BTCapital: Is it Scam or Legit?
BTCapital is a shady crypto broker. From having unfair terms and conditions to a bug-ridden website, BTCapital has everything a trading scam does. BTCapital’s website (BTcapital.me) would make it appear that they are a reliable broker at first. However, they are the opposite and my BTCapital review will help you understand it better:
BTCapital License and Regulation
The license of a broker can tell you which jurisdiction it falls into and which regulatory authority it falls under. However, BTCapital doesn’t provide any address at all. I looked at their website’s footer, the about page, and everything else I could find, but I didn’t find a single mention of their address.
When I went through their terms and conditions, I found that they are governed by the laws of Bulgaria, however they also mention that it’s not exclusive jurisdiction. This means it was only speculation and I can’t verify if this broker actually belongs to Bulgaria. To cross-check things, I looked up this broker’s name in Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission’s register but I didn’t find any information.
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It’s clear that the broker has kept its address hidden. There’s no information on the regulatory status of BTCapital on its website or the terms and conditions.
So, we can safely assume that BTCapital is an unlicensed and unregulated broker. It would be unsafe to trade with them.
How can you spot a broker who is trying to deceive you?
A broker’s credentials, registration, and job history can be reviewed using BrokerCheck, a free online tool provided by FINRA. Disputes with clients, disciplinary actions, and specific financial and criminal matters on the broker’s record are all covered in the disclosure portion of BrokerCheck.
You shouldn’t trade with unlicensed and unregulated brokers. There are many scams in the crypto industry and so, financial regulators exist in many regions such as the US and Europe. These regulators impose heavy restrictions and laws on crypto brokers (and similar service providers) to ensure that the broker doesn’t act against the interests of its client.
However, an unregulated and unlicensed wouldn’t have to follow those restrictions. They can act against your interests (such as steal your data) and get away scot-free.
Unfair Conditions:
Regulators like FCA offer insurance compensation in case the broker steals the funds of their clients. For example, FCA can give you up to £85,000 if an FCA-regulated broker steals your funds. You don’t get such facilities with unregulated brokers. This is a strong reason why I don’t recommend trading with an unregulated crypto broker.
The lack of proper regulation is not all.
Check the following clause in their terms and conditions:
According to this, BTCapital can use the funds present in your trading account as collateral and can use it to get more funds. This is not okay! Licensed brokers keep their funds separate from their clients and the financial regulators ensure that they do. This clause is proof that BTCapital is an unregulated and unlicensed broker.
BTCapital Trading Conditions
You should always check the trading conditions of a crypto broker before doing business with them. Let’s see what are trading conditions of this broker:
Trading Platform
BTCapital’s website is filled with technical glitches and bugs. Because of them, I wasn’t able to access the trading platform of this broker. Moreover, the broker doesn’t provide any information about the platform on its website. So I couldn’t verify which trading platform they use. However, I’m certain that it’s not one of the MetaTrader platforms as the broker would have mentioned them somewhere.
To be honest, the best trading platforms available in the industry are Metatrader 4 and 5. Almost all reputed crypto brokers use these platforms because they offer a ton of features. It would best if you traded with a crypto broker that offers a reputed trading platform like Metatrader 4.
Minimum Deposit
BTCapital offers multiple account types to its clients and the minimum deposit requirement of their smallest account is €5,000. This is too high by any standards and makes the broker more suspicious.
Many crypto scams keep their initial deposit requirement high which allows them to grab a lot of funds immediately. Such brokers are aware of their pathetic services and so, they don’t give you a chance to test out their services beforehand. Instead, they force you to make a big financial commitment. In case you decide to discontinue availing their services, they will steal the huge deposit you had made.
It’s a common strategy among shady crypto brokers and that’s why I don’t recommend trading with such brokers.
Offered Leverage
The broker offers 1:2 leverage for UST pairs and 1:4 for other pairs. Clearly, BTCapital’s offered leverages are too high.
High leverage is usually a sign of a scam. This is why financial regulators restrict their brokers on how much leverage they can offer to their clients. For example, the UK-based regulator FCA doesn’t allow its crypto brokers to offer a leverage ratio higher than 1:2.
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High leverage ratios can wipe out all of your earnings and even put you in debt quickly. They are very risky, especially if you’re a beginner.
Trading Accounts
BTCapital offers the following trading accounts. Note that I don’t recommend any of them. You’d be better off with a licensed broker:
Starter
The minimum deposit for this account is €5,000 and you’ll have to pay 6% commissions. BTCapital offers up to 20% company credit according to their terms and conditions with this account.
Global Plus
The minimum deposit for this account is €10,000 and offers all the benefits of the previous account. You get up to 50% company credits along with weekly and daily webinars.
Global Premium
This account requires a minimum deposit of €50,000 and charges 4% commission. You can get up to 75% company credits along with all the benefits of the previous accounts.
Global Wealth
This account requires a minimum deposit of €100,000. You get three times the loyalty points, 100% company credits, full academy pro, dedicated analyst and all the previous benefits.
VIP
The VIP account requires €250,000 minimum deposit and offers tailored commissions. All the benefits remain the same except you get custom credits.
BTCapital Payment Methods and Charges
Transaction Methods
As the broker’s broken website didn’t let me open an account with them, I couldn’t verify the available payment methods. This is quite a disappointment as the available payment methods can tell you a lot about a broker’s accessibility.
Fees
BTCapital charges plenty of fees. The minimum withdrawal limit with this broker is $100. However, they have a lot of unfair terms and conditions that make withdrawals a nightmare for their clients.
For example, if you didn’t execute a minimum trading volume that’s equal to 1% of your deposit and make a withdrawal request, you’ll have to pay 4.5% as funding fee. The broker claims that processing a withdrawal request can take up seven business days but the funds might take up to 60 days to appear in your bank account.
They also charge a monthly inactivity fee of €100. However, the broker fails to specify the period for which the account must remain inactive.
Offered Bonuses
Instead of using the term bonus, BTCapital uses the term ‘Company Credits’. They are a fancy way of saying bonus and they come with very unfair terms and conditions. If you want to withdraw the credits you get from BTCapital, you’ll have to execute a trading volume equal to the amount of the credit you receive and multiplied by 50,000. Until you fulfil this demand, you wouldn’t be able to withdraw your winnings.
A common strategy among shady crypto brokers is they would offer you a ton of bonuses. Bonuses in the crypto industry are notorious as they allow the broker to complicate the withdrawal process for the user. The funds you receive in a bonus always belong to the broker, not you.
Is BTCapital a Scam? Yes!
The crypto industry attracts a lot of scams and they are of various sorts. Some scammers tend to give an unsolicited call and claim that you’re eligible for a random bonus. Others would run ads on the internet claiming to offer attractive deposit bonuses or easy profits.
Creating a website and filling it with lies is very easy. And these scammers target inexperienced traders too. Usually, these brokers operate from offshore areas such as St. Vincent or the Commonwealth of Dominica. They operate from such areas because these places don’t have financial regulators like the US or the UK. So they don’t have to follow any strict laws and can easily steal the funds of their users without facing any legal repercussions.
You should always check a broker’s regulation and T&C’s before trading with them.
BTCapital Review: Conclusion
There are many scams in the crypto industry like BTCapital. And they keep growing. The best way to combat these scams is to spread the truth about them so their schemes would fail before they even start.
If you know someone who’s interested in crypto trading, share this article with them. They should know the truth about such scammers.