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Contract reading

What CEX.IO Broker legally published, but does not want you to read

Every clause below is published by CEX.IO Broker itself, on its own website, today. The finding is not that the text exists. It is the distance between what a client is shown and what a client agreed to. Read from its own documents on .

Contracting entity: CEX MARKETS LTD

sole discretiondeemed acceptancemarketing gapprofit voidingclient moneyhidden feeno noticekyc freezemissing documentabusive trading

CEX MARKETS LTD holds a real CySEC licence, charges nothing to deposit or withdraw, and processes withdrawals the same day. Its homepage guarantees a best execution price. Its contract says the firm has no liability for failing to execute an order at all. Several clauses let it cancel profit you have already made, and you get three calendar days to challenge a trade.

Back to CEX.IO Broker

Contract risk

Money at risk
6.5/10

Where this contract sitsHow far this contract goes, overall. Under 2 is nothing beyond the ordinary; 6 to 9 means several clauses put money you have already earned at risk; 9 and above reads as designed to make payout refusable.

0510
CriticalClauses that can cost you money you have already earned or deposited, or that remove your ability to challenge it.
6
FlaggedEvery clause worth knowing about, at all three severities. Ordinary terms that every broker has are not counted.
20
DocumentsHow many of the broker's own legal files this reading is based on. Each one was downloaded and hashed on the date shown.
14
ContradictionsPlaces where a promise the broker makes in public is not kept by the clause that governs it.
7

How the 20 break downThe same flagged clauses, split by how much each one can cost you. Severity is our reading of the clause, not the broker's label.

Critical6
Warning14
Notice0

section 184 of 191is where the deepest clause sits, 96% of the way into the document it is in

The numbers in this contractFigures taken from this broker's own clauses, so the labels differ from broker to broker. The four in the panel above are the same on every report.

3 of these 4 figures come from a clause we rate critical, which means it can take your money or your profit rather than only delay it.

Critical3 daysTime to complain. Jump to the clause this comes from.Three calendar days to object or the trade standsCritical15 working daysProfit at risk. Jump to the clause this comes from.An out of date detail makes every trade voidableCritical30 working daysFee on an unused account. Jump to the clause this comes from.Five years without movement ends your client money protection71%In the contract. Jump to the clause this comes from.Extra income promised for a product rated highest risk

What the documents say

20 clauses worth knowing about, worst first, each quoted from CEX.IO Broker's own files

01

CEX.IO Broker's homepage promises a best execution price guarantee. The Terms say the price you get may be materially different from the price you asked for. They also give the firm no liability for failing to execute your order at all.

Why this matters

A guarantee you cannot enforce is not a guarantee. If your order fills at a worse price than you asked for, or does not fill, this contract leaves you with no claim against CEX Markets Ltd.

Exhibit 1CriticalHarder than usual

You acknowledge and agree that, despite our best efforts, the price at which execution occurs may be materially different to the price specified in your order.
Clause 8.2.2 in Terms and Conditions, p.13
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 69 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 36% of the way through.

Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK), CySEC (Cyprus)

Firms licensed by the FCA and CySEC must take all sufficient steps to get the best possible result for a client, and must keep their marketing fair, clear and not misleading. Best execution is a duty to take steps, never a promise about the price. CEX.IO Broker states it as a guarantee.

CEX.IO Broker is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 17The firm that guarantees your price is also the counterparty that profits when your trade loses.
02

If CEX Markets Ltd decides you took advantage of a wrong price, it can take your past trading profits out of your account. The contract says it decides this at its sole discretion and in good faith, at any time while you are a client.

Why this matters

The same clause admits the firm's own prices go wrong from time to time, then lists trading on a wrong price as abuse. Money you earned and counted as yours can leave your balance later.

Exhibit 2CriticalHarder than usual

Obtain from your Account any historic trading profits that you have gained through such abuse of liquidity as determined by us at any time during our trading relationship
Clause 8.10.3 in Terms and Conditions, p.16
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 84 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 44% of the way through.

Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK), CySEC (Cyprus)

Firms licensed by the FCA and CySEC must treat clients fairly and must be able to justify a decision that takes money from a client. This clause makes CEX Markets Ltd the only judge of whether your trading was abusive, with no deadline and no appeal.

