Nadex Binary Options Exchange Review

Originally launched in California as “HedgeStreet” in 2004 by John Nafeh, the company was later acquired in 2007 by the highly prolific IG Group for $6 million. In 2009, the IG Group soon repurposed the technology and relaunched the US-friendly binary options brand Nadex, as we know it today.

Nadex is an abbreviation for the “North American Derivatives Exchange”. Their parent company is still the IG Group, however, Nadex is also incorporated within the USA as the “North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc.” and they have offices at 200 West Jackson Street, Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60606.

As the leading binary options exchange in America for retail traders, Nadex is regulated by the U.S. CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) and this allows them to provide trading services to U.S. residents. American traders can therefore trade binary options and spreads legally on the most heavily traded stock indices, foreign exchange, commodities and even economic events at this binary options exchange.

Nadex was previously open to more countries but doesn’t accept traders from anywhere except the USA anymore, however, they do offer a few educational resources that traders from all regions can benefit from. These resources are free, and some webinars are even hosted by reputable financial trading educators – we encourage all traders to take advantage of these items.

Trading Platform and Features

Nadex offers a no-nonsense web-based, English-language trading platform built with proprietary software. Traders used to the current crop of platform providers such as SpotOption or Techfinancials would’ve found the original, less colourful Nadex interface rather archaic. Those of you used to the MT4 trading platform would have noticed some similarities there, except unlike MT4, no downloads/installations were required. In mid-2021 however, Nadex relaunched its trading platform with a modern new interface. There are also two mobile apps available, one for IOS and another for Android devices. These are all superb, and allow you to make or manage your trades via slick interfaces. These have done a great job of modernising the Nadex platform.

Once you get past the layout/user interface, you can begin to appreciate just how powerful and intuitive this platform is. It provides direct access to the Nadex exchange and the global markets with real-time data. There are also some unique features such as Price Ladder Charts (a feature that allows you to place orders directly from the chart analysis screen), and the Market Order with Protection (MOP) feature (which provides traders with the ability to make an immediate exit from a trade).

 
Although virtual, Nadex is an Exchange that connects buyers and sellers. They also cater to traders of all experience levels. Trading binary options on this exchange can be seen as much easier than trading regular options on equities because you only have to choose yes or no, can’t get stopped out, and can’t lose more than your investment. Their instruments provide features that allow your trades to have limited risk, however, the rewards can be much higher than with regular online brokers. Used correctly, binary options are a great way to diversify your trading portfolio.

Trading Accounts, Charges and Benefits

Nadex offers three types of trading accounts including a $10k demo account, a standard trading account, and a corporate trading account.

Account Types:
$10k Demo Account – The $10,000 demo account is one of our favourite features at this operator. This is offered to all traders and bring you two key benefits: (1) it provides the opportunity to try out the Nadex web and mobile trading platforms, and (2) Allows you to Paper Trade (practise trading) until you are ready to risk and earn real money.

Standard Trading Account – It’s free and easy to open a trading account at Nadex. Simply register online and provide the basic ID documents (proof of address, date of birth and social security number).

UPDATE: As of 30th August 2021, the minimum deposit amount of $250 has been removed. There is no longer a minimum deposit requirement and traders can gain full access to the platform with any deposit amount made.

Corporate Trading Account – These are only offered to trusts, corporations and other entities based within the U.S. If you wish to open one of these accounts, you will have to provide specific documentation relevant to each Trust, Corporation, LLP or Partnership (as relevant).
 

 
Charges
Most binary options brokers take on the financial risk from trades (meaning they profit from your trading losses, and pay you directly when your trades are “in the money”). Nadex is an exchange, which means they manage trades between traders rather than taking on the profits/losses of trading themselves. The revenue at Nadex is made by charging a very reasonable “trading fee” of $1 per contract purchased and $1 per successful contract closed. This means that only contracts that expire in the money will be charged the $1 fee. It’s worth noting that Nadex also charges an administration fee of $1 for trades that are closed before expiry.

Benefits
Their regulation requirements mean that Nadex is not allowed to offer deposit bonuses as a means of incentivising traders. Please ask your account manager for more information on all current offers and promotions when registering an account.

Banking Options

The U.S. CFTC regulation requires that Nadex’ deposit and withdrawal options are restricted to safeguard traders. No e-wallets are currently supported and all funds used for trading are required to be from available funds. As per regulation, all trader funds are secured as they are segregated from operational funds and held at U.S. Banks (BMO Harris Bank and Fifth Third Bank).

Deposits
They accept Debit Cards that are connected to your checking account (Max Deposit Limit: $50,000), Bank Transfers/ACH (Automated Clearing House), Wire Transfers (on transfers of $5,000 or more, Nadex will credit you the wire transfer fee of up to $20 per transfer – limited to $80 per calendar month). Uniquely, they also accept deposits via paper check/cheque (NB: it could take up to five days after receipt of the check to credit your account).

Withdrawals
Withdrawals can be requested via ACH withdrawal, wire transfer and debit card. ACH withdrawal is free but will take 3-5 business days before funds are credited back into your account. Wire transfer is processed within one business day but incurs a $25 charge per transfer. Debit cards withdrawals can only be made seven days after a deposit was made and to the same verified account that the deposit came from.

TradersAsset Tip: As always, we suggest that traders familiarise themselves with the security requirements for brokers they trade with. Ensure that your ID/security verification is done early so that you can receive your withdrawals without delay. Regulation can be a double-edged sword of sorts. It provides reassurance for funds and safeguards traders from foul play, but similarly, it requires some administration. For example, Nadex requires some verifications for deposits as well as withdrawals.

Support

The trading support and education at Nadex is straightforward and helpful. They have a number of educational items such as courses, webinars (live and archived), examples of trades, FREE e-books and an extensive glossary of all trading terms. Event the FAQ’s are helpful and provide insight into the most common questions that traders may have.

Fundamental analysis is an important practice for trading success and Nadex offers a helpful breakdown of some relevant news stories. We believe these are a great resource but should be viewed as supplementary to your own research that incorporates other sources.

Nadex offers online and telephone support to all traders. You can contact the support team via email at customerservice@nadex.com or live chat. The support team is American, and available 24hrs a day, Monday-Friday. NB: The platform and support services are typically closed/unavailable on U.S. holidays; however, recently Nadex has remained open for trading non-US hours on select holidays.

Why Trade at Nadex?

When originally reviewed in 2016, we found the Nadex trading platform a little archaic. We soon learned to appreciate its efficiency, speed and features but it felt aesthetically lacking. More recently (in 2021), the platform was given a complete revamp with a slick new look and feel. We particularly enjoyed the modern interface of the trading apps. These updates to the Nadex platform truly add to the overall user experience and bring it up-to-date.

The lack of integrated e-wallets was apparent. We understand that this was due to regulatory requirements that helps safeguard the brand against money laundering, however, this is a mild inconvenience. It’s an acceptable trade-off when you consider that trader safety is paramount, your funds are safeguarded and the brand is regulated – within the USA.

The key point to note here is that Nadex is regulated by the American CFTC, and is a legal operator for USA-based binary options traders. This provides much-needed assurance for US-based traders that are hesitant to trust an offshore broker with their trading funds.

Aside from their regulatory status, other benefits of trading at Nadex include their $10k demo account, attractive spreads due to them operating as an exchange, NO minimum deposit requirement (a real-money trading account can be opened with ANY deposit amount – as of August 2021). This deposit feature is highly unique and if that wasn’t enough, Nadex offers fee-free trading for new accounts.

We were pleased to review Nadex and have no hesitation in giving Nadex a full five-star rating. We recommending them highly to all our U.S. traders.