This BlackBull Markets vs FXCM review found BlackBull has more forex pairs (64 v 45) than FXCM. While both forex brokers have MetaTrader 4, FXCM has more trading platforms. See our findings for how the FX brokers compare
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BlackBull Markets is a New Zealand-based forex broker but has clients in over 180 countries. Founded in Auckland in 2014, BlackBull Markets claims to be a ‘True ECN’ broker in that they allow you to trade directly with market participants. It uses straight-through processing (STP) in which trades are automated without the broker’s manual intervention. Hence, BlackBull Markets can offer spreads at low prices.
FXCM was founded in New York City, USA in 1999 and has offices across the world, ranging from the UK to Australia. In contrast to BlackBull Markets, FXCM has ‘Enhanced Order Execution’, meaning that they act as your trading counterparty by matching the best available quotes from their pool of liquidity providers. Traders in Canada can trade with ‘Friedberg Direct using FXCM technology’. This means you are joining FXCM, but have access to the same FXCM infrastructure as FXCM clients in other countries.
This BlackBull Markets vs FXCM looks at the key features to help you find your next broker.
The two primary trading costs that will affect how much you pay when trading is the spread and commission fees. Other trading costs can include swaps which we don’t cover.
Standard (Commission-Free) Account Information
On a standard forex trading account, you will not have to pay any commission fees. However, spread costs will be above market prices as it includes the broker’s brokerage fee.
To easily compare spreads offered by BlackBull Markets and FXCM with other brokers, we’ve compiled a spreads module below for you.
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Standard Account Spreads
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1.20 | 1.70 | 1.50 | 1.40 | 1.30 |
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1.30 | 1.70 | 2.10 | 1.40 | 1.50 |
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1.10 | 1.20 | 1.40 | 1.40 | 1.40 |
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1.13 | 1.01 | 1.71 | 1.66 | 1.12 |
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1.20 | 0.90 | 1.50 | 1.80 | 1.80 |
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1.20 | 1.40 | 1.50 | 1.60 | 1.50 |
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1.10 | 1.20 | 1.40 | 1.50 | 1.20 |
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1.10 | 1.30 | 1.30 | 1.30 | 1.30 |
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1.20 | 1.80 | 1.90 | 1.90 | 1.60 |
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1.32 | 1.95 | 1.37 | 1.70 | 1.40 |
Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 01/09/2023
View BlackBull Markets ReviewVisit BlackBull Markets
The module above suggests that both BlackBull Markets and FXCM have reasonably similar spreads. But, on average they appear higher than other brokers such as Pepperstone or IC Markets
EUR/USD on BlackBull Markets, but spreads can fall as low as a minimum of 0.8 pips.
FXCM has a marginally higher typical spread, at around the 1.2 – 1.4 pip mark. However, the minimum spread that you can get on major forex currency pairs is 0.7 pips. Note, however, that if you are trading in Canada, you will not have access to the standard account.
Commission-based (STP/ECN-style) Account Comparison
A no-dealing desk broker uses straight-through-processing (STP) plus ECN execution to provide tight spreads to traders, however, brokers will charge a commission fee on trades as payment.
BlackBull Markets is a ‘True ECN’ broker in the sense they neither set the price nor are your counterparty this results in spreads as low as 0.1 pips for major pairs.
As you can see in our commission-based account spread module below, you can expect a typical spread of around 0.2 – 0.25 pips for pairs like the EUR/USD on the BlackBull markets ECN Prime account.
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ECN Broker Spreads
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0.60 | 0.66 | 0.23 | 0.90 | 0.65 |
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0.60 | 0.60 | 0.30 | 0.70 | 0.40 |
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0.20 | 0.30 | 0.10 | 0.30 | 0.20 |
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0.47 | 0.50 | 0.12 | 0.40 | 0.22 |
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0.20 | 0.30 | 0.20 | 0.40 | 0.20 |
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0.30 | N/A | 0.30 | 0.50 | 0.40 |
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0.24 | N/A | 0.17 | 0.54 | 0.30 |
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0.30 | 0.70 | 0.20 | 0.50 | 0.40 |
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0.30 | 1.10 | 0.10 | 0.60 | 0.50 |
Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 01/09/2023
Commission fees with BlackBull Markets are slightly lower compared to other top forex brokers, sitting at $6 USD per standard lot round-turn. In comparison, other top brokers like Pepperstone have a $7 round-turn commission.