CEX.IO Broker is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 6One clause takes back past profit, the other voids trades outright, and both rest on the firm's own judgement.
03

You get three calendar days to object to a trade confirmation by email. After that the Terms treat it as correct, conclusive and binding on you, unless the error was an obvious one.

In plain words

A manifest error means an obvious mistake by the broker.

Why this matters

Three calendar days can be a weekend and a Monday. Miss it and the firm's own records settle the matter, because the contract also makes its recordings conclusive evidence of what you instructed.

Exhibit 4CriticalHarder than usual3 days

Confirmation of execution and statements of your Account(s), in the absence of manifest error, shall be deemed correct, conclusive and binding upon you if not objected to within 3 calendar days by e-mail if orders were placed through the Company’s Online Trading Platform.
Clause 8.9 in Terms and Conditions, p.15
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 81 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 42% of the way through.

Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK), CySEC (Cyprus)

Firms licensed by the FCA and CySEC must investigate a retail complaint on its merits and allow a reasonable period to raise one. This contract closes the question after three calendar days, weekends included.

CEX.IO Broker is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 2The firm has no deadline for clawing back your profit, and you have three days to query a trade.
04

CEX Markets Ltd can cancel your trades and your profits, realised or not, and close your accounts without telling you first. You do not need to have broken anything. A belief that you will not meet an obligation in future is enough.

Why this matters

Your closed, settled, profitable trades are not safe from this clause. The trigger is the firm's own view of your future conduct, and the contract gives you no notice and no way to test it.

Exhibit 6CriticalRarely seen

On an Event of Default or at any time after we have determined, in our absolute discretion, that you have not performed (or we reasonably believe that you will not be able or willing in the future to perform) any of your obligations to us
Clause 16.1 in Terms and Conditions, p.28
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Buried at section 146 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 76% of the way through.

Our readingClosing out positions after a default sits in every CFD contract. Cancelling profit that is already realised, on the firm's belief about your future conduct, and without notice, does not.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 7An out of date detail breaches a warranty, a breach is a default, and a default opens this clause.
  • Worse together with Exhibit 14Holding the second account the homepage sells you is itself a default route into this clause.
05

The homepage sells institutional grade standards for protecting your funds. The firm's capital reports for 2023, 2024 and 2025 all say it uses only non-segregated client accounts. The Terms promise the opposite, that your trading money sits separate from the firm's own.

In plain words

On a principal basis, as your counterparty, means the broker takes the other side of your trade itself. Your loss is then the firm’s gain, so it has an interest in how your trade ends.

Why this matters

Segregation is what stands between your balance and the firm's creditors if CEX Markets Ltd fails. Its contract and its capital reports answer that question differently, so you cannot tell which protection you actually have.

Exhibit 3Warning

The Company only uses non-segregated client accounts.
Clause 5.5.1 in Disclosures and Market Discipline Report for the year ended 31 December 2025, p.32
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference

Buried at section 181 of 232 in the Disclosures and Market Discipline Report for the year ended 31 December 2025, 78% of the way through.

Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK), CySEC (Cyprus)

Firms licensed by the FCA and CySEC must hold client money in accounts kept separate from their own and must tell clients how those funds are held. The Terms say funds are segregated. The capital reports say only non-segregated client accounts are used.

CEX.IO Broker is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 19If the money is not protected by segregation, the compensation fund caps your recovery at EUR 20,000.
06

CEX.IO Broker publishes a Fee Schedule where every charge is 0%, to deposit, to withdraw, to open, to close and to roll over. The cost you actually pay is the spread, and it is not in the table.

Why this matters

You pay on every trade through a cost the fee page does not show. Clause 8.7.2 lets CEX Markets Ltd widen that spread without notice, so trading can get more expensive while the published schedule still reads zero.

Exhibit 5WarningHarder than usual

The difference between the buy price and the sell price is called the spread. This cost is realized each time you open and close a trade.
Quoted in Key Information Document (CFDs on Cryptocurrencies), p.3
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 77 of 191 in the Key Information Document (CFDs on Cryptocurrencies), 40% of the way through.

