Blueberry Markets Review 2022

Trust

Blueberry Regulations

In our reviews, we examine the licences and regulations of each entity operated by a broker. This allows us to compare each entity’s different levels of protection. We rank licences by various regulatory bodies on a three-tier system, where tier-1 licensing indicates the highest level of regulation.

This is what we found concerning Eightcap’s two entities and their licences and regulations:

• Blueberry Markets Pty Ltd is the broker’s primary entity and it is the authorised representative of Eightcap Pty Ltd. The entity is authorised by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) under registration number AFSL 391441. ASIC is a tier-1 regulator.
• Eightcap Global Limited is the broker’s offshore entity and it operates under the ‘Blueberry Markets Global’ business name. The entity is licensed and regulated by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) under registration number SIA-F220. SCB licensing represents tier-3 regulation.
• Eightcap Global Limited is also licensed by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC) under registration number 40377. This offshore licensing represents tier-3 regulation as well.

We have summarised the most essential aspects of Blueberry Markets’ entities in terms of regulation and safety in the table below:

Why Is It Important to Know Where Your Broker Subsidiary (Entity) is Regulated?

Financial regulatory frameworks are not uniform globally, so licences obtained from diverging regulatory bodies entail varying degrees of protection. In order to provide financial services to overseas clients, brokers obtain authorisation from international regulators. In some cases, those offshore regulations may entail looser overall protection, and that is why traders need to be familiar with the type of regulation that their broker’s entity is complying with.

Here is what traders need to be looking for in a trustworthy broker:

• Segregation of client funds. Most regulators require brokers to keep their clients’ funds separately from accounts used for the broker’s own capital. This is done to mitigate the risk of accounting errors and fraudulent activity. Both of Eightcap’s entities comply with this requirement.
• Negative balance protection. Negative balance protection means that if a trader’s account balance drops below zero, the broker would waive its right to claim the deficit from the trader and will return the account balance to zero. This means that you cannot lose more money than what you have invested into your account. Eightcap’s two entities have negative balance protection for retail traders, though professional traders are exempt.
• Compensation scheme. Compensation schemes protect the trader against unlikely events such as the broker becoming insolvent. Neither of Eightcap’s two entities has a compensation scheme, meaning that its clients are liable for the broker’s credit risk. In other words, they may not be reimbursed should the broker, or one of the banks it works with, become incapable of paying its debt.
• Standard leverage. Under the most rigorous regulatory frameworks, brokers must provide a standard leverage of 1:30 for retail traders. This is the case for Eightcap Pty Ltd. under ASIC regulation, but Eightcap’s offshore entity has a maximum leverage of 1:500. Generally, standardising the leverage reduces the risk a trader may face from unrestrained market exposure.

Is Blueberry Markets Safe to Trade With?

Clients from Australia may enjoy the greatest level protection with Eightcap Pty Ltd, which is licensed by a top-tier regulator. Even though ASIC does not require brokers to have a compensation scheme in place, compliance with its regulatory framework ensures a high level of security.

Blueberry Markets is a reputable broker and a solid partner for retail and professional traders alike.

Blueberry Markets Global is authorised by Eightcap Global Ltd and therefore licensed by two offshore regulators, which do not impose strict financial regulations similar to those of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. This means that international clients of the broker may enjoy a lower overall level of protection with Blueberry Markets’ second entity due to looser regulation.

Stability and Transparency

In our tests for the Trust category, we also cover factors relating to stability and transparency. Here, we focused on how long the broker has been in business, the size of the company and how transparent they are in terms of information being readily available.

Blueberry Markets’ overall transparency level suffers a bit because the spreads on a Standard account are not easy to make out at first. That is so because the spreads quoted on the website are the raw spreads obtained by Blueberry Markets’ liquidity providers. Traders might falsely assume those pertain to the Standard account. There should have been a disclaimer explaining that those raw spreads are active on a Blueberry Direct account.

