Risk scorecard
Each area is scored 0 (clean) to 10 (worst). Higher means more risk.
Regulation
7/10 · HighThe only licence, FSCA FSP 42734, is an asset-management licence held by a sister company. The Anguilla company that runs accounts is unregulated, no Vida entity is an FSCA OTC derivatives provider, and the CNMV has warned against the brand.
Identity & transparency
6/10 · HighCompanies are named and the Anguilla company checks out on its registry. But the site presents a dissolved Cyprus company as active, uses inconsistent entity names, and gives an address the registry does not show.
Withdrawals & conduct
7/10 · HighComplaints on two platforms describe the same failure (profits voided or deducted, accounts closed with balances kept), with amounts and dates, mostly from December 2025 to November 2026. No demands for extra payment were found.
Reputation
7/10 · HighTrustpilot rating of 2.4 out of 5, half one-star, with no replies to negative reviews. There is also a CNMV warning, a withdrawn Financial Commission membership, and a burst of uniformly positive reviews on another site.
Website claims
8/10 · CriticalClaims to be a regulated CFD broker with FSCA and European oversight through a dissolved Cyprus company. Cites CASS client money rules it is not subject to, and advertised Financial Commission membership after it was withdrawn.
Operational history
5/10 · ModerateThe current operation is about four years old (domain registered February 2022). The company running the accounts changed from Vanuatu to St Vincent to Anguilla within about a year, and one licence was revoked.
Who they are
A quick desk file on the company behind the brand.
- Brand: Vida Markets (vidamarkets.com)
- Legal entity: Vida Markets Limited, Anguilla, company A000001245. The website names it as the provider of its trading services and calls those services non-regulated.
- Registered: 26 June 2023 on the Anguilla Commercial Registry as an exempted company, status Active, annual return filed for 2026. The registry gives the registered office as Babrow Building, The Valley. The website now gives No.9 Cassius Webster Building, Grace Complex, PO Box 1330, The Valley, AI-2640. To find the entry, search registration number A000001245 on the registry's public search.
- Related companies:
- Vida Global Markets (PTY) Ltd, South Africa, company 2010/010222/07, which holds FSCA FSP 42734
- VIDA Global Markets LLC, St Vincent and the Grenadines, 270 LLC 2020
- VIDA GLOBAL MARKETS LTD, Cyprus, HE 440690, dissolved 15 June 2025
- VIDA Global Markets (V) Limited, Vanuatu, a former company whose licence was revoked
- VDM Consultancy DMCC, Dubai, named on earlier versions of the site as providing marketing and operations
- Website: vidamarkets.com, registered 9 February 2022. Client login at clients.vidamarkets.com.
- Only licence: FSCA FSP 42734. It is held by the South African company and described by the broker as discretionary asset management. It is not a licence to deal in CFDs, and it does not cover the Anguilla company.
- Offers: CFDs on forex, indices, commodities, shares, crypto, ETFs, bonds and futures on MT4 and MT5, plus PAMM and copy trading. Leverage goes up to 1:1000, and there is a 20% deposit credit bonus of up to USD 10,000.
- Not accepted: residents of the United States, North Korea and jurisdictions on the FATF and EU/UN sanctions lists
- Age claim: No founding year is advertised. The current operation dates from 2022. The same domain carried an earlier Vida Markets forex site from 2011 to 2013, but we could not link that site to today's companies.
Regulation
Who really oversees this broker, and what each licence is worth to you.
Proof of regulation on an official register: No
We could not confirm this broker on any genuine regulator’s register.
Licences the broker publishes
Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), South Africa
European regulation through a Cyprus company (no regulator named)
St Vincent and the Grenadines company registration (VIDA Global Markets LLC)
Found by our investigation (2) — the broker does not list these on its own site
Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC)
Found by us — not listed by the broker
The Financial Commission
Found by us — not listed by the broker
Why we reached this verdict
How the evidence adds up.