Set against a regulated standard: CySEC (Cyprus), FCA (UK)

Firms licensed by CySEC and the FCA must give a retail client the total cost of a product before they trade, in cash and as a percentage, including the spread. This Fee Schedule gives percentages only, all of them zero, and no cash amount.

CEX.IO Broker is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 10The page that would carry the missing cost is the one document the contract makes binding and the firm does not publish.

Three separate clauses let CEX Markets Ltd cancel profit you have already made

Clause 8.10.3 lets CEX Markets Ltd take back past trading profits whenever it decides your trading was abusive. Clause 16.1 goes further and voids trades and profits on nothing more than a belief about what you might do next. Clause 13.1.2 makes every transaction voidable if any detail you gave has stopped being accurate.

Profit at risk1 clause flagged

Every trade you have made becomes voidable if any detail you gave CEX Markets Ltd stops being accurate. You must report a material change within 15 working days, and the firm can then void, reverse or close your transactions at its discretion.

Why this matters

Moving house can put you in breach. The contract sets two further deadlines for the same duty, 30 calendar days to advise a change and 10 calendar days to supply the new details, so you cannot tell which one binds you.

Exhibit 7CriticalHarder than usual15 working days

Any breach by you of a representation or warranty given under these Terms renders any Transaction voidable from the outset or reversable or capable of being closed by us at our then prevailing prices, at our discretion.
Clause 13.1.2 in Terms and Conditions, p.26
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Buried at section 135 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 71% of the way through.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 6A breached warranty is an Event of Default, which opens the clause that cancels profit without notice.

Five quiet years and your balance stops being protected client money

Clause 10.4 lets CEX Markets Ltd stop treating your money as client money after five years without movement. It writes to your last known email address and gives you 30 business days to claim. The contract also labels your account inactive after one year and never says what that costs.

In plain words

Dormancy means an account left unused.

Dormancy1 clause flagged

If nothing moves in your balance for five years, CEX Markets Ltd can stop treating your money as client money. It writes to your last known email address and gives you 30 business days to claim it.

Why this matters

One missed email, at an address you may have given years earlier, is what stands between you and your balance. The contract says nothing about what happens to the money after those 30 business days.

Exhibit 8CriticalHarder than usual30 working days

You agree that we may cease to treat your money as Client Money if there has been no movement on your balance for five (5) consecutive years. We shall write to you at your last known email address informing you of our intention of no longer treating your balance as Client Money and giving you thirty (30) Business Days to make a claim.
Clause 10.4 in Terms and Conditions, p.22
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Buried at section 114 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 60% of the way through.

Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK)

Firms licensed by the FCA must take reasonable steps to trace a client before they stop treating an unclaimed balance as client money, and must promise to pay it if the client later claims. This contract requires one email and promises nothing afterwards.

CEX.IO Broker is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

What happens, and when

The stages this clause runs through, taken from the broker's own document
TriggerWhat the broker may then doClause
After 1 yearYour account is classified as Inactive. The contract never says what that costs you.8.15.1
After 5 yearsYour account is classified as Dormant.8.15.3
5 years with no movementCEX Markets Ltd can stop treating your balance as client money, and emails your last known address.10.4
30 business days laterYour window to claim the balance closes.10.4
  • Worse together with Exhibit 3Money the capital reports already describe as non-segregated can stop being client money altogether.

CEX.IO Broker guarantees best execution in public and disclaims it in the contract

Three promises on CEX.IO Broker's own pages do not survive its own documents. The homepage guarantees a best execution price, and the Terms then say the firm has no liability for failing to execute an order. It advertises institutional grade protection for your funds, while its capital reports describe only non-segregated client accounts.

Promise against contract1 clause flagged

The About page says CEX.IO Broker was built for people adding extra income to their regular employment. It names doctors, teachers and store managers. The firm's own key information document rates this product 7 out of 7 for risk, the highest class there is.

Why this matters

The footer of that same page says 71% of retail client accounts lose money trading CFDs. You are offered extra income by a firm that states most of its customers lose.

