and those under their gaze are bound by the law to put the security of users’ funds as pivotal priority.
HOW TO RECOVER
Don’t delay, and file for a charge back ASAP with your bank or credit card company, but also ask them what the situation with your current account is.
If you have given a CVV code to the broker, be sure to cancel your credit card as soon as possible, because the broker will not delay with draining every cent from it.
Also, beware of self proclaimed “recovery” agencies or agents. These cheeky scammers promise to fix your problem and restore the lost funds. They offer their services in exchange of a small sum from your end, after which you won’t ever hear from them again.
The last line of defense for these indecent folk is more like a desperate cry: often times they will comment on reviews and cite the whole ordeal as a conspiracy initiated by competitive brokers against them; at times even claiming that reviewers are anything but objective, and that no one writes good reviews. The absurdities are limitless!
BOTTOM LINE
CryptoBase is a complete scam, and if you cherish your money do not deposit here. This broker is extremely unfair, and will give you only negative emotions. Stay away!