We rate Vida Markets a likely scam at 70% for three reasons. A regulator warning names its website. Several independent records contradict what the site tells clients about regulation. And clients describe a repeating pattern of profits being taken back.
- Regulator warning. On 31 March 2025 Spain's CNMV warned that VIDA Markets and VIDA Global Markets (PTY) Ltd, trading through www.vidamarkets.com, are not authorised to provide investment services in Spain. Belgium's FSMA republished the warning.
- The licence does not cover the business. FSCA FSP 42734 is on record as held by Vida Global Markets (PTY) Ltd since July 2011, and the broker calls it a discretionary asset-management licence. Issuing CFDs in South Africa requires authorisation as an OTC derivatives provider, and no Vida company is on the FSCA's register of those providers. The FSCA's own FSP search was returning an error at the time of writing, so the licence categories here are as the broker describes them. Trading accounts are opened with Vida Markets Limited of Anguilla, which the site's own footer calls non-regulated.
- Claims that do not hold up. The homepage calls Vida Markets a regulated CFD broker. The Security of Funds page promises FSCA and European regulatory oversight, and dual regulation, through a Cyprus company. The Cyprus Registrar shows that company, VIDA GLOBAL MARKETS LTD (HE 440690), dissolved on 15 June 2025. CySEC's list of investment firms does not include it.
- A withdrawn membership kept on display. The Financial Commission withdrew Vida's membership on 29 December 2023. Archived copies of vidamarkets.com from April 2024 and March 2025 still told visitors that Vida Markets was a member.
- A revoked licence behind the brand. In June 2023 the site named VIDA Global Markets (V) Limited of Vanuatu as a company trading as Vida Markets. The VFSC later published a notice revoking that company's Financial Dealers Licence. Moving the business to a new company does not erase that record.
- A repeating complaint. Trustpilot shows 16 reviews, rated 2.4 out of 5, and half of them are one-star. Reviewers report profits declared illegal and voided (March 2025), profits deducted without a specific reason (February 2026), and an account closed after a profit with the funds kept (September 2026). Complaints on a third-party broker directory describe the same mechanism with amounts: USD 433.32 of profit removed for 'exploiting price gaps', and USD 3,226.69 removed as a 'cash adjustment'. Vida has not replied to the negative Trustpilot reviews.
- What we did not find. No FSCA enforcement action names a Vida company. We found no demand from vidamarkets.com for extra payments before releasing funds. A Telegram group calling itself VIDA Markets Malaysia did demand such fees in 2024, but it was an impersonator and is not counted here.
Evidence ledger
Every finding, with its source and how strongly it points.
E1Spain's CNMV issued a warning on 31 March 2025 naming VIDA Markets and VIDA Global Markets (PTY) Ltd, with the website www.vidamarkets.com, as not authorised to provide investment services in Spain. Belgium's FSMA republished it on its warnings page.
E2No entity matching Vida appears on the FSCA register of authorised OTC derivative providers. A test search for another broker returns its approved entries, so the search works. Vida Global Markets (PTY) Ltd is not authorised to issue CFDs as principal in South Africa.
E3The live homepage footer says the services on the website are non-regulated and provided by Vida Markets Limited (Anguilla, A000001245). It describes Vida Global Markets (PTY) Ltd as an authorised discretionary asset management FSP under FSCA licence 42734. Yet the same page calls Vida Markets a regulated CFD broker, and its FAQ says it is authorised and regulated by the FSCA.
Strongvidamarkets.com homepageE4The Security of Funds page promises FSCA and European regulatory oversight, compliance with European standards through a Cyprus-registered entity, dual regulation, and adherence to CASS client money principles.
E5The Cyprus Registrar of Companies lists VIDA GLOBAL MARKETS LTD (HE 440690, previously VIDAVGM SERVICES LTD), registered 22 November 2022, as dissolved following completion of voluntary liquidation, with a status date of 15 June 2025.
E6CySEC's list of Cypriot investment firms (as of 4 May 2026, 247 firms) contains no Vida company and no HE 440690. The Cyprus company is not on CySEC's list of licensed investment firms.
