MaxVol

MaxVol is an unregulated broker which doesn’t hold a forex license and offers financial services against the law. On top of that, there is an official warning by the local watchdog of Germany which states that this broker is not allowed to operate on the financial market in the country.

In addition the website of MaxVol is all in german, supposedly designed for the local customers. So bear in mind that working with this website might turn out to be a real challenge if you don’t speak the language. As for the trading conditions, MaxVol offers too high leverage that isn’t worth the risk indeed. Keep reading for more details on why we think you shouldn’t invest with MaxVol.

Regulation and safety of funds

First of all, MaxVol doesn’t say where it is based – no country, no address, not even a corporate name. This makes this particular broker absolutely anonymous, as we don’t know which company runs it or anything about it in general.

However this couldn’t stop us from investigating this shady firm. As you probably know the local financial regulator in Germany is the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), so we decided to start from there and search its registers and website. Of course we didn’t find anything about MaxVol in the registers of licensed firms, so this broker is obviously not authorized to offer forex services in this country.

However later on something much more interesting about MaxVol popped out. We found a warning by BaFin regarding this broker’s activities. In short the notice states that MaxVol is not licensed or authorized to operate on the financial market in Germany. The financial regulator also makes clear that MaxVol’s registered address is in fact in Berlin, Germany. What’s more BaFin clearly points out the website of MaxVol – the same we are reviewing here (maxvol.co). See the whole statement down below:

So at this point it is 100% sure that this broker is not regulated and offers forex services outside the law. Be very careful with such shady firms, as they will try to lure you into investing right away, claiming to be reliable and reputable, but in fact their operations are not supervised by any financial authority. Don’t underestimate this fact, as it makes them particularly dangerous – they are absolutely unlawful and don’t follow any rules therefore are capable of anything, including to steal all of your investment.

If you are determined to invest in forex assets like cryptocurrencies, forex pairs, stocks or precious metals, we advise you to search for a legitimate broker with a forex license. Such firms strive to meet a whole bunch of requirements set by the local authorities so the chance of being deceived is one in a million.

For example regulated brokers in Germany must have a minimum capital of 750 000 EUR, a bit more in comparison to some of the other countries in the EU, where the amount is 730 000 EUR. This capital serves as a guarantee for the broker’s financial stability and is not to be used for its operational needs.

In addition every licensed German broker is obligated to take part in a compensation scheme – in case of a broker’s insolvency a relevant authority can compensate the client with up to 20 000 EUR.

Last but not least every regulated broker must keep its clients’ money in segregated accounts apart from its own capital. This ensures you that your funds won’t be stolen or misused.

Trading software

MxVol claims you can use their own platform without any further download and this is exactly what we did. We were able to see its trading software on the website. Take a look:

As you see this is a simple web-based platform with basic indicators and tools. Nothing special and without a doubt nothing that can compensate that this broker is absolutely unlawful.

Better look for a reputable broker who offers the industry standard MetaTrader4 or MetaTrader 5, as these platforms are proven to be 100% reliable and advanced.

Trading conditions

On its website MaxVol claims to offer several different types of accounts – one for beginners, Standard, Premium and VIP. You can see some of them down below:

The Beginner one offers a spread of 1.5 pips and leverage of 1:200, as well as a bonus of 30%.

Now, a spread of 1.5 pips is considered very advantageous for trading as it comes with lower trading costs. However if you look at their trading platform you will see a spread of 300 pips for EURUSD! This is mindblowing, as it will be very costly without a doubt. In general any spread higher than 2 pips is most certainly going to be costly in comparison to a spread less than 2 pips. In the case of MaxVol it is obvious that this is a scam! There are plenty of reputable brokers which would offer tight spreads anyway, so better don't deal with shady firms like MaxVol.

Furthermore a leverage of this high amount such as 1:200 is definitely too risky and even tricky for your investment. Also note that the leverage is limited to 1:30 in Germany (as well as in the whole EU in fact), exactly because of the associated risks, so there is no way that MaxVol could be licensed.

Yet, if you still want to try and trade with high leverage, we suggest looking at some of the offshore subsidiaries of reputable forex brokers here.

In addition, the bonus MaxVol offers, bear in mind that such bonuses are absolutely forbidden not only in Germany, but in the whole European Union and in the UK as well. One more reason that this broker just can’t be authorized to operate in Europe.

As for the minimum deposit MaxVol asks for, there is no information on the website. This is a significant drawback, as every trader should be aware what amount is required in order to start trading. Most of the reputable brokers tend to ask for around 250 USD or even less – 10 USD for example. In some cases however some brokers require a much higher amount of minimum deposit, even if they are legitimate – for example 10 000 USD or more. For this reason this data, as well as the leverage, spread and payment methods, must be displayed right away on the broker’s website, so the customer can decide if the trading conditions suit him or not.

Anyway, after we registered and tried to add funds to our account, it turned out that the minimum deposit is 250 EUR, which is the standard amount as we already mentioned. Nevertheless, never trust any broker who not only is not regulated, but also doesn’t display all the important information right off the bat.

Deposit/ Withdrawal methods and fees

On its homepage MaxVol presents some logos of popular payment methods like Visa, Mastercard, Wire transfer and crypto payment with Bitcoin.

After we opened our account however we realized that the only payment method is via credit card – to be precise through ChargeMoney, specialized in processing high risk merchants. Take a look:

So, obviously what MaxVol previously claimed to be its payment methods, is misleading information.

You can also see the message lined in red, which states that the minimum deposit is 250 EUR, as we already said.

Bear in mind that most of the scam brokers tend to ask for crypto payments in particular, so be cautious if you come across such a requirement. The reason that scammers like cryptocurrencies so much is simple – these transactions are irreversible and anonymous at the same time. This means that you can’t return your money no matter what you do, but you also can’t prove anything, as you don’t know to whom the wallet actually belongs. This makes this type of payment especially tricky.

Unlike transactions with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, there are other payment options that are more reliable and preferred by traders and forex firms as well. Most legitimate brokers usually offer payments with Visa/ Mastercard, bank transfer or familiar e-wallets like Skrill, PayPal and Neteller. All of them give you the possibility to return your money – you can file for a chargeback (credit/debit cards) or open a dispute (e-wallets).