Midpoint is a fast-growing financial services company that is changing the face of foreign exchange and making it easier for individual traders to access the global currency market. With its user-friendly platform, competitive spreads, and focus on transparency, Midpoint is attracting traders of all experience levels. This innovative fintech company was founded in 2019 and is based in London, though it serves clients across Europe and in select markets globally.
Introduction
The foreign exchange (forex) market is the world’s largest financial market, with over $6.6 trillion traded daily. However, historically forex trading has been dominated by large financial institutions and was inaccessible to everyday investors. Midpoint aims to democratize currency trading by providing an intuitive platform and reasonable account minimums so anyone can take advantage of forex market opportunities.
Midpoint offers currency trading on over 80 currency pairs. Traders can go long or short on majors like EUR/USD and GBP/USD as well as minors and exotics. Spreads are as low as 0 pips on the EUR/USD for Midpoint PRO clients. While forex trading does carry risk, Midpoint provides client money protection and does not take the other side of customer trades.
Key Features of Midpoint
Midpoint differentiates itself from competitors through its focus on transparency, customer service, and technology. Here are some of the key features traders can take advantage of:
Competitive Spreads and Commission Rates
One advantage of trading with Midpoint is access to institutional-grade spreads. For popular pairs like EUR/USD, spreads start at 0.0 pips for PRO clients and 0.3 pips for standard accounts. There are no commissions, and pricing remains consistent regardless of trading volume or volatility.
Multiple Account Types
Midpoint offers several account types to meet the needs of different trader proficiency levels. The basic account has a $100 minimum, while the PRO account requires a $25,000 minimum but offers additional benefits like tighter spreads. Demo accounts allow traders to practice risk-free before putting real money on the line.
Award-Winning Trading Platforms
Traders can access Midpoint’s forex markets through MetaTrader4 (MT4) and MetaTrader5 (MT5) platforms. These industry-standard platforms offer advanced charting capabilities, trading automation through Expert Advisors (EAs), and mobile app access.
Focus on Transparency
Midpoint believes in full transparency when it comes to pricing, execution, and operations. Their pricing and execution is streamed live for clients to audit. They publish regular market and execution analysis reports so traders understand exactly what they are getting.
Customer Service Excellence
Midpoint prioritizes customer service, providing 24/5 multilingual support via live chat, email, and telephone. New clients are assigned a dedicated account manager to help onboard them and provide ongoing education. Their UK-based team aims to resolve any issues within 24 hours.
Client Asset Protection
As a regulated broker, Midpoint keeps all client funds segregated in top-tier banks for security. They are a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which protects eligible accounts up to £85,000. This provides peace of mind to traders.
Innovative Trading Tools
Midpoint offers web and mobile versions of cutting-edge trading tools like Trading Central, AutoChartist, and DupliTrade. These provide automated technical analysis, signal alerts, social trading capabilities, and more to give clients an edge.
Ongoing Education
For beginners still learning the ropes, Midpoint provides an extensive education center filled with trading guides, webinars, e-books, and more. Experienced traders can also sharpen their skills through these free resources.
Benefits of Trading Forex with Midpoint
Trading forex through an established, regulated broker like Midpoint provides many advantages traders should consider.
24-Hour Access to Global Markets
The forex market runs 5 days a week, 24 hours a day, allowing traders access to opportunities anytime. Traders can react to news and events when they happen no matter their local time zone.
Unparalleled Liquidity
The enormous forex market offers unmatched liquidity. Traders enjoy fast order execution and ability to get in and out of positions seamlessly. Intraday volatility provides great trading opportunities.
Leverage Allows Controlled Risk
Forex brokers offer leverage up to 30:1 or higher. Leverage allows traders to put up just a small percentage of the full value of a trade. This provides greater market exposure while controlling overall risk on a per-trade basis.
Ability to Profit in Any Market Condition
Currencies tend to exhibit long-term trends. But prices fluctuate constantly in the short run. This allows profit opportunities in rising, falling, or sideways markets by tailoring trading strategies accordingly.
Diversity of Global Currencies
The forex market presents opportunities to trade diverse global currencies. Majors like the EUR and GBP provide stability, while emerging markets like USD/MXN offer higher volatility.
Low Trading Costs Maximise Profits
The competitive pricing offered by Midpoint minimises trading costs like spreads. With no commissions, more profit can go right into the trader’s pocket compared to other markets.
Trade Long or Short to Profit
Forex traders have equal ability to profit whether a currency pair is rising or falling. They can buy or sell pairs and hold trades intraday or long term. Flexibility allows profit in more market conditions.
