Deriv

Deriv Broker Review: Is Deriv Safe to Trade With?

Deriv has been a major player in the trading industry since its inception in 1999 (originally as Binary.com). Today, it remains an established CFD broker and digital options provider. It offers customers the opportunity to trade currencies, commodities, indices, and synthetic products around the clock. You only need a minimum deposit of $5 to start trading.

Several regulators and licensing authorities oversee the platform, but it doesn't have licenses from top-tier regulators in the US or UK. Still, Deriv has over 3 million user accounts and 20 offices operating in different countries across the globe.

Introduction to Deriv

Deriv is a multi-market broker with over 25 years of experience in forex, commodities, cryptos, indices, and its own synthetic indices.

It offers unique tools like Deriv X for CFD trading and Deriv Go for mobile app users. It also allows you to use MetaTrader 5, which is a platform that many traders are familiar with.

It is regulated by the MFSA (Malta Financial Services Authority), the LFSA (Labuan Financial Services Authority), VFSC (Vanuatu Financial Services Commission), and BVI FSC (British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission). These are not tier 1 regulators; however, they do enforce the protection of client funds and general compliance rules.

Traders use Deriv for:

• Trading forex pairs
• Variety of synthetic indices available for trading 24/7
• Running strategies using their in-built tools or bots

To summarize:

Deriv Commissions, Spreads, and Payouts

Digital options and CFDs are the two major trading products offered by Deriv. Deriv does not charge commissions on any of its products, nor does it have a separate fee for executing each trade in a traditional sense.

However, like with any reliable broker, trading at Deriv is not free. The trading costs can come from one of two major sources. In trading CFDs, Deriv earns money from the difference between the bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices of an asset, which is known as the spread. At the same time, the digital option trade payout structure model is based on potential return.

To break down Deriv fees, there are three main categories of actual costs to traders:

• Spreads on CFD trades
• Swap fees or overnight fees
• Inactivity fees

Small changes in Deriv spreads can produce dramatic effects on active traders who trade often. Wider spreads correspond to farther movement for the market to reach profitability, while tighter spreads equal less distance.

Deriv CFD Spreads

Deriv offers competitive spreads on some products, but high spreads on others.

For forex, the lack of commissions and decent spreads makes Deriv a viable choice. For indices, stocks, and commodities the spreads are higher than what you would pay with a broker providing you direct access to those markets (no spread markup) instead of a CFD.

Here are examples of the spreads available on various products.

0.4 pips on the EURUSD, with no commissions, is highly competitive. This makes Deriv a reasonable choice for trading forex.

A $0.63 spread on Apple, or a $24.72 spread on Bitcoin is relatively large. With a stock broker like Exante the spread on Apple is typically $0.01 and the spread on Bitcoin with an exchange like Binance is $0.01. Though these brokers may charge commissions or trading fees.

This is a sampling of the spreads you will see with Deriv, as the company offers a wide of range of CFDs.

Option Payouts

With digital options, we have a payout structure based on the probability of an outcome. Because of this, trading digital options is essentially free in terms of commissions since the cost structure is completely included in how payouts are calculated.

As far as standard choices like the Rise/Fall options are concerned, the normal range for binary option percentage payouts is typically between 76% and 95%. The trade logic is straightforward:

• You predict whether the price of an asset will be above or below a specified level at the time of expiration.
• If your prediction is correct, you receive the stated payout (usually between 75% and 95% profit on your stake).
• If your prediction is wrong, you lose 100% of the amount you invested in that trade.

All other types of trading options are built similarly, but differ in their method of determining how payouts are calculated:

• Touch / No Touch options: Payout may vary from near 0% to 100% depending on the chance you will win or lose when trying to reach or avoid a target price.
• Higher / Lower options: Payouts will vary based on how far the selected price barrier is from the current market price.
• In certain cases, especially when the prices at which Deriv traders are staking are very high relative to their current price, and there is very little time to trade, payouts can reach several hundred percent or even exceed 1,000%.

