ActivTrades vs Octa (formerly OctaFX)
A side-by-side comparison built from each broker's own published record — licenses checked against official registers, terms quoted from their own pages, with the source linked on every claim.
| Regulation | FCA · SCB · FSC · CMVM · BACEN · CSSF | CySEC · MISA · FSCA |
| License no. | FCA 434413 (ActivTrades PLC; company reg. England & Wales 05367727) SCB 199667 B (ActivTrades Corp — printed as company 'registration number 199667 B'; SCB licence number not separately printed) FSC GB24203277 (ActivTrades Markets Ltd., Global Business Licence) CMVM 433 (ActivMarkets Empresa de Investimento, S.A.; company reg. 516 929 291) BACEN CNPJ 45.050.917/0001-03 (ActivTrades CCTVM — 'autorizada a funcionar pelo Banco Central do Brasil'; no separate licence number printed) CSSF not published on fetched pages (entity ActivTrades Europe SA and 'Regulated by CSSF' verified on broker site; Luxembourg company reg. B232167 appears in search-indexed broker content but was not directly verified) | CySEC 372/18 MISA T2023320 FSCA 51913 |
| Founded | 2001 | 2011 |
| Minimum deposit | $0 | $25 |
| EUR/USD spread from | 0.5 pips (standard Individual account — broker publishes "Trade With Spreads from 0.5 pips", commission-free; localized spread table shows EURUSD "as low as 0.5") | from 0.6 pips, floating (OctaTrader and MT5 accounts, published as "spreads from 0.6 pips on popular pairs" — no EURUSD-specific figure published) |
| Leverage | SCB (Bahamas): 1:400 on forex (0.25% initial margin) CMVM (Portugal): Retail 1:30 on forex (3.33% margin) | |
| Gulf Payments | ||
| Platforms | ActivTrader, MetaTrader 5, TradingView, MetaTrader 4 (still named in site copy 'MT4, MT5, ActivTrader and TradingView', but absent from the current Platforms menu) | OctaTrader, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 |
| Broker-published claim | Withdrawals are processed "Same day if request by 12:30 (UK Time Zone)"; the Funding And Withdrawals Fact Sheet lists a Standard Timeframe of "Same working day" for bank transfer and "30 min" for credit/debit cards, Neteller, Skrill and crypto — with the caveat that "the specified timeframes are indicative only" and apply after the company has received the transaction. [Source] | Withdrawals usually take no longer than 3 hours. Per method: 1-3 hours to approve the withdrawal, then up to 5 minutes (cards), up to 30 minutes (crypto), or up to 1 hour (local banks) to transfer the funds. No fees or commission on our side whatsoever. [Source] |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer, Credit/Debit card, Neteller, Skrill, Crypto (BCH, BTC, ETH, LINK, LTC, USDC, USDT, XLM, XRP, DASH), PayPal (ActivTrades PLC and ActivTrades Europe SA clients only), Instant bank transfer – Volt (entity-dependent) | Visa/Mastercard cards, bank transfer / local banks (e.g. THB, IDR, MYR, NGN rails), Skrill, Neteller, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Tether USDT (ERC20), Tether USDT (TRC20) |
| Crypto deposits/withdrawals | Yes | Yes |
| Islamic Accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Measured by us | Testing in progress | Testing in progress |
| Accepts clients from | Australia, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Singapore, China, Thailand, Mexico, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Germany, India, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Turkey, Mongolia, Kenya, Colombia, Italy, Vietnam, Chile, Peru, Indonesia, Argentina, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain | Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, India, Thailand, Germany, Italy |
| Open account | Open account |
We do not name a winner here. The two records sit side by side because the right answer depends on where you live, what you trade, and which entity would onboard you — all of which the table shows.
By Country
- ActivTrades + Octa (formerly OctaFX): Thailand, Germany, India, Malaysia, Turkey, Italy, Indonesia
- ActivTrades Yes / Octa (formerly OctaFX) No: Australia, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Singapore, China, Mexico, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, Kenya, Colombia, Vietnam, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain
Is ActivTrades or Octa (formerly OctaFX) better?
Neither is better in the abstract. Compare the rows that apply to you: whether each broker accepts clients from your country, which entity and regulator you would be onboarded under, the minimum deposit, and how withdrawals work on the rail you would actually use.
Which is safer, ActivTrades or Octa (formerly OctaFX)?
Safety follows the entity that holds your money, not the brand. Both records list every regulator and license number each broker publishes — check which entity serves your country, then verify that license on the regulator's own register.