How to Open an Account
Opening a live account with Midpoint is a quick and easy process. Follow these steps:
- Visit Midpoint’s website and click “Open Live Account”
- Fill in your name, email, phone number, and account currency preference (USD, EUR, GBP)
- Verify your identity by uploading proof of ID and address documents
- Make a minimum deposit – $100 for a Standard account, $25,000 for PRO
- Log into the trading platform to access your account
The entire process from registration to funding an account usually takes less than 5 minutes. After a quick check of verification documents, traders can begin actively accessing forex markets through Midpoint’s platforms.
How to Fund Your Account
Maintaining adequate capital in a trading account is key to survival and success in forex trading. Midpoint offers multiple convenient funding options:
- Debit/Credit Card – Visa, MasterCard, Maestro
- Wire Transfer – Send EUR/USD/GBP
- e-Wallets – Skrill, Neteller, PayPal
- Local Bank Transfer – Faster payments, SEPA, SWIFT
Deposits are accepted in EUR, USD, and GBP currencies. Most methods are free, though some banks may charge wire fees. Credit card deposits incur a small 1.25% processing fee.
Once a deposit is made, funds are credited to trading accounts instantly or within 1 business day for bank transfers. Traders must also meet minimum deposit requirements for each account – $100 for Standard, $25,000 for PRO.
How to Place Trades
Once logged into the trading platform, placing trades is simple:
- Select the forex pair you wish to trade in the Market Watch window
- Right click the pair and choose “New Order”
- Enter your trade size in base currency units
- Select “Buy” or “Sell” depending on direction
- Choose execution type – Instant, Market, or Pending Order
- Set stop loss and take profit levels if desired
- Confirm new order details and click “Sell” or “Buy”
New trades will appear in the Terminal window. Here traders can monitor open positions, orders, account balance, and more in real-time as prices fluctuate. Trades can be closed manually by right clicking and selecting “Close Order” when desired.
Managing Risk
Like any market involving leverage, forex trading carries risks if not properly managed. Midpoint encourages all clients to implement sound risk management based on personal risk tolerance and capital available.
Utilise Reasonable Leverage
While brokers allow high leverage amounts, restraint is key. 1:10 or lower is recommended for beginners. More experience brings ability to handle more risk through higher leverage.
Maintain Adequate Free Margin
Don’t overextend account equity on any single trade. Ideally no more than 1-5% of equity should be at risk per trade based on account size and volatility of pairs traded.
Set Stop Losses on All Trades
Use stop losses to limit downside. Exit trades automatically if price moves against you by a predetermined amount rather than facing unlimited losses.
Avoid Overnight Positions
Holding trades beyond the daily session can be risky due to potential for gaps between daily closes/opens. Close positions by the end of the daily session unless markets are extremely quiet.
Diversify Trades
Trade multiple currency pairs rather than concentrating only in one or two. Diversification avoids overexposure to actions affecting specific currencies.
Trade Smaller Positions
Some new traders are tempted to trade big out of the gate. Start small to get comfortable, then slowly increase position sizes as you gain experience.
Analysis and Trading Strategies
There are two major forms of analysis in forex trading – fundamental and technical. Midpoint provides education on both to give clients the best opportunity for success.
Fundamental Analysis
This form of analysis involves evaluating economic, political, and environmental forces that drive supply and demand for currencies. These factors directly influence exchange rates. For example, GDP growth, inflation, central bank policies, geopolitics, trade balances, and more can be analysed.
Midpoint provides daily market commentary looking at major events, data releases, and news affecting currency prices. Clients can leverage this analysis in making trading decisions.
Technical Analysis
Technical analysis involves reading price charts and indicators to find patterns and trends. Traders can identify support levels, resistance, trends, volume patterns, volatility, and more to gain market insights. Midpoint’s trading platforms include advanced charting capabilities for technical analysis.
There are many technical trading strategies that can be used based on a trader’s style. Some common ones include:
- Trend Following – Identifying the overall trend direction using moving averages, channels, etc.
- Breakout Trading – Taking trades when prices break support/resistance levels with force
- Reversal Trading – Entering when oscillators indicate overbought/oversold and reversal is near
- News Trading – Placing trades around major scheduled news events and data releases
Trading Resources from Midpoint
To help clients succeed, Midpoint offers an extensive suite of trading resources:
Education Center – Courses, ebooks, videos for all experience levels
Trading Central – Automated technical analysis and trading signals
Webinars – Live and recorded webinars from industry experts
Trading Guides – Detailed PDF guides on platforms, analysis, strategies
Glossary – Forex terms and definitions for reference
Account Managers – Dedicated support person for new clients
Daily Market Analysis – Fundamental analysis by Midpoint team
Between the analysis, strategies, and tools provided, traders have everything needed to navigate the forex markets successfully.