The payouts vary and are affected by:

• Volatility in the market
• The time remaining before the option expires
• The distance from the current price to the target price level
• The overall likelihood that the event will happen

Deriv Markets and Trading Products

Deriv provides access to a large variety of asset classes, offering investors exposure to many different global markets. These Deriv trading assets include forex, stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, indices, and synthetic indices.

With Deriv, traders are not restricted to traditional financial instruments such as stocks or forex. Because of this, a trader can move back and forth between currency pairs, stock CFDs, crypto markets, and indices.

Deriv offers three primary formats to trade these products, including digital options, CFDs, and multipliers. Each of these formats has its own purpose and fits with a different trading style and market exposure.

One area where Deriv has a unique offering compared to other brokers is synthetic indices trading. Synthetic indices use proprietary algorithmic markets to create products that mimic real market price behavior.

In addition to synthetic products, Deriv also provides traders access to popular traditional indices like the DAX 40, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq 100.

Trading across these assets is supported on multiple platforms, including MetaTrader 5 (MT5) and Deriv Go.

Deriv Digital Options

If you are interested in digital options with a fixed risk and fixed payout when you take the trade, you have a wide range of markets to choose from.

Choose from durations as low as 5 ticks or 15 seconds. The minimum bet/risk size is $1.

• Derived: These are baskets or indices created by Deriv. They include Volatility indices and currency baskets.  
• Forex: Choose from 26 currency pairs, including all the majors like the EURUSD, USDJPY, and USDCAD.  
• Indices: Trade major global indices like the US 500, US Tech 100, Japan 225, and German 40. Trade 12 indices in all.  
• Crypto: Trade Bitcoin/USD or Ethereum/USD  
• Commodities: Trade gold, silver, palladium, or platinum (priced in USD).

Deriv CFD Products

• Derived: Trade synthetic indices based on volatility, randomized or synthetic trading products. Trade gold versus a basket or currencies, or a currency versus a basket of other currencies.  
• Forex: Trade 54 currency pairs, as as well 19 “micro” pairs. Micro pairs allow you to trade in small lot sizes to better control risk on a small account.  
• Indices: Trade global indices including the US 500, US Tech 100, Japan 225 and German 40. Trade 12 indices in all.  
• Stocks & ETFs: Trade 57 stocks including Tesla, Apple, Walmart, Netflix, and Meta. Trade more than 30 exchange-traded funds (ETFs).  
• Crypto: There are a wide of cryptocurrency CFDs including LTC, BTC, ETH, TRX, XRP, ADA, BNB, BAT. DSH, FIL, SOL, XLM, DOT, DOG and more. 31 crypto pairs in all.

• Commodities: Trade Aluminum, gold, palladium, silver, copper, lead, platinum, zinc, nickel, Brent oil, and West Texas oil.

Deriv Multipliers

Multipliers allow you to risk a fixed dollar amount while leveraging a CFD trade up to 500:1. Keep in mind, with 500:1 leverage it is very easy to get stopped out, but you can make large profits if the price reaches your target.

Multipliers are only available on derived markets (synthetic products created by Deriv) and on some forex pairs.

Deriv Deposit and Withdrawal Methods

Deriv provides loads of deposit methods and ways to withdraw. Deriv does not charge for deposits or withdrawals, but some third-party payment providers, credit cards, or your bank may charge a fee.

Payments can be made in USD, EUR, AUD, GBP, UGX, TZS, BTC, ETH, LTC, USDC, and USDT.

• Credit/debit cards: Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, Diners Club, and JCB cards.

Deposits are instant and withdrawals are processed within one business day. Min and max deposit and withdrawal amounts are 10 to 10,000.

• E-wallets: Fasapay, Perfect Money, Skrill, Neteller, WebMoney, paysafecard, Jeton, Sticpay, airtm, Boleto, Pay Livre, OnlineNaira, Trustly, AirtelMTN, AstroPay, 1FORYOU, Advcash.

