Trading 212 vs GKFX 2023

Trust Score is a data-driven rating system that provides an at-a-glance rating of a broker’s overall trust by tracking 60+ brokers and over 100 regulatory jurisdictions across the globe. To make things clearer for everyday traders, we’ve created a five-tier system for regulators and Trust Score rating labels. Learn more about Trust Score, and check out our country guides to see the most trusted brokers in your country of residence.

Trading 212 has a Trust Score of 77, giving it a "Average Risk" Trust Score Label.

GKFX has a Trust Score of 65, giving it a "High Risk" Trust Score Label.

Founded in 2004 and regulated by more than one Tier-1 regulator, Trading 212 delivers a proprietary, innovative trading app for web and mobile that is a great choice for beginner forex traders who want an intuitive platform for trading forex and CFDs or investing in shares. Though we love its well-designed trading platform, the market research and educational resources at Trading 212 are limited, and the broker's lack of advanced features may leave experienced forex traders wanting more.

Founded in 2015, GKFX offers the full MetaTrader suite (both MT4 and MT5) as well as its proprietary GKFX Trader proprietary trading app. Spreads are competitive on GKFX's Prime Plus account, though it requires a $15,000 deposit. GKFX is regulated in the EU via its Malta-based entity, but with just one regulatory license, the broker's Trust Score rating is well below the industry average.

Tier-1 is reserved for the strictest, most stringent regulatory jurisdictions in the world. Tier-1 regulators impose additional capital requirements and require a tougher initial screening process. Trading 212 holds regulatory licenses in the following Tier-1 jurisdictions: United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised). GKFX, on the other hand, is licensed in these Tier-1 regulatory jurisdictions: none. Neither have Australia (ASIC Authorised), Canada (CIRO Authorised), Hong Kong (SFC Authorised), CBI Authorised (Ireland), Japan (SFC Authorised), Singapore (MAS Authorised), New Zealand (FMA Authorised), Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) and USA (CFTC Authorized)

Tier-2 and tier-3 licenses are still important in evaluating the overall trustworthiness of forex brokers. As far as tier-2 licenses go, Trading 212 is Cyprus (CySEC Authorised), while GKFX is none.. Neither have China (CBRC Authorised), India (SEBI Authorised), Israel (ISA Authorised), Russia (CBR Authorised), South Africa (FSCA Authorised), Thailand (SEC Authorised) and UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised). When comparing tier-3 licenses unfortunately, neither Trading 212 nor GKFX are Bahamas (SCB Authorised), Belize (FSC Authorised), Bermuda (BMA Authorised), British Virgin Islands (FSC Authorised), Cayman Islands (CIMA Authorised), Mauritius (FSC Authorised) and Vanuatu (VFSC Authorised).. Neither have Vanuatu (VFSC Authorised).

Whether your broker develops its own proprietary platforms or provides access to popular third-party platforms, you should make sure you can use your preferred type of trading platform. In our testing, we found that Trading 212 offers a Proprietary Platform, whereas GKFX supports a Desktop Platform (Windows). Neither have cTrader, DupliTrade and ZuluTrade

For MetaTrader Trading 212 provides neither of these, while GKFX provides MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). If MetaTrader is a must for you, read our guides on the best MT4 brokers or best MT5 brokers.

Trading 212 requires a minimum deposit of €10, while GKFX requires a minimum deposit of $0. It's also important to ensure your broker accepts the funding options and deposit methods that work best for you. In our research, we've found that Trading 212 supports Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) and Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) for funding and deposit methods, whereas GKFX supports Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) and Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit)

When choosing a forex broker, it’s important to consider each broker’s available investment products and tradeable asset classes. We’ve researched each broker’s individual offering of investments to help you pick the right broker for what you want to trade. During our testing, we found that Trading 212 delivers a more diverse selection of investment options than GKFX, offering tradeable asset classes and investment types such as Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), Metals, Energies, Agriculturals, ETF and U.S. Stocks (CFD). Neither have Spread Betting.

We also keep track of each broker’s total number of tradeable symbols; Trading 212 offers 9732, and GKFX offers a total of 354 tradeable symbols.

Crypto trading has become popular among forex traders across a range of international jurisdictions. As a result, many forex brokers now offer crypto products to their clients; most crypto assets are offered either as an underlying physical asset (such as when you own actual bitcoin assets, for example) or as a derivative product like a CFD. If you are looking to trade physical cryptocurrencies, you’ll find that neither Trading 212 nor GKFX allow you to trade physical cryptocurrencies.

Market research plays a huge role in any forex trader’s ability to conduct analysis within the global forex market. We test each broker’s research offering to help you decide which broker is right for your technical or fundamental analysis needs. Trading 212 delivers the following research tools: Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts and Forex News (Top-Tier Sources). GKFX, on the other hand, provides the tools listed here: Autochartist, Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts, Trading Central (Recognia) and Social Trading / Copy Trading

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