Platform and Tools
Midpoint offers industry-leading trading platforms. Clients can choose between MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platforms depending on their needs.
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)
MT4 is the world’s most popular retail forex trading platform. It offers:
- Advanced Charting – Comprehensive technical analysis tools with over 50 indicators and charts.
- Expert Advisors – Write automated trading systems, alerts, signals in the MQL programming language.
- Mobile Trading – iOS and Android apps allow management of accounts and trades on the go.
- Market Access – Execute trades fast through Midpoint’s liquidity pools and ECN model.
MT4 also includes integrated tools like position calculators, economic calendar, trading signals, email and push alerts, trade terminal, and more. It can be fully customised for each user’s preferences.
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)
As the next evolution of MT4, MT5 provides all the same functionality plus additional features:
- More Assets – Access forex, stocks, futures, options, bonds from a single platform.
- Depth of Market – View the current bid/ask spread in real time across multiple liquidity providers.
- Additional Timeframes – More range of periods to fine-tune technical analysis.
- Netting/Hedging – Choose how to handle offsetting positions from the same account.
MT5 also allows custom indicators written in the MQL5 language, automated trading, mobile access, and advanced charting like MT4. It’s ideal for traders seeking multi-asset access from one platform.
Both platforms support Expert Advisors (EA) for automated trading. Clients can purchase proven, pre-made EAs through the MetaTrader Marketplace, have one custom built, or learn to code their own using MQL languages. The EAs allow full automation of analytical and trading processes.
In addition, Midpoint offers speciality trading tools like Trading Central, AutoChartist, and DupliTrade. These add automated technical analysis, pattern recognition, trading signals, copy trading and more.
Customer Support
Midpoint commits substantial resources to customer support and service. Clients have multiple options to access assistance whenever needed:
24/5 Multilingual Live Chat
Instantly connect with support staff directly through live chat 5 days a week. Assistance is available in several languages.
Email Support
Send emails to support@midpoint.com for assistance. Staff aim to respond within 1 business day.
Telephone Support
For urgent issues, clients can call phone support at +44 203 988 2277.
Remote Assistance
Use the platforms’ remote support tools to grant Midpoint secure access to desktop platforms for troubleshooting.
Knowledge Base
Search the online knowledge base for how-to’s and platform guides. The KB is available in English and Japanese.
Account Managers
New clients are assigned a dedicated personal account manager to aid their onboarding and provide ongoing education.
Social Media
Midpoint maintains active Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. Follow them for updates, education, promotions and more.
Regulation and Security
As a trusted broker, Midpoint maintains stringent standards for regulation, security and safety of funds.
- Authorised & regulated by the FCA (#907718)
- Segregated client funds in Tier-1 banks
- Member of Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protecting up to £85,000 per client
- Does not take opposite side of client trades
- Complies with all regulatory capital requirements
- SSL data encryption on website and apps
- Regular audits and risk management reviews
Traders can feel confident trusting Midpoint with their capital knowing funds are secure and the company fully complies with regulations. The FCA monitors their operations on an ongoing basis.
Pros and Cons
Before deciding whether Midpoint is the right broker, weigh the following key pros and cons:
Pros
- Competitive pricing with low spreads & commissions
- Choice of user-friendly MetaTrader platforms
- Free education, analysis, tools & resources
- Multilingual 24/5 customer support
- Strong regulation and fund security
Cons
- More limited choice of platforms than some brokers
- Minimum account balances could be restrictive for some beginners
- Limited global market access – focused on Europe
- No cryptocurrency trading like some competitors
Conclusion
For European clients seeking a well-regulated but innovative forex and CFD broker, Midpoint offers a compelling proposition. Their combination of low-cost trading, robust platforms, and dedication to client education and support makes them ideal for active traders of any experience level.
While their platform choices are narrower than some brokers, the power and customisation provided by MetaTrader 4 and 5 cannot be overlooked. And minimum balance requirements, though restrictive for newbies, ensure Midpoint caters to more serious, active traders.
Overall, if you are looking for an established, trustworthy broker for accessing the opportunities of the global forex markets, Midpoint merits strong consideration. Opening an account is quick and easy to start experiencing their advantages first-hand.