E7The Financial Commission states that Vida Global Markets (website vidamarkets.com) is no longer a member, that its membership was withdrawn in December 2023, and that clients are not protected by its compensation fund. It lists the brand as headquartered in Dubai.
E8An archived copy of the vidamarkets.com homepage from 6 April 2024, more than three months after the withdrawal, still says Vida Markets is a member of the Financial Commission and calls the broker multi-regulated. A copy from 6 March 2025 repeats the claim and says the services are provided and regulated by the Anguilla company.
E9The Vanuatu Financial Services Commission published a Notice of Revocation of the Financial Dealers Licence of VIDA Global Markets (V) Limited. In June 2023 the site named this company as trading as Vida Markets.
E10An archived copy of vidamarkets.com from 6 June 2023 names VIDA Global Markets (V) Limited (Vanuatu, company 17935) as trading as Vida Markets. It says the services were provided by Vida Global Markets LLC of St Vincent and the Grenadines, described as fully licensed and regulated there.
E11The Financial Services Authority of St Vincent and the Grenadines states that it does not issue licences for forex trading or brokerage, and does not regulate or license LLCs engaged in it. This contradicts the 2023 claim that Vida Global Markets LLC was licensed and regulated there.
E12Trustpilot's page for vidamarkets.com shows 16 reviews, a TrustScore of 2.4 and 50% one-star ratings, and notes the company has not replied to negative reviews. One-star reports include: profits declared illegal and voided once the account turned profitable (March 2025); a 1,100 USDT deposit never credited (December 2025); profits deducted with a vague reason (February 2026); and an account closed after a profit with the funds kept (September 2026).
E13Complaints on a third-party broker directory, tied to vidamarkets.com, describe the same mechanism with amounts. USD 433.32 of profit was confiscated for 'exploiting price gaps' and the account closed (November 2026). USD 3,226.69 was removed as a 'cash adjustment' (December 2025). An account was blocked over alleged multiple accounts and the balance withheld (December 2025).
ModerateClient complaints on a third-party broker directoryE14SmartCustomer lists 56 reviews of vidamarkets.com. All are four or five stars, all were posted between August 2023 and June 2024, and most are short, generic praise. This pattern is consistent with solicited or manufactured reviews.
ModerateSmartCustomer (vidamarkets.com)E15The REVIEWS.io page for vidamarkets.com (271 reviews, 1.6 out of 5) is now dominated by posts promoting fund recovery firms. Recovery offers are a common follow-on scam aimed at people who have lost money.
E16The Anguilla Commercial Registry lists VIDA MARKETS LIMITED, A000001245, registered 26 June 2023 as an exempted company. Its status is Active, its last annual return is for 2026, its registered office is Babrow Building, The Valley, and its agent is Fortgate Corporate Services (Anguilla) Ltd. The entry is found by searching the registration number. The company is real, but registration is not a licence.
E17A search of the FSCA enforcement actions register for Vida returns no result. No FSCA sanction names a Vida company.
E18RDAP records vidamarkets.com as registered on 9 February 2022 with GoDaddy. Archived copies show an earlier Vida Markets forex site on the same domain from 2011 to 2013, then no copies until late 2022. The current operation therefore dates from 2022.
E19A Vida Markets press release dated 15 December 2025 lists Vida Global Markets Ltd of Cyprus (440690) among its entities and speaks of comprehensive licensing. This was six months after the Cyprus Registrar recorded the company as dissolved.
E20An April 2024 report describes a Telegram group calling itself VIDA Markets Malaysia that used the Vida Markets name and logo and demanded extra payments before withdrawals. It is a separate impersonation scheme and is not attributed to vidamarkets.com.
E21The site offers leverage up to 1:1000 on major currency pairs and gold, and a 20% deposit credit bonus of up to USD 10,000. Both are typical of offshore brokers that operate outside retail leverage limits.
The other side
The strongest case in this broker’s favour.
Some of these facts have a more charitable reading, and we weighed it.
