Traze

Traze is the retail trading brand of Zeal Capital Market (Seychelles) Limited, a company registered in the Seychelles under number 8422618-1 and licensed by the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles as a Securities Dealer under licence number SD027. The same company also trades under the name ZFX. A second group company, Traze (Pty) Ltd (registration 2016/164943/07), is an authorised Financial Services Provider in South Africa under FSCA FSP number 48248.

How the regulation actually works. This is the part prospective clients most often misread. When you open a live account with Traze you become a client of the Seychelles company, and it is that offshore licence, not the South African one, that governs your money. Traze states plainly on its own site that Traze (Pty) Ltd "does not engage in Principal or market-making activities, is not an ODP (Over-the-Counter Derivatives Provider), and solely operates as an intermediary between the liquidity provider/market maker and the client". The FSCA authorisation is real, but it is an intermediary permission covering a company that does not hold client funds. The Seychelles regime that does cover them is a low-tier one with no statutory investor compensation scheme.

What they offer. Traze publishes three live account tiers: Cent Trading (from 15 USD, spreads from 1.3 pips, 20% stop-out), STP Trading (from 50 USD, spreads from 1.3 pips, 30% stop-out) and ECN Trading (from 200 USD, spreads from 0.2 pips, 50% stop-out). All three run to a maximum of 1:2000 leverage and a 0.01 lot minimum trade size. The instrument range covers forex, indices, shares, commodities and cryptocurrency, advertised on the homepage as more than 120 instruments. Traze does not publish a per-lot commission figure for any account, which is unusual for a tier marketed as ECN.

Platforms. MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS, plus a proprietary Traze mobile app, a copy-trading platform and MAM services for money managers. Expert Advisors are supported on live accounts.

Funding. Deposits are accepted by international bank wire (from 1,000 USD, funds usually arriving in two days), local bank transfer in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, VISA and Mastercard (200 to 10,000 USD) and the Skrill, Neteller and Perfect Money wallets. Traze states that it charges no deposit or withdrawal fees of its own, and that withdrawals are processed within 24 hours. Two rules are worth reading before you deposit: funds must come from an account in your own name, and a withdrawal back to your original payment method cannot exceed the amount you deposited by it, so profits must be taken to a separately verified bank account.

Who it suits. Traders in emerging markets who want very high leverage, a low entry point and standard MetaTrader tooling, and who understand that they are dealing with an offshore-licensed counterparty. It is not suitable for anyone who needs onshore client-money segregation or a compensation scheme.

Honest caveats. The maximum 1:2000 leverage is far above what any major onshore regulator permits and is a fast route to a wiped account. No commission schedule is published. Traze does not serve residents of the United States, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Iran, North Korea or the European Union, and its registration form enforces that at signup. There is a body of client complaints about withdrawals being obstructed by demands for tax payments or further deposits; WIKILIX could not independently confirm those accounts, but they are numerous enough that anyone depositing should test a small withdrawal early.