How We Review Brokers

Last updated: September 25, 2026

Our readers are mostly beginners in Africa and other emerging markets who start small, often with $1 to $50, and fund accounts with mobile money, P2P or crypto. We review brokers from that point of view. This page explains what we check and how we keep it honest.

Who does the reviewing

Reviews are written by Laxie (Lazarus Marwisa), who has traded since 2019 and founded BLVCKLISTED FX. Where we can, we use a real account and show our own screenshots of the sign up, deposit, verification and withdrawal steps.

What we check

  1. Regulation and safety: which kind of licence the broker holds, and whether it is Tier 1 (such as FCA or ASIC) or offshore. We say plainly when it is not Tier 1.
  2. Minimum deposit and payment methods: the real starting amount per method, with focus on local options like mobile money, bank transfer, P2P and USDT.
  3. Withdrawals: how long money takes to arrive, fees, and what verification is needed first.
  4. Account types and costs: spreads, commissions, swap free options and leverage per account type.
  5. Platforms: MT4, MT5, the broker’s own apps, and how easy they are for a beginner on a phone.
  6. Country availability: which countries the broker refuses, so nobody signs up and gets blocked later.
  7. Support and reputation: how support responds and what common complaints look like.

Where our facts come from

We check numbers such as minimum deposits, leverage and withdrawal times against the broker’s official website and help centre, and against our own use of the account. We do not copy figures from other review sites.

Keeping reviews current

Brokers change their terms often. We revisit key reviews regularly and show the last updated date at the top of each article. If you spot something out of date, please tell us and we will check it.

Affiliate relationships

We earn commission from some brokers we review, including Deriv and Weltrade. That never buys a better review. Read the details on our Affiliate Disclosure page, and remember that trading is risky: see our Risk Disclaimer.