Exhibit 9WarningHarder than usual71%

We have classified this product as 7 out of 7, which is the highest risk class. This is due to the chance that you could lose all of your trading balance.
Quoted in Key Information Document (CFDs on Cryptocurrencies), p.1
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 10 of 27 in the Key Information Document (CFDs on Cryptocurrencies), 37% of the way through.

Set against a regulated standard: CySEC (Cyprus), ESMA (EU)

Firms licensed by CySEC must keep marketing fair, clear and not misleading, and must not present a high risk product in terms that play down the chance of loss. CEX.IO Broker describes this one as a way of topping up a salary.

CEX.IO Broker is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

Every number on the fee page is 0% and the real cost is not on it

CEX.IO Broker's Fee Schedule shows 0% to deposit, withdraw, open, close and roll over. The cost you actually pay is the spread, which the page omits and clause 8.7.2 lets the firm widen without notice. The Cost and Charges Policy that clause 1.5 makes part of your contract is not published at all.

Cost disclosure2 clauses flagged

Clause 1.5 of the Terms makes the Cost and Charges Policy part of a legally binding contract. CEX.IO Broker does not publish it. The key information document points to a General Fees Document that is not published either.

Why this matters

You agree to a fee document you cannot read. The Fee Schedule page sends you to a knowledge base at support.cexbro.com to understand how fees are worked out, and that address is not a working website.

Exhibit 10WarningHarder than usual

If you are accepted as our Client, these Terms together with the provisions of the Risk Disclosure Statement, the Order Execution Policy, the Privacy Policy, Key Information Document, the Conflicts of Interest Policy, the Complaints Handling Policy, the Client Categorization Policy, the Investor Compensation Fund Policy, the Cost and Charges Policy and the Leverage Policy (as all are amended from time to time), which can be found on our website, constitute a legally binding contract between us
Clause 1.5 in Terms and Conditions, p.1
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 3 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, near the start.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 5The spread missing from the fee table is exactly what the unpublished cost policy would have carried.

Clause 5.2 says CEX Markets Ltd charges nothing to deposit or withdraw. Two clauses later it keeps the right to add a markup to the exchange rate it uses. No size is given for that markup anywhere.

Why this matters

If your account currency differs from the currency you deposit or trade in, you pay a rate the firm sets, by an amount it does not have to tell you. A deposit it rejects as third party money comes back with transaction fees already taken off.

Exhibit 11WarningHarder than usual

No fees are charged by the Company for deposits to or withdrawals from the Account.
Clause 5.2 in Terms and Conditions, p.9
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 50 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 26% of the way through.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 5A schedule of zeroes sits above a cost the firm sets itself and never quantifies.

Withdrawals are same day, after an approval with no rules attached

CEX Markets Ltd promises to process a withdrawal request the day it arrives, which is faster than most brokers offer. The same clause also requires the request to be approved, and sets out no grounds and no deadline for that. Clause 20.11 then lets the firm value its own future claims and take them off your balance without notice.

Getting paid1 clause flagged

CEX Markets Ltd can take any amount you owe it off any amount it owes you, at any time, without telling you. Where the amount is not yet fixed, the contract lets the firm put its own value on it.

Why this matters

Your withdrawable balance is what is left after the firm has valued its own claims against you. It also holds a claim over all the cash it keeps for you until everything owed is settled.

Exhibit 13WarningHarder than usual

Without prejudice to any other rights to which we may be entitled, we may at any time and without notice to you set-off any amount (whether actual or contingent, present or future) owed by you to us against any amount (whether actual or contingent, present or future) owed by us to you.
Clause 20.11 in Terms and Conditions, p.35
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Buried at section 184 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 96% of the way through.

CEX Markets Ltd can change your terms and cut your access while positions are open

Clause 20.1.1 gives you 72 hours to accept a change to the Terms, and treats silence as consent. Clause 9.8.1 lets the firm cut your access to the platform immediately and without notice, while your positions stay open. The homepage meanwhile invites you to run up to 10 accounts, which clause 14.1 turns into a default risk.

Discretion3 clauses flagged

The homepage invites you to run strategies on up to 10 separate trading accounts. The Terms make it an Event of Default if you do not disclose that you are the beneficial owner of more than one account with the firm.