Deposits are generally instant with e-wallets, and withdrawals are processed within one day. The minimum deposit and withdrawal amount is 10. The maximum is based on the e-wallet provider.

• Online Banking: Instant Bank Transfer, PayTrust, help2pay, DragonPhoenix, ZingPay, NganLuong

With online banking, deposits are instant to one business day, depending on the bank, and withdrawals take one to three business days. Minimum deposits start at 5.

• Crypto: Bitcoin, Ethereum, litecoin, USD Coin, and tether.

There is no minimum deposit with crypto, and withdrawal minimums are shown in the graphic below.

Deposits are available once confirmed and withdrawals are subject to internal verification.

Deriv Account Types

There are three main Deriv account types: the Deriv Financial account, the Deriv Derived account, and the Deriv Swap-Free account. Each of these Deriv trading accounts is designed for a specific type of asset and will affect the way you trade your assets.

If you’re planning to buy or sell CFDs, your trading account should be the Deriv Financial account. This is the most flexible account to trade in the traditional financial markets.

If you would like to trade synthetic indices, then you will need to open the Deriv Derived account. Synthetic indices differ from traditional indices because they are proprietary markets offered by Deriv and based on algorithmic price movements instead of real assets.

The Deriv Swap-Free account is very similar to the Deriv Financial account, but has no overnight interest charges. This means it is perfect for traders who need Sharia-compliant (Islamic account) trading conditions.

The core structure of all the Deriv account types is the same. The pricing model across all accounts is also the same, which means no account has a distinct advantage (in terms of either spreads or fees) over another.

However, it is important to note that there is one limitation: not all products are available on a single account or platform at the same time. For example, synthetic indices can only be traded through the Derived account, while traditional CFD markets can only be traded through the Financial or Swap-Free account.

When determining which account you wish to use with Deriv, there are three main considerations:

• The assets you wish to trade (traditional markets vs synthetic indices).
• Your trading style (short-term, long-term, or continuous trading).
• Whether you need swap-free conditions for holding positions overnight.

Deriv Trading Platforms and App Review

Deriv’s trading platforms are easy to use and trade with. But there is one problem. They have eight different trading platforms for different things. That means you can’t trade options and CFDs from the same platform. You need to switch between platforms, with different looks and features, if you want to trade both.

Here is a breakdown of what each trading platform does, so you can decide which is best for how you want to trade.

Deriv MT5 Platform– Trade all the CFDs via this one platform. MetaTrader5 is a commonly used platform available with many brokers. Choose this if you are familiar with the MT5 platform and want to stick with it. If you aren’t a fan of MT5, then try the Deriv X platform.

Deriv X Platform – This Deriv’s own CFD trading platform. It is easy to navigate and trade with. Click on an asset in the watchlist along the left and that will open a trade window. Input how much you wish to trade and what price. Input a stop loss and profit target order at the same time.

Choose between candle, bar, or line charts and more than 50 technical indicators including RSI, MACD, SMA, and many more. There is also a wide range of drawing tools including trendlines and Fibonacci levels.

Deriv EZ Platform– This is the mobile app for CFD trading. It is very similar to Deriv X but in a more compact package so you can trade on the go. It includes all the technical indicators and chart types.

Trading is just as easy on EZ as it is on X. Click on the Instruments button at the bottom of the screen to bring up a list of assets. Click buy or sell to start an order, or click on the asset name to bring up a chart.

Deriv Trader Platform – This is Deriv’s digital options trading platform. Once again choose from more than 50 technical analysis indicators and a wide range of drawing tools.

Pick the asset you want to trade from the drop-down to bring up a chart. The trading panel is along the left side. In the trading panel you can decide which type of option you want to trade, the duration, your stake, and then you will see the payouts currently being offered for that trade.

Deriv Go Platform– This is Deriv’s mobile options trading platform. Get all the perks of the Trader platform in a version for your phone. The quickest way to trade with the Go platform is to hit the Trade button at the bottom of the app. You can then choose your asset and then hit buy or sell.