FXCM also has a commission-based account- the Active Trader account. However, this account type is only available in the UK, EU, and South African jurisdictions along with Canada via Friedberg Direct. FXCM differs from BlackBull Markets in that FXCM is your counterparty but both brokers use similar pricing feeds.
From the spreads module, you can see that typical spreads are around 0.2 – 0.4 pips. The minimum spread is also higher compared to BlackBull Markets, at 0.2 pips.
Commission with an Active Trader account will depend on which country you sign up with FXCM from. With a minimum deposit of $25,000, this account is best for high-volume traders for this reason the commission quoted is per million, not per $100,000. This account uses tiered commissions which means the more volumes you trade, the previous month, the less your trading commissions will be the following month.
Traders in Canada with Friedberg Direct also have the option of a $10.00 round-turn fixed commission per $100,000 lot.
Deposits And Funding FAQ
On BlackBull Markets, there is no deposit required for the ECN Standard account, but if you want to use the commission-based ECN Prime account, you will have to deposit a minimum of $2,000 USD. For pro traders on the ECN Institutional account type, the minimum deposit is $20,000 USD.
Payment methods include bank transfers, Visa/Mastercard credit cards (but not debit cards), NETELLER, or UnionPay. Non-EU traders can also deposit with Skrill.
FXCM has a minimum deposit of $50 in your base currency for the Standard account and the CFD account in Canada. However, you need to have $300 and $5,000 respectively to open your account. The Active Trader accounts come with a minimum deposit of $25,000 so is best for high-volume traders.
Funding methods on FXCM include traditional methods like bank transfer and Visa/Mastercard, but there are more eWallets available for you to deposit with. Alongside NETELLER, Skrill and UnionPay, you can deposit via BPAY or POLi in Australia, plus Sofort/Klarna in the EU.
Our verdict On CFD Trading Accounts
This category is relatively close between BlackBull Markets and FXCM, with neither being a clear winner. BlackBull Markets narrowly wins by having slightly lower trading fees in terms of spreads, plus the availability of the commission-based account (as FXCM’s Active Trader account requires you to trade over $150 million per month).
View BlackBull Markets ReviewVisit BlackBull Markets
Both FXCM and BlackBull Markets offer a lot of platforms for you to choose between- you are bound to find one platform that best suits your trading needs here.
On BlackBull Markets, you can trade on both MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), TradingView, as well as the BlackBull Markets Share Trading App.
MT4 and MT5 are the most popular trading platforms used across the world. MT5 is our recommended platform, it has everything MT4 has and more. This includes nearly 40 drawing tools and over 40 technical indicators, 21 timeframes and 6 types of pending orders. Like MT4, it is built for decentralised trading like Forex but also centralised trading such as stocks and certain cryptos. It also has Depth of Market (DoM) data and superior backtesting.
While MT4 does lose out to MT5 in most aspects, not least because it is no longer supported by MetaQuotes, there are some advantages. For starters, more traders use this platform which means it has a bigger community to support you with your MT4 trading journey. It also has a larger marketplace of custom-built Expert Advisors made, meaning more customer indicators and automation bots to choose from.
TradingView is designed specifically for chart trading, with 12 different chart types and over 100 built-in technical indicators. You can also create your own indicators, or simply draw upon the hundreds of thousands of community-built indicators.
Other trading tools include the social trading platforms Myfxbook, ZuluTrade and BlackBull Markets Social Trading. The latter is an app that uses the MetaTrader SIgnals social trading community.
FXCM also provides MT4 (but not MT5), TradingView, Capitalise.ai and NinjaTrader for you to use, alongside their own Trading Station. Just note that Canadian traders only get access to MT4 and Trading Station.
Capitalise.ai makes it easy for all traders (especially beginner traders) to automate their trading. The platform achieves this by allowing you to create algo bots using ‘plain english’ instead of code.
The NinjaTrader and Trading Station platforms offer advanced customisability, making it easy for you to adjust your trading experience to suit you best. Both also come with a range of charts, making it easy for you to chart-trade, especially with dozens of technical indicators that you can also draw upon. Trading station, in particular, comes with a range of add-on 3rd party tools such as QuantConnect and Motiveware.