Why this matters

An Event of Default opens the clause that cancels trades and profits without notice. The marketing that sold you the second account never mentions the disclosure the contract expects from you.

Exhibit 14WarningHarder than usual10

You fail or omit to disclose to us your capacity as the beneficial owner of more than one Account you may maintain with us
Clause 14.1 in Terms and Conditions, p.26
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Buried at section 136 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 71% of the way through.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 6The feature the homepage sells is the trigger for the clause that voids profit without notice.

When CEX Markets Ltd changes the Terms, you have 72 hours from the moment the email is sent to decide. Silence counts as consent. Object, and you cannot open new positions and must close the ones you hold inside the same 72 hours.

Why this matters

Disagreeing with a change costs you the choice of when to sell. If your positions are still open when the time runs out, the firm can close them all at whatever the price is then.

Exhibit 15WarningHarder than usual3 days

You will be given 72 hours from the moment the notice has been dispatched (“72 Hours”) by the Company to decide on whether you would want to proceed under the new Terms. Upon the expiration of these 72 Hours you shall be deemed to have provided consent to the application of the new Terms.
Clause 20.1.1 in Terms and Conditions, p.31
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Buried at section 162 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 85% of the way through.

CEX Markets Ltd can suspend or permanently withdraw your ability to use the platform with immediate effect and no notice, whenever it considers that necessary or advisable. Withdrawing the service in the ordinary way takes 24 hours of written notice.

Why this matters

Losing the platform does not close your positions. If you cannot reach your account you cannot add margin or cut a loss, and the firm can close positions itself once margin runs short.

Exhibit 16WarningHarder than usual

We have the right, unilaterally and with immediate effect, to suspend or withdraw permanently your ability to use any electronic service, or any part thereof, without notice, where we consider it necessary or advisable to do so
Clause 9.8.1 in Terms and Conditions, p.21
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 109 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 57% of the way through.

You have three calendar days to challenge a trade, then the firm's records decide

Clause 8.9 gives you three calendar days to object to a trade confirmation by email. After that the Terms treat it as conclusive and binding, and clause 20.4.2 makes the firm's own recordings conclusive evidence. If someone else uses your password, clause 9.6.5 makes you cover the firm's losses.

Challenging a trade1 clause flagged

If anyone uses your password, with your permission or without it, you have to cover the losses CEX Markets Ltd suffers. The Terms also rule out its liability for any unauthorised use of the platform.

Why this matters

Someone else trading your account is your problem and your bill. The Risk Disclosure puts the risk of a stranger reaching your email or your login entirely on you.

Exhibit 12WarningRarely seen

We shall not be liable for any loss, liability or cost whatsoever arising from any unauthorized use of an electronic service.
Clause 9.6.5 in Terms and Conditions, p.20
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 106 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 55% of the way through.

Our readingExcluding liability for unauthorised use is common. Making the client pay the firm's own losses caused by an intruder, whether or not the client allowed the access, is not.

The privacy notice for a Cyprus broker names a company in St Vincent

The Privacy Notice on CEX.IO Broker's legal page is written for Digital Markets LLC of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and was last amended in March 2019. It lists no right of access and no right to erasure. An identity checking firm it never names collects your documents.

Your documents1 clause flagged

The Privacy Notice on CEX.IO Broker's legal page governs data processing for Digital Markets LLC, registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines. It covers a site called broker.cex.io, and it was last amended in March 2019.

Why this matters

You cannot tell who holds your identity documents. The notice sends you to the privacy policy of an identity checking firm it never names, and lists no right of access, no right to erasure and no authority to complain to.

Exhibit 18WarningRarely seen

This Privacy Notice governs personal data processing of our Users and Website visitors of Digital Markets LLC incorporated in St. Vincent and the Grenadines with company number 135 LLC 2019 and whose registered office is First Floor, First St. Vincent Bank Ltd. Building, James Street, Kingstown.
Quoted in Privacy Notice, p.1
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 2 of 28 in the Privacy Notice, near the start.