Moreover, a Blueberry Markets demo account does not incorporate all of the tradable instruments that are available on a Standard account, meaning that potential clients will not be able to measure all spreads on a practice account. They can thus be left with the false impression that Blueberry Markets charges lower spreads on its Standard account if they refer solely to the spreads quoted on the website.

We also noticed that information regarding the availability of swap-free trading is lacking on the website. Instead, traders have to contact Blueberry’s customer support to inquire more about the Islamic account’s conditions.

Despite these minor issues with the transparency on Blueberry Markets’ website, the broker is quite stable and reliable. Clients from Australia, in particular, can enjoy a significant level of protection owing to Blueberry’s regulation by ASIC. And while Blueberry’s offshore licensing by the VFSC and SCB entails looser regulatory oversight, this does not necessarily mean weaker protection.

Fees

Blueberry Markets makes money primarily via the spreads it charges traders, and we found those spreads to be quite competitive compared to the industry. The pricing model of the broker is thus its greatest advantage. Blueberry’s conditions cater to the needs of both traders who execute multiple low-volume transactions and traders who place high-volume orders less frequently.

As an STP broker, Blueberry Markets filters the most competitive spreads out of a pool of price quotes obtained from its liquidity providers. Blueberry’s fixed spread markup, starting from 1.0 pips on a Standard account, is then added to these raw spreads obtained from Blueberry’s liquidity providers.

Concerning Blueberry Markets’ non-trading costs, the broker does not charge anything for deposits or withdrawals. There are also no fees for inactivity. Accounts on which no orders have been executed for at least a month or the account balance has dropped below 50 units of the base currency will be archived instead.

Blueberry Markets Trading Fees

Blueberry Markets Spreads

We tested the spreads on a Standard Blueberry Markets account during the London open at 8am UK time and just after the U.S. open at 2.45pm UK time. These are the most actively traded times. The test was conducted on the 25^th of April, 2022.

Blueberry obtains its liquidity from various financial institutions and banks, which allows the broker to filter the most competitive spreads at any one moment. For instance, the raw spread of 0.1 pips on the EURUSD was added to the broker’s fixed cost of 1.0 pips, which amounted to the 1.1 pips that were charged to clients with Standard accounts during the UK open on the 25th of April.

Traders who have opted for the Blueberry Direct account instead would have been charged only the raw 0.1 pips spread, but they wouldn’t have enjoyed commission-free trading.

Blueberry Markets Swaps

A swap fee is a trader’s cost for holding an open position overnight because of changing interest rates. Swap long refers to the charge deductible or credit receivable for holding a buy position open overnight. In turn, swap short relates to the charges/credits deductible or receivable for holding a selling position open overnight.

The values listed below are for one full contract (100,000 units) of the base currency.

We found the broker’s swaps to be quite low, below the industry average. Swaps, however, similarly to spreads, are prone to fluctuate as the underlying market volatility changes. Therefore, traders may have to pay higher rollover costs when general market uncertainty is elevated.

Are Blueberry Markets’ Fees Competitive?

We found Blueberry Markets’ trading and non-trading fees to be very competitive. This is primarily due to the broker’s ability to filter out the lowest spreads from its pool of liquidity providers. Additionally, there are no commissions on a Standard account, Blueberry Markets does not charge anything for deposits and withdrawals, and there is no inactivity fee.

Platforms and Tools

MetaTrader 5 incorporates multiple trading indicators and drawing tools that can be used to study every facet of the behaviour of the price action with great precision. This is complemented by Blueberry Markets’ one-click trading and instant order execution options. Low latency trading is also accommodated by Blueberry’s VPS feature that allows orders to be filled within 1-3 ms or less.

The one minor drawback of the platform is that it lacks certain chart types, such as Renko and Heikin Ashi. This is not a big issue, however, as the vast majority of traders use regular candlesticks, which are available.