- FSCA FSP 42734 is a genuine South African licence. It has been on record since 2011 for a company in the same group, and no FSCA enforcement action names any Vida entity.
- The current footer openly says the website's services are non-regulated and names the Anguilla company that provides them. Many offshore brokers are less candid.
- The Anguilla company is real and in good standing: the registry lists it as Active with its 2026 annual return filed. The brand runs its own MT4 and MT5 servers.
- The CNMV warning means Vida is not authorised in Spain. It is not a finding that clients were defrauded.
- We found no public statement of why the VFSC revoked the Vanuatu licence. Vanuatu's investment agency has also cancelled the business licences of 23 dealer firms over banking and regulatory difficulties, so a revocation is not proof of misconduct. The Financial Commission describes Vida's departure as a voluntary withdrawal.
- Brokers sometimes reverse trades filled at off-market prices, or trades that break written abusive-trading rules. The number of complaints is modest, and some reviewers report good experiences.
- None of this explains why the site claims European oversight through a dissolved, never-licensed Cyprus company, or why it kept advertising a Financial Commission membership after it was withdrawn.
What would change this
What we would need to see to revise the verdict.
Our view would change if the records changed or if Vida could show the following.
- The FSCA confirms that a Vida company is authorised as an OTC derivatives provider and that clients contract with that company, not with the Anguilla company.
- The site drops its claims of European oversight, dual regulation and being a regulated broker, or a regulator confirms them.
- Written evidence shows that the disputed profit cancellations followed clearly disclosed rules, were reviewed fairly, and that the complaints were answered and resolved.
- A published reason for the VFSC revocation shows it was administrative.
- In the other direction, a credible report of Vida demanding a fee or tax before releasing funds, or further regulator warnings, would move the rating towards a confirmed scam.
Check it yourself
Official registers and warning lists. Verify every claim first-hand.
CNMV warning on Vida Markets (FSMA copy)
Spain's CNMV warning of 31 March 2025 naming vidamarkets.com, republished by Belgium's FSMA
FSCA OTC derivative providers register
Searching Vida returns no authorised OTC derivatives provider
VFSC notice of revocation
Vanuatu regulator's notice revoking the licence of VIDA Global Markets (V) Limited
Financial Commission member status
Confirms Vida's membership was withdrawn in December 2023
Cyprus Registrar entry HE 440690
Shows VIDA GLOBAL MARKETS LTD dissolved after voluntary liquidation
Trustpilot reviews of vidamarkets.com
Client reviews, half of them one-star
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about this broker’s safety.
Is Vida Markets a scam?
We rate it a likely scam. The company that runs its trading accounts, Vida Markets Limited of Anguilla, is unregulated by its own admission. Spain's CNMV has warned against the brand, official records contradict the site's regulatory claims, and clients report profits being cancelled.
Is Vida Markets a fraud?
No regulator or court has made a fraud finding against Vida Markets. However, Spain's CNMV warns that it is not authorised there. The site advertised a Financial Commission membership after it was withdrawn and claims European oversight through a dissolved company. Clients also describe profits being taken back. For these reasons we assess that risk as high.
Is Vida Markets regulated?
Not for the service you would actually use. FSCA licence 42734 belongs to Vida Global Markets (PTY) Ltd in South Africa, and the broker describes it as discretionary asset management. Trading accounts are provided by Vida Markets Limited of Anguilla, which the site itself calls non-regulated. No Vida company appears on the FSCA register of authorised OTC derivative providers.
What is FSCA licence 42734 worth to a Vida Markets client?
Very little. It is a real South African FSP licence, on record since July 2011. But it is held by a different company from the one that opens trading accounts, and it is not a licence to deal in CFDs. FSCA protections apply to the licensed company's own regulated services, not to the Anguilla company.
Is Vida Markets regulated in Europe or Cyprus?