Set against a regulated standard: CySEC (Cyprus)

Firms licensed by CySEC come under EU data protection law, which requires the company holding your data to be named and your rights over it to be set out. This notice names a St Vincent and the Grenadines company and lists none of those rights.

CEX.IO Broker is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

Our readingA privacy notice naming a different company, in a different country, from the firm the client contracts with is not something a reader can resolve on their own.

CEX Markets Ltd is your counterparty and the only judge of its own prices

The key information document says CEX Markets Ltd earns when your trade loses. Its Order Execution Policy then leaves the choice of comparison prices solely at its own discretion. One of its two approved execution venues is CEX.IO Ltd, which the Terms call an affiliated company.

Who you trade against1 clause flagged

CEX Markets Ltd is the market maker and your counterparty, so it earns when your trade loses. Its own quotes are the reference, and it decides alone which outside prices those quotes should be compared against.

Why this matters

Nobody outside the firm checks whether the price you got was fair. In 2024 and 2025 it also traded on its own account as a market maker, holding positions on a speculative basis.

Exhibit 17WarningStandard wording

Therefore, if your trade is profitable, we lose. If your trade is loss making, we earn a profit.
Quoted in Key Information Document (CFDs on Cryptocurrencies), p.1
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Buried at section 42 of 59 in the Key Information Document (CFDs on Cryptocurrencies), 71% of the way through.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 1The guarantee of a best price comes from the firm on the other side of the trade.

The licence is real and belongs to a firm that has lost money three years running

CEX MARKETS LTD holds CySEC licence 381/19, granted in November 2019, and publishes its capital position every year. It must keep EUR 750,000 of its own funds and has recorded a loss in each of 2023, 2024 and 2025. The Investor Compensation Fund Policy that clause 1.5 makes binding cannot be opened from its legal page.

Who holds your money2 clauses flagged

Clause 1.5 names the Investor Compensation Fund Policy as part of your binding contract, and the legal page lists it. The link leads nowhere. What the Terms do say is that cover stops at 90% of your claim or EUR 20,000, whichever is lower.

Why this matters

If CEX Markets Ltd cannot pay you, EUR 20,000 is the most you can expect, and only as a retail client. The conditions that decide whether you qualify sit in the document you cannot open.

Exhibit 19WarningStandard wording$20000

Any compensation provided to you by the Investor Compensation Fund shall not exceed either the 90% of your cumulative covered claims or the amount of twenty thousand euros (EUR 20,000.00), whichever is lower.
Clause 20.7.2 in Terms and Conditions, p.34
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Buried at section 178 of 191 in the Terms and Conditions, 93% of the way through.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 3The cap matters most where segregation is in doubt, and that is exactly what the capital reports put in doubt.

The homepage sells a group serving clients since 2013 in over 200 countries. Your contract is with CEX MARKETS LTD, licensed by CySEC in November 2019, which reports its capital on its own. It has recorded a loss in each of the last three years.

Why this matters

The track record belongs to other companies. The firm you deposit with must hold EUR 750,000 of its own funds at all times, and it has lost money every year since 2023.

Exhibit 20Warning$750000

The Company is authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (“CySEC” or the “Commission”), under license number 381/19.
Clause 1.1 in Terms and Conditions, p.1
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Our own capture of cexbro.com, taken on Oct 14, 2026The claim, on Homepage, Market tenure panel under the heading Regulated platform you can rely onVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file

Where it sits: section 40 of 232 in the Terms and Conditions, near the start.

Where the marketing and the contract disagree

A promise made in public, set against the clause that governs it

01

CEX.IO Broker guarantees a best execution price in public, and its Terms warn the price may be materially different and rule out liability for not executing at all.

Said in public, in English

Best execution price guarantee

Homepage, bullet under the heading Trade with confidence on the regulated platform for the EU Residents

In the contract · clause 8.2.2

You acknowledge and agree that, despite our best efforts, the price at which execution occurs may be materially different to the price specified in your order.

02

The homepage promises institutional grade protection for your funds while the firm's own capital report says it uses only non-segregated client accounts.

Said in public, in English

Institutional grade standards for protecting your funds and data

Homepage, bullet under the heading Trade with confidence on the regulated platform for the EU Residents

In the contract · clause 5.5.1

The Company only uses non-segregated client accounts.