Automated trading is permitted on the platform, and traders may run different types of bots. And with the recent inclusion of the DupliTrade option, Blueberry’s clients can also take advantage of social trading.

As regards Blueberry Markets’ mobile app, even newbie traders can get used to its layout in just a few hours. And while it is virtually impossible to conduct thorough technical analyses on a small-screened smartphone, the app is an indispensable asset for managing your positions while on the go.

Trading on Blueberry Markets’ MT5 Platform

General Ease of Use

MetaTrader 5 incorporates most of the tools that made its predecessor so popular and successful in the first place. While the platform retains its rugged outlook, when it comes down to overall functionality, MT5 does not disappoint.

The customisable watchlist is positioned on the left side of the screen, allowing traders to have quick access to their favourite trading instruments. The navigation tool below the watchlist, in turn, displays Blueberry Markets’ key features such as the VPS option, the indicators list and the possibility to switch between your accounts in a few clicks.

The platform’s tools are arranged neatly in different categories depending on their function. These different categories are displayed logically, and even beginners can quickly find their way around the platform. More experienced traders would certainly enjoy the platform’s fast order execution, which negates the possibility of slippage.

Charts

Even though Blueberry Markets’ charts can be populated with various indicators to examine the price action from multiple angles, their overall clarity is diminished with each subsequent indicator added. In other words, MT5’s charts can be easily crowded, which is a problem that is not as pronounced on other platforms. Nevertheless, traders who have gotten used to MT5 can apply its multiple tools to execute complex technical analyses.

Here are some of the advantages of the charts:

• One-click trading option. In any fast-paced environment, the ability to act quickly can often signify the difference between success and failure. This is especially true for intraday trading, where seizing a good trading opportunity may depend on one’s ability to react to changes in the price action within seconds. That is why the inclusion of the one-click trading option is so important because traders can save time by placing orders directly from the chart.
• Indicators. What we found particularly useful is that the 38 trading indicators are not all meshed together in one huge list, but rather they are segregated into different categories. Traders can thus quickly choose between oscillators, volume or trend-based indicators, depending on the underlying market environment. This makes selecting the right indicator for the current conditions a lot easier, especially for novice traders.
• Drawing tools. In addition to the 38 indicators, Blueberry Markets’ MT5 platform also incorporates 22 drawing tools, which can be used to outline various formations on the price action. For instance, traders can use the Fibonacci retracement tool to determine the most important support and resistance levels within an existing trend.

Orders

In addition to the classic market orders, traders can also choose between 6 different types of pending orders. These represent variations of limit and stop orders. This offers traders a great degree of flexibility. For instance, if traders need guaranteed entry around the current spot price, they may opt for market orders. If they prefer guaranteed entry at a specific price level instead, then they would be better off using limit orders.

This diversity of opportunities is a great match to Blueberry Markets’ low latency trading option. Traders can execute complex and precise orders that, if constructed well, may maximise the overall efficiency of the position while also minimising the risk of slippage.

The underlying risk can be further reduced by utilising stop-loss orders or including an expiry date to the primary order.

Blueberry Markets Mobile App

Blueberry’s app retains most of the features of the desktop version of the platform, though its overall functionality is lower, which is a problem that is prevalent in almost all mobile trading apps. That is so because it is quite difficult to conduct complex technical analyses on low-resolution smartphones, regardless of how sophisticated the software of the trading app may be.

Blueberry Markets’s MT5 App is available for iOS from the Apple store, as well as for Android from Google Play. It runs on smartphones and tablets. We conducted our test on an Android device.

General Ease of Use

The individual components of the app are neatly separated into five distinct categories – ‘Quotes’, ‘Charts’, ‘Trade’, ‘History’, and ‘Messages’. The first option represents a watchlist of selected trading instruments, where traders can quickly have a look at the current bid and ask prices of their favourite assets.

The ‘Trade’ option shows you important account information, such as your current balance, equity and free margin, whereas the ‘History’ option contains important information relating to your past performance.