No. The site claims European regulatory oversight through a Cyprus company, but VIDA GLOBAL MARKETS LTD (HE 440690) is not on CySEC's list of investment firms. The Cyprus Registrar shows it was dissolved after voluntary liquidation on 15 June 2025.
Is Vida Markets a member of the Financial Commission?
No. The Financial Commission withdrew Vida's membership on 29 December 2023 and says Vida clients are not protected by its compensation fund. Archived copies of the website still claimed membership in April 2024 and March 2025.
Can I withdraw my money from Vida Markets?
Several clients say they could not get all of their money out. Complaints describe profits cancelled after winning trades, accounts closed with balances kept, and a 1,100 USDT deposit that was never credited. If you have a balance, withdraw it promptly and keep full records of every transaction and message.
Is my money safe with Vida Markets?
We do not consider it safe. Your contract is with an unregulated Anguilla company, and no compensation scheme stands behind it. The Security of Funds page claims European oversight and CASS-style client money rules, but we found no licence that backs those claims.
Who owns and runs Vida Markets?
The website names Vida Markets Limited (Anguilla, A000001245) as the provider of its services. It also names Vida Global Markets (PTY) Ltd in South Africa and VIDA Global Markets LLC in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Earlier versions of the site named VDM Consultancy DMCC in Dubai for marketing and operations, and the Financial Commission lists the brand as headquartered in Dubai. The people who own these companies are not disclosed.
How old is Vida Markets?
The current operation dates from 2022. vidamarkets.com was registered on 9 February 2022, the Cyprus company on 22 November 2022 and the Anguilla company on 26 June 2023. The same domain carried an earlier Vida Markets forex site from 2011 to 2013, but we could not link it to today's companies.
What happened to Vida Markets' Vanuatu licence?
In mid-2023 the site named VIDA Global Markets (V) Limited of Vanuatu as a company trading as Vida Markets. The Vanuatu Financial Services Commission later published a notice revoking that company's Financial Dealers Licence, and the Vanuatu company no longer appears on the site.
Is Vida Markets a clone, and is VIDA Markets Malaysia the same company?
Vida Markets is not a copy of another broker. In 2024 a Telegram group calling itself VIDA Markets Malaysia used the Vida Markets name and logo and demanded extra fees before withdrawals. That was a separate impersonation scheme; the brand's real website is vidamarkets.com.
What should I do if Vida Markets cancelled my profits or blocked my withdrawal?
Ask in writing for the exact rule applied and the trade evidence, and keep every statement, email and ticket number. Dispute card payments with your card issuer and report the matter to your local regulator. Ignore any recovery firm that asks for an upfront fee.
What should I check before depositing with Vida Markets?
Check which company your client agreement names. Then check, on the regulator's own register, whether that company holds a dealing licence and whether any regulator has issued warnings about it. For Vida Markets the answers are an unregulated Anguilla company, no dealing licence, and a CNMV warning.
What we recommend
The practical takeaway from everything above.
Do not treat Vida Markets as an FSCA-protected broker. Only deposit money you can afford to lose.
- Before depositing, read the client agreement and note which company you are contracting with. On the current site it is Vida Markets Limited of Anguilla, which is not regulated.
- Check licences yourself on the FSCA's FSP and OTC derivative provider registers instead of relying on the broker's website.
- If you hold a balance, request a withdrawal and keep statements, trade histories, emails and ticket numbers. If profits are removed, ask in writing for the exact rule applied and the trade-by-trade evidence.
- You may be able to dispute card deposits through your card issuer. Crypto deposits are very hard to recover.
- Report problems to your local regulator. Residents of Spain can cite the CNMV warning of 31 March 2025.
- Ignore anyone who promises to recover lost funds for an upfront fee. Review pages for this broker already carry many posts promoting such recovery firms.
This is an independent assessment of risk, not a legal ruling. Scores and verdicts follow the Wikilix broker-safety methodology and can change as new evidence appears. Review scores are treated with caution when a broker’s reviews look manipulated. Last reviewed November 8, 2026. If any detail here is out of date or incorrect, or you represent this broker, please contact us.
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