Our verdict on platforms and tools
Although fairly close due to how strong the variety of platforms and tools that BlackBull Markets and FXCM provide, the winner of this category is FXCM. With a few more platforms and tools to choose from, FXCM comes out as the winner for both.
*Your capital is at risk ‘67% of retail CFD accounts lose money’
When trading, the main product you will be interacting with is a contract-for-difference (CFD). This allows you to easily trade on forex, shares/indices/ETFs, commodities, or even cryptocurrencies.
On BlackBull Markets, you can trade on 64 forex pairs, and 750 share CFDs. Other products include 11 different cryptos, 15 indices, and a combined 19 commodities, which cover metals, energies, and soft commodities.
Traders in selected countries such as New Zealand) can also buy and purchase proper (not CFD) shares thanks to the broker’s relationship with Interactive Markets. To buy and sell these shares, you will need to be using the BlackBull Markets share trading app.
As a whole, FXCM offers fewer CFD products for you to trade in comparison to BlackBull Markets. There are between 41 and 43 currency pairs available, depending on whether you are trading in Canada and whether you are using MT4 or not. You get access to between 211 and 219 share CFDs and 7 cryptos, but not with Friedberg Direct in Canada.
Our verdict on products
BlackBull Markets has more products in almost every category in comparison to FXCM, giving them an easy win in the product comparison. However, if you are looking to spread bet or trade bonds or treasuries, you will need to trade with FXCM.
*Your capital is at risk ‘67% of retail CFD accounts lose money’
Broker trust comes down to the history and size of the provider as well as regulation. I have explored each of these elements in three sections below before giving my final verdict.
Broker History
BlackBull Markets is one of the relative newcomers in the Forex Broker industry established in 2014. It was established and keeps it’s roots in New Zealand although it has an offshore entity which is discussed later. FXCM (Forex Capital Markets) on the other hand has it’s roots in the USA and was founded in 1999. This means that FXCM is 15 years older than BlackBull and few forex brokers are USA based which is the gold standard (outside of Australia or UK).
It’s important to note that FXCM has a checkered history, especially relating to the 2017 bankruptcy and trading scandal. This started in 2015 when the broker got impacted by the Swiss government floating their currency with no notice (known as the Swiss shock) leading to the broker losing $225 million. In 2017 the broker was then fined for stating incorrectly that they had a no-dealing desk when it was in fact a market maker.
While it’s impossible to know if these past failings are entrenched with the broker, despite FXCM’s older history I rewarded Blackbull Markets for this category due to their impeccable history.
Number Of Traders By Broker
FXCM has more traders than Blackbull Markets. It’s frustrating though that no FXCM active traders have been published for over five years. On the other hand, Blackbull is transparent about the broker’s popularity with 2021 data publishing that the broker had exceeded 20,000 active traders. I had to award FXCM with the ‘popularity stakes’ but it would be nice for the broker to publish active trader numbers regularly to quantify my verdict.
Regulation By Broker
FXCM is a truly global broker and is regulated by:
Blackbull is more of a regional broker in Asia-Pacific and is regulated by:
With FXCM regulators in more regions, they were shortlisted in several regions including the forex platform Australia, forex platform UK and forex platform Canada lists. Blackbull on the other hand was only listed on the forex platform New Zealand page but it should be noted that it was the winner overall. It was also listed as the best high-leverage forex broker globally. Clearly, FXCM is the winner when it comes to regulation.
Final Verdict On Broker Trust
This should be a clear win for FXCM with a longer history, more regulation and market size. It’s their history that makes this difficult with scandals and the 2017 bankruptcy that complicate the matter. I’m still awarding FXCM the winner but if you’re based in New Zealand or a surrounding region I personally would trust Blackbull more than FXCM.
Trustpilot can show how users rate brokers. Obviously, people vote with different considerations in mind when rating the broker, this could include customer service or customer support, costs, platforms and trust.
BlackBull Markets has a 4.3 star rating (Excellent) from 122 reviews. FXCM also has a 4.3 star rating but from 209 reviews.
Another useful website is ForexPeaceArmy.com. On this website, BlackBull Markets has 4.25 out of 5 stars from nearly 4,500 votes. FXCM by contrast fares a lot worse with 3.5 stars from nearly 2,500 votes.