Overall, the app is pretty orderly and easy to navigate. It is because of this flexibility that the app is a perfect solution for whenever you have to make quick adjustments to your positions while on the go. For instance, to close a position that is incurring a loss at a time when you are not sitting in front of your computer and need to act fast.

Charts

Here are some of the key features of Blueberry Markets’ app:

• Price action. Price action can be represented in three ways: as a line, bars or candlesticks.
• Indicators. There are 30 different trading indicators on the app, which can be used to examine various aspects of the price action depending on the underlying condition of the market.
• Drawing tools. The app also incorporates 24 different drawing tools, the most popular being the Fibonacci retracement levels, Elliott waves and various channels.

Orders

In terms of variety, the app offers the same trading opportunities that are available on the desktop version. In addition to the possibility of instant execution via market orders, traders can choose from buy/sell limit orders, buy/sell stop orders, and buy/sell limit stop orders.

Additionally, they can construct even more complex trades by adding a supporting stop-loss or an expiry order to the underlying position. This is particularly important because it gives traders the flexibility to protect their positions in more than one way.

Tradable Instruments

Traders can choose from over 300 different instruments on a Blueberry Markets Standard account, most of which are stocks. The access to instruments from different asset classes means traders are free to pick the best opportunities at any given time. The pool of available instruments is enough for most types of traders, from scalpers eyeing minute changes in the price action to position traders riding massive trends spanning multiple days and weeks.

Blueberry Markets does not offer any bonds, ETFs or options, and the available instruments can be traded solely as CFDs.

What Are CFDs?

Contracts for difference are financial derivatives that allow traders to speculate on the price of a given instrument without physical delivery of the underlying. For instance, you can trade gold as a CFD (XAUUSD) without actually having to own any gold bars.

In addition to this simplification, another significant benefit of trading on margin with CFDs is that you can boost your market exposure with the leverage given to you by your broker. However, while the leverage multiples the profit potential of your trades, there is a parallel increase in the loss potential.

What Can You Trade With Blueberry Markets?

You can choose from over 300 tradable instruments from different asset classes on a Standard Blueberry Markets account, including:

• 43 Forex pairs
  • Majors, minors and exotics
• 5 Commodities
  • Metals and energy
• More than 300 stocks
  • Australian and global
• 13 Indices
  • U.S., European, Australian and Asian
• 5 Cryptocurrencies
  • Majors and minors

The Standard account offers a fair amount of major and minor FX pairs, comprising some of the most actively traded instruments on the market. While there are only a few commodities, traders may choose from an above-average set of indices in addition to U.S. and global stocks numbering north of 300.

Customer Support

Blueberry Markets Customer Support Test

We conducted our customer support test on the 26th of April around 3pm CET. We got in touch with their support team via the live chat option, which appears at the bottom-right corner of the website. This is quite convenient as you are always at one click away from asking for help.

Upon asking whether Blueberry Markets charged any dormant fees for account inactivity, we received an exhaustive answer seconds later. We were also provided with a link to additional information concerning accounts, fees, and charges. This was all very helpful.

In addition to the live chat option, traders can also email Blueberry Markets’ customer support or call one of the two telephone numbers. You can read more about how to get in touch with Blueberry here.

Deposit and Withdrawal

Blueberry Markets Deposit Methods

Blueberry Withdrawal Methods

On average, withdrawals take 1-2 business days more than deposits to process. Blueberry Markets does not charge anything for either type of transaction, though third-party fees may apply. For instance, clients using Skrill may be charged up to 3% of the total sum for withdrawals. Additional information regarding transactions from or to Blueberry accounts can be found here.

Account Types and Terms

Setting up a live account with Blueberry Markets, from registering to verifying it, takes a little bit longer than average. The procedure is mostly the same for clients from Australia signing up with Blueberry’s primary entity – Eightcap Pty Ltd – and international traders seeking to open an account with the broker’s overseas entity – Eightcap Global Ltd.