Smart Trader Platform – While this is a trading platform, I would call it more of a training aid or simplified trading platform. You are presented with an order window and a chart below. You can choose your asset at the top.

Instead of the chart, you can click Explanation, and the platform will explain your trade in terms of what happens if you win or lose, and how that could happen. A good platform for when you are starting out and are unsure how digital options work.

The chart still provides access to more than 50 indicators and lots of drawing tools, so use it as your main platform if you wish.

Deriv Bot and Binary Bot Platforms – These aren’t so much trading platforms but rather strategy development tools. With no coding required, you can create automated trading strategies.

Creating a strategy only requires setting the trade parameters, purchase conditions, and sell conditions. Choose from a wide array of metrics to create your strategy.

Going through these two platforms, they seem nearly the same. The one exception is that Deriv Bot is newer and has more parameters to choose from.

Deriv Trader Support Review

Deriv provides a trading support center with articles answering the most common questions and concerns.

If you need personalized help, support is available 24/7 via online chat or through Whatsapp. Anywhere on the website, you can click the message or phone icons in the lower right corner of the screen. If you click the phone icon, you will need a Whatsapp account. If you don’t have or don’t want one, then use the message button for online chat. Support is also available within all trading platforms.

Chat is quite prompt and I was able to get a response right away, although wait times may vary depending on customer request volume.

The website or company doesn’t offer a lot in terms of trader education articles or webinars. For articles on trading, see our blog.

Safety and Security at Deriv

Deriv's core security features are standard measures used on the majority of platforms. When assessing whether Deriv is safe, it’s important to look at both the technical safeguards in place and the regulatory structure supporting the platform.

All personal data and financial transactions are stored using SSL encryption. It is the minimum required online security protection needed for online banking or any other type of financial services.

Additionally, Deriv implements a two-factor authentication (2FA) process. The implementation of 2FA reduces the chances of unauthorized access to accounts.

Negative balance protection is another one of Deriv's safety measures. This means that traders using this platform will never lose more funds than they deposited.

Deriv regulation operates in multiple regions and through regulatory entities like the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), the Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA), the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC), and the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC).

Deriv is also a member of the Financial Commission, which is an independent arbitration body that helps traders resolve disputes. This membership provides an extra level of protection for the clients because they can escalate complaints to a third party if issues are not resolved internally.

These measures offer traders a secure trading environment and make Deriv legit. This, in turn, allows traders to concentrate on strategies instead of worrying about platform security or the safety of their funds.

Deriv FAQs

Is Binary.com now Deriv.com?

Yes, if you type Binary.com into your browser it redirects to Deriv.com. Deriv is short for “derivative” so the name better encompasses what the company offers. Digital options and CFDs are both derivative trading products in that they are based on an underlying asset.

Where are Deriv’s offices?

Deriv has offices in the UK, France, Malta, Cyprus, Guernsey, Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai, Jordan, Belarus, Rwanda, Paraguay, Cayman Islands, and Vanuatu.

Is Deriv available in the US?

Deriv does not offer its services to US or Canadian residents. It is not regulated to market to clients in these regions.

Does Deriv allow copy trading?

You can copy the trades of others, or allow others to copy your trades, via the MT5 trading signals service. This will require using the Deriv MT5 trading terminal. To access it, click on the Signals tab in the MT5 platform.

Does Deriv offer trade signals?

You can subscribe to trade signals through the Deriv MT5 platform. You can choose a signal provider and then subscribe to them. This will require the MT5 platform and is not available through the other Deriv platforms.

Does Deriv offer deposit bonuses?

Deriv may offer deposit or trading bonuses on occasion. Bonuses may vary by location. There are currently no bonuses offered through the website. Check with the broker to see if they have any current promotions.

Final Thoughts on Deriv

Deriv provides a wide range of CFD and digital options to trade. Its payouts and spreads are competitive and it doesn’t charge commissions.

It is regulated and has offices around the world, making it generally a safe company to trade with. The platforms are easy to use, but you may need to use multiple platforms if you plan to trade both options and CFDs.

See our other broker reviews.