03

The About page offers extra income to salaried professionals, and the firm's own key information document rates the same product highest risk with a chance of losing everything.

Said in public, in English

Crypto enthusiasts who are adding extra income to their regular employment (doctors, teachers, mathematicians, store managers, business owners, and others), by making smart trading choices

About Us page, the list headed We built CEX.IO Broker for

In the contract

We have classified this product as 7 out of 7, which is the highest risk class. This is due to the chance that you could lose all of your trading balance.

04

Every cost on CEX.IO Broker's public fee pages reads 0%, while its Terms promise an aggregated cost disclosure in cash as well as percentages that the site does not carry.

Said in public, in English

Rollover fee: 0% per 24 hours

Homepage, Fees panel

In the contract · clause 5.1

Further information in respect to costs and charges are provided in an aggregated form on the Company’s website (expressed in both as a cash amount and as a percentage).

05

CEX.IO Broker advertises the most transparent fees in the market, and its Terms keep the right to add a markup to exchange rates without stating its size.

Said in public, in English

Stay on top of your costs and benefit from the most competitive and transparent fees in the market

Homepage, Low fees panel under the heading Trade with low cost

In the contract · clause 5.4

However, the Company reserves the right to add a markup on the conversion rates in relation to the prevailing market conditions.

06

The homepage sells up to 10 accounts, and the Terms make undisclosed ownership of more than one an Event of Default that lets the firm cancel trades and profits.

Said in public, in English

Execute independent strategies on up to 10 separate trading accounts

Homepage, Multi-account trading terminal panel

In the contract · clause 14.1

You fail or omit to disclose to us your capacity as the beneficial owner of more than one Account you may maintain with us

07

The homepage sells a group record going back to 2013, while the firm you contract with was licensed in November 2019 and reports its capital on its own.

Said in public, in English

Since 2013, CEX.IO has been serving global clients in over 200 countries and territories. We built CEX.IO Broker based on the years of digital assets markets knowledge and experience.

Homepage, Market tenure panel under the heading Regulated platform you can rely on

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In the contract · clause 1.3

the Company implements an individual (solo) basis of application because it has neither a parent undertaking nor a subsidiary which is an investment firm or a financial institution

What changed quietly

No previous review of CEX.IO Broker exists to compare against.

  • REWRITTENClause 6 · FY2024 to FY2025

    The 2025 capital report describes the firm as not below its liquidity requirement where the 2024 report said well above it.

    As shown in Table 10 below, the Company is not below this minimum regulatory requirement as of the year-end 31 December 2025.

  • REWRITTENClause 5.5.4 · FY2023 to FY2024

    From 2024 the firm began trading on its own account as a market maker and holding positions speculatively, which it had not done in 2023.

    During the year and in line with its strategy, the Company did make use of its dealing on own account investment service under market maker capacity by holding financial instruments on a speculative basis.

The documents this reading is based on

14 files, all published by CEX.IO Broker. Each shows when we read it and a fingerprint of its wording.

WIKILIX keeps the copy of each file it read, and does not republish it: what is published is the fingerprint of its wording. Download the file yourself and hash its text, lowercased with runs of whitespace collapsed, and a matching fingerprint means the wording quoted above is still the wording CEX.IO Broker publishes.

How this reading was done

Every clause above was read out of a document CEX.IO Broker publishes itself

This reading was published on .

Documents
11 of 14downloaded from the broker's site, and 11 read in full
Pages opened
22pages walked to find those documents, footer links included
Older copies
8earlier versions downloaded, 8 identical to the copy we hold by fingerprint
Marketing pages
4public pages set against what the contract says
Position measured
20clauses whose position was counted: which numbered section of the document holds them, out of how many

Who the contract is with

CEX MARKETS LTD

CEX MARKETS LTD is a Cyprus investment firm, registration number HE389553, licensed by CySEC under number 381/19 on 22 November 2019. It is the company you contract with, and it is not CEX.IO. Clause 5.9 of the Terms calls CEX.IO an affiliated company, and clause 3.1.2 requires you to register with CEX.IO's platform before you can open an account here. For capital purposes the firm reports on its own, because it has no parent or subsidiary that is itself an investment firm or a financial institution. The Terms give its registered office as 28B Archangel Street, Kaimakli, while every other document and the website give 13 Kypranoros Street, Nicosia.