Qualified and licensed fund managers may choose between Blueberry’s advanced trading solutions. The Multi Account Manager (MAM) and Percentage Allocation Management Module (PAMM) software solutions allow fund managers to place orders on multiple trading accounts simultaneously, without delay.

Why is Choosing the Right Account Type Important?

When it comes to account types, there is no one-size-fits-all. Depending on your approach to trading, you may look for specific conditions, so you have to understand what is entailed by each account type. For instance, if you prefer low spreads and fixed costs to gauge the ever-changing market volatility, a Blueberry Markets Direct account may suit your needs. In contrast, the Blueberry Standard account may be a better solution if you prefer commission-free trading.

Fundamentally, selecting the right trading account may be compared to choosing what to wear. Everybody loves the feel of a bespoke suit, but a ballroom costume may not be your optimal choice if you have to run a marathon. However, a regular tracksuit can do the job.

What Account Types Does Blueberry Markets Offer?

Retail traders can choose between a Blueberry Standard or Blueberry Direct account. The latter’s benefit is that traders are charged raw spreads starting from 0.0 pips. However, additional commissions per trade apply. The advantage of the former, in contrast, is that trading is commission-free on all assets, but spreads are higher, starting from 1.0 pips. High-volume traders may opt for the premium account option with its negotiable conditions.

The minimal deposit amount on a Blueberry Markets account is $100. One notable difference between the Standard and Direct accounts is that retail traders from Australia who sign up with Eightcap Pty Ltd will be provided a maximum leverage of 1:30, whereas overseas clients of Eightcap Global Ltd may work with a maximum leverage of 1:500.

In choosing between the two, traders should consider which option would be more efficient based on the frequency and volume of the trades they intend to execute. If one has enough capital to comfortably place orders of one standard lot or more, then the Blueberry Direct account may be a better fit. That is so because not even the $7 commission per trade would offset the benefit of the significantly lower raw spreads.

However, if a trader’s strategy entails executing multiple smaller-sized positions throughout the month, the commission-free trading on a Standard account would likely be more cost-effective.

While the broker does not offer copy trading, its clients can use external algorithms, trading bots or EAs (expert advisors) on Blueberry Markets’ platforms.

Regarding Blueberry Markets’ policies on high-risk strategies such as hedging and scalping, clients of Eightcap Global Ltd – the overseas entity of the broker – are free to use both. However, retail traders from Australia working with Eightcap Pty Ltd are no longer allowed to use hedging strategies under ASIC regulation.

What is CFD Leverage?

In a nutshell, the leverage determines your overall market exposure. When you trade Contracts for Difference or CFDs, you can open positions for a fraction of their value because of the leverage. Essentially, the broker lends you money to trade with so that you can open bigger positions. The leverage multiplies the profits you generate from your winning trades.

Accordingly, the losses you incur from your losing trades are also multiplied.

Suppose you are to open a Blueberry Standard account with a 1000 USD deposit. If you sign up with Eightcap Pty Ltd, your leverage will be 1:30. Hence, your total market exposure will be 30 times higher or equal to 30 000 USD. However, if you are an international trader and set up a Standard account with Eightcap Global Ltd, your maximum leverage will be 1:500. Hence, your total market exposure with the same 1000 USD deposit will be 500,000 USD.

Your leverage can be your best friend or worst enemy on the market, depending on how cautiously and responsibly you use it. Traders should always beware that the bigger the leverage, the bigger the impact of even small changes in the underlying price action on their account balances.

