Kodimax Review: Is it a Scam?

• Website URL: https://www.kodimax.com/
• Founded: 2002
• Regulations: No
• Languages: English
• Deposit Methods: Qiwi Wallet, WebMoney, Visa, MasterCard, Yandex
• Free Demo Account: No
• of Assets: 200+
• Types of Assets: Forex pairs, CFDs on stocks, commodities & indices, cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Monero, Dash and NEM), Cannabis stocks.

Overview

Kodimax is a Forex as well as CFD broker that is headquartered in Bulgaria, with offices in the UK, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. The brokerage focuses cryptocurrency trading and provides its clients with a web-based platform for trading.

Clients who use Kodimax only get a leverage of 1:5, though they do get a wide range of currency pairs to trade with. The site requires a minimum deposit of $500 before you can start trading.

Kodimax: Advantages

Range of Trading Instruments

The on good thing that Kodimax offers is its wide range of trading instruments. You get to choose from currency pairs, to CFDs for stocks, indices, commodities and even cryptocurrencies.

In fact, Kodimax offers a wide range of cryptocurrency tokens to choose from – Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Litecoin, Monero, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Dash and NEM.

Kodimax: Disadvantages

Unclear on Details about Company

Kodimax is owned and operated by the company called Personal Group Activity Ltd. in Bulgaria. However, it is only when you read through the terms and conditions of the website that this information is gleaned. Unlike other brokers, who mention the details of their company clearly on their homepage, Kodimax does not have any information about its company or its licenses or regulatory information.

Plus500

$100

Minimum Deposit

Start Trading

Read Review

82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money

Plus500 is a FTSE 250 listed brokerage providing online trading services in CFDs, across 2,000+ securities and multiple asset classes.

 

AvaTrade

$100

Minimum Deposit

Start Trading

Read Review

The company was created as a combined effort of financial professionals and experts in web-commerce with the goal of perfecting the online experience for retail traders.

Lack of Regulation

Bulgaria is a member of the European Union, and its online Forex trading market is regulated according to the ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) guidelines.

However, on Kodimax’s website, there is no mention of a license issued by the Bulgarian regulatory authorities, the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), which clearly indicates that this is an unregulated brokerage.

Legitimate financial services firms that operate in the European market are subject to stringent regulations, one of which requires them to have a minimum operating capital of not less than €730,000. This is so that their clients are given protection against negative balances. What this means is that no client will lose more than the amount deposited.

The regulations also give traders protection in that all client deposits are held separately in a trust account that is protected from creditors. Brokers are also required to file regular reports, be open to external third-party audits and, in some cases, insure their clients’ funds.

With Kodimax being an unregulated brokerage, your funds may be in danger. And if you lose your money (for example, due to the broker going bankrupt), there is no way in which you would be able to get either compensation or protection from government agencies.

Unusual Withdrawal Charges

In its terms and conditions, Kodimax states that if a trader wishes to withdraw his or her deposit, he or she would be charged a withdrawal fee of €250.

This is a cause for concern, since no regulated broker would penalize their client for wanting to withdraw their funds.

Bonuses

Kodimax offers trading bonuses, which is a cause for concern. Offering trading bonuses is a hotly debated issue in the Forex space, since it comes with some extremely unrealistic trade volume requirements. These requirements are designed to favor brokers, with traders usually ending up the losers. This tactic is a favorite with brokers that are out to scam their clients.

What makes Kodimax offering trading bonuses to its customers an even greater concern is that there are no details of the terms and conditions clearly specified. Therefore, the customer really has no idea what he or she is getting into by accepting such bonuses.

No Free Demo Account

There is no free demo account available for traders to get an insight into the broker’s operations. When you click on the trade button, it immediately takes you to this page, which only allows you to sign into your account.

Range of Payment Methods

Another red flag that gets raised is that Kodimax displays the logos of multiple payment companies on its website – QIWI Wallet, WebMoney, Yandex, Visa and MasterCard – further investigation reveals that the site only offers the options of wire transfers and credit card payments.

Even Skrill, an e-wallet that is extensively used by brokers in the industry, is not a payment option here. This is logical, since Skrill recently updated its policy that it would only do business with firms that were regulated and licensed.

No Support for MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 is a trading platform that is the industry standard. More than 80% of brokers and traders use this platform for their daily transactions. This interface offers advanced options for charting, can run intelligent automated trading sessions and is very easy to use.

Kodimax, on the other hand, uses a simplified web-based platform for trading, which has been designed by Airsoft. This platform does not give traders the range of features that are easily available with MetaTrader 4.

Minimum Deposit is High

Kodimax requires you to make a minimum deposit of $500 to trade on their site. This is more than 2 times the industry standard, which is another cause for concern.

Conclusion

Kodimax is not a licensed or regulated broker. Had the firm been new, it might have had the excuse, poor as it may be, that it was awaiting its licenses and final regulatory approvals.

However, considering that it has been operational for the last 17 years, and is headquartered in a country that is strongly regulated according to EU guidelines, Kodimax’s lack of regulation is a huge cause for concern.

Added to that, there are too many other issues with the broker – extremely high minimum deposit requirements, strange withdrawal clauses, unclear bonuses, no MetaTrader 4 support and little information about its parent company.

It would be best to avoid this broker.

Kodimax

1.8

User Experience

2.6/10

Payment Options

1.0/10

Security

1.7/10

Support

2.3/10

Reputation

1.6/10

Pros

• Minimum Deposit Requirements on Par with Industry Average
• Supports MT5
• Wide Range of Trading Instruments
• Account can be opened in any one of 4 different currencies

Cons

• No Demo Account
• Skrill not available as a payment option
• Strange Withdrawal Conditions that are not fair to traders
• Not registered, licensed or regulated despite operating in the EU