Quotations are copied verbatim from the documents named above, with the clause number and the page each one came from. Where a clause is quoted in another language, the original is shown first and the English is a translation.

The plain-language parts, what a clause means for a client, how ordinary it is, and how it reads against a regulated standard, are WIKILIX's analysis and are labelled as such on every card. This is a reading of public documents, not legal advice and not an allegation of wrongdoing.

In fairness, and what we could not check

A reader who knows the edges of the work can trust the middle of it

No deposit or withdrawal fees, and clause 8.14 promises to process a withdrawal request the same day it arrives. Retail clients get negative balance protection per account, so you cannot lose more than your balance. The Leverage Policy reproduces the EU caps exactly, down to 2:1 on cryptocurrencies. The key information document states that the firm earns when your trade loses, which most brokers never put in writing. Clause 18.1.1 keeps the firm liable for reasonably foreseeable loss instead of excluding everything. The Supported Countries page matches the contract on Belgium, France and Latvia, and the complaints procedure gives the regulator's and the Ombudsman's full addresses.

The Investor's Compensation Fund document would not open. The link on the legal page and in the footer of every page leads nowhere, and clause 1.5 makes that document part of your contract. No Cost and Charges Policy is published anywhere, although clause 1.5 names one as binding too. The 2023 Pillar III file carries the same report twice; the review covers the first copy and part of the second. The TPR confirmation is not covered. A file comparison shows all eight archived copies are identical to today's files. The site publishes in English only, so there was no second language to hold the marketing against.

How to check any of this yourself

Every quote above links to the CEX.IO Broker file it came from. This is what to do with it.

Open the three stepsFind the words in the source, work out the fingerprint, and read what a difference does and does not prove.

Open the source and search for the words

Every quote has a link under it. Open the file, or the web page, and search it for the words we quote. The clause number next to the quote tells you where to look.

If the words are not there any more, the source may have changed after we read it. That is worth knowing too. We keep the date we read it, and a code worked out from its wording, so the quote stays checkable.

What a fingerprint is

A fingerprint is a code worked out from what a source says. Change one word and the code changes completely. We keep two codes for every file we read, and the panel on each source shows both.

The first is the code of the exact file we downloaded. The second is the code of its wording alone, with capital letters lowered and runs of spaces collapsed. When the same words are saved as a new file, the first code changes and the second one stays the same.

Only the first code can be worked out on your own computer. Save the file, then run one of these, putting the name of the file you saved where the example is. The panel on each source prints the command with that source's real file name already in it.

macOS or Linux:
  shasum -a 256 the-file-you-saved.pdf

Windows:
  certutil -hashfile the-file-you-saved.pdf SHA256

The two codes are different from each other, and they are not meant to match. Comparing one against the other proves nothing.

What a difference means, and what it does not

A different file code on its own proves nothing. A PDF saved again with a new date inside it is a new file saying exactly the same thing.

A different wording code means the words themselves changed. That is the one that matters, and it is why we keep it.

Even then, a change is not proof of bad faith. Companies update their documents. What this report says is what the document said on the day we read it, and every quote carries that date.

A source that is a web page and not a file has no file to save, so only the code of its wording is shown.

How this report is made

Every clause quoted above comes from a document CEX.IO Broker publishes on its own website, downloaded and hashed on the date shown, with the clause number and page recorded so any reader can check it. We do not allege anything the documents do not say, and we do not judge CEX.IO Broker on anything other than its own published terms and its own public marketing. Where a clause has a qualifier that softens it, the report says so. Last read Oct 14, 2026.

If you represent CEX.IO Broker and a clause has changed, been withdrawn, or is being read out of context, tell us and we will re-read the documents and update this page. Corrections from the broker are welcome and are published with the reading they change. Contact us.

This is a reading of a contract, not legal advice and not a ruling on CEX.IO Broker. Whether its licence is real and current is a separate check on the broker profile.

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