Blueberry Markets Account Opening Process

We have summed up the steps of setting up a live account with Blueberry Markets:

• Step 1 – While on the website’s main page, click on the ‘Start Trading’ button that can be found in the top-right corner. From there, you will be taken to the application form.
• Step 2 – After you fill in your personal information, such as name, address and email address, you will be asked to choose your account preferences. You will have to select either the Blueberry Standard account option or the Direct account option. You will also have to pick a base currency for your account. Clients signing up with Eightcap Global Ltd also have to choose their preferred leverage from 1:100 to 1:500.
• Step 3 – Upon completing the registration form, you will need to open the email that has been sent to your address and verify your account.
• Step 4 – Send the required documents to fully validate your account, such as proof of address and banking details. You can find additional information regarding the necessary documents here.

Why Is A Demo Account Important?

A demo account is essentially the business card of the broker. You can use it to test out its services in a safe environment in order to determine whether they can satisfy your needs and preferences. Not only that, but you can use a demo account to test and tweak the settings of your trading strategy in order to improve your performance.

Blueberry Markets Supported Countries

Clients from Australia can trade with the broker’s primary entity, Blueberry Markets Pty Ltd. Traders from China, Japan, Europe and elsewhere, barring the U.S., can sign up with Eightcap Global Ltd, the broker’s offshore entity. It should be pointed out that while the former has tier-1 regulation, the latter does not.

Research

The news section on the Blueberry Markets website is where you can find Blueberry’s breakdowns of current news, which are highly descriptive and present the reader with all relevant data concerning a particular development on the market. A short video and a chart typically support those breakdowns. Blueberry Markets also provides more general articles delving deep into topics such as how to use different types of trading strategies and the peculiarities of trading in Australia.

This diversity is equally well suited to help beginner traders make sense of volatile markets, as well as more seasoned traders in need of regular updates on market news. And even though the quality of Blueberry’s in-house content is very high, the absence of any third-party research tools means that traders do not have quick access to external sources of information and different takes on current market developments.

Research Tools

Blueberry’s research content is separated into four primary categories, not including the weekly newsletter that is sent via email. Here is a brief description of each type:

• Market news & analysis. In this section, you can find brief breakdowns of important trading news and the resulting impact on the market. It also contains more abstract articles that examine various topics related to the general trading experience.
• Week ahead for trading. Materials in this section underscore currently emerging trading setups on a number of instruments, most commonly FX pairs, in light of an upcoming market event taking place over the next five days. The supporting charts underpin each instrument’s most important support and resistance levels.
• Trading hours. This evergreen section contains information regarding the trading hours during which you can trade with different assets, from FX pairs to indices.
• Economic calendar. The economic calendar section is pretty self-explanatory. It underpins the timing of the most important trading events and economic releases that are scheduled to take place each week.

Education

Educational materials in Blueberry Markets’ trading academy are segregated into three distinct categories – beginner, intermediate and advanced. While the beginner category is almost entirely focused on explaining the most rudimentary trading concepts, the intermediate and advanced categories delve deeper into the intricacies of those concepts.

The topic-specific materials begin with a study of basic concepts like pips, volatility, and liquidity, before jumping to more complex trading techniques, such as the proper use of the Ichimoku Cloud indicator, wedges, pennants, and others.

Blueberry’s video content represents a quick rundown of the same trading concepts, as well as the peculiarities of trading on MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. This is especially important for traders who are not accustomed to the two platforms.

The Bottom Line

Blueberry Markets’ costs are very competitive, and traders can benefit from commission-free trading on a Standard Blueberry account or the low spreads on a Blueberry Direct account. Blueberry’s non-trading costs are also very low.

The broker provides excellent customer support available 24/7. It also has multiple deposit and withdrawal methods, permitting fast and cheap transactions. 

With regards to Blueberry Markets’ drawbacks, there is no compensation scheme in place. And while it has very informative research and educational materials, the content format is somewhat limited. There are no third-party research tools or webinars. 

Overall, both beginners and seasoned traders can benefit from Blueberry Markets’ very low trading and non-trading costs, which is the greatest advantage of the broker. They can also enjoy the flexibility afforded by the MT4 and MT5 platforms.

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