Darwinex has been around since 2012 when they first started their operations in London. They provide technology to allow traders to develop their various skillsets and to create their own track record.

Their technology is paired up with the exchange, which allows traders to have regulatory cover. They are regulated by authorities in the United Kingdom (FCA) and in the European Union (MiFID).

They cater for four different languages on their platform and everything is very easy and straightforward to use. Since their formation, Darwinex has won numerous awards in the space for their innovative practices.

Darwinex began their offering as an asset manager. They then decided to transition into also providing brokerage services, as well as execution to their clients. They have a limited license in their role as a matched principal.

This means that they are able to provide agency execution (through a non-dealing desk) that 3^rd party dealers can utilise. They have an innovative take on social copy trading also. You can trade different strategies in the same way financial assets are traded through their net asset value that has been indexed up to 100.

A trade will make their trading strategy (called a Darwin) inside of the community and then investors are allowed to purchase or sell the strategies subsequently.

At the end of every month, the Darwins that are performing the best will receive capital allocations from the capital of the firm itself. You are also able to create a portfolio made up of multiple Darwins through the use of the trading system developer.

Currently, there are two trading platforms to choose from on Darwinex. They have the industry standard MetaTrader 4 option and they also have their own proprietary software. MetaTrader 4 will be familiar to most experienced traders and it hits a lot of the standard needs a trader will have.

The Darwinex platform is HTML5-based and has a very aesthetic design that makes it easy to navigate and use. They have a number of quality analysis tools and funding allocations from Darwin to different strategies that are transparent, so you can quickly get involved with the managers who are receiving the most funds and trading the best. As this is a social trading platform, there are a lot of settings related to risk management and customized filters.

Darwinex is under the authorization and regulation of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom, which is one of the leading regulators in the space today. Their license number is FRN 586466 and their company number is 08061368.

As part of their affiliation with the FCA, this means that there is free deposit insurance protection as high as £500,000 for each of their clients. This is certainly a comforting safety net for those who might have reservations about the safety of a platform.

Currently, there are two trading platforms to choose from on Darwinex. They have the industry standard MetaTrader 4 option and they also have their own proprietary software. MetaTrader 4 will be familiar to most experienced traders and it hits a lot of the standard needs a trader will have.

The Darwinex platform is HTML5-based and has a very aesthetic design that makes it easy to navigate and use. They have a number of quality analysis tools and funding allocations from Darwin to different strategies that are transparent, so you can quickly get involved with the managers who are receiving the most funds and trading the best. As this is a social trading platform, there are a lot of settings related to risk management and customized filters.

There is a proprietary mobile app for their Darwinex offering. You can also use the MetaTrader 4 mobile app if you are familiar with this software and prefer to use it. The Darwinex app is available to Android and iOS users and it has a very fresh and up to date feel about it.

It is very easy to use and a lot of the features seen on the desktop version translate to the mobile version. There are many analysis tools you can still use, as well as providing all of the usual tools and features associated with mobile trading apps.

The fees and commissions with Darwinex change depending on what trading platform the investors are using. Every user will be incurring spreads for every trade, as well as commission due to Darwinex’s role as being an agency broker. These spreads are variable and the commission is round turn and will be dependent on the given currency pair.

For the EUR/USD pair you will be looking at a EUR2.50 commission for a standard lot (100,000 units), which will of course be EUR5 per each round turn. In terms of average spreads for EUR/USD, it will normally lie between 0.2 and 0.3 pips.

Those users of Darwinex pay a 20% fee each quarter as a performance charge when you are using Darwin strategies. This is only applicable if a high watermark is reached by these strategies. This is similar to an incentive fee that is seen with hedge funds.

After you have opened your Darwinex account, you will need to make a deposit of at least EUR500 for your first deposit through a joint or single account. If you are opening a Darwinex corporate account, this will rise to a minimum deposit of EUR10,000.

These funds will go straight to your Darwinex wallet and you can then allocate them appropriately. There is currently no minimum withdrawal in place.

To make a deposit, you can do so through a bank wire, by credit or debit card (max EUR5,000 per account holder) and they also offer the e-wallet Trustly as an option. It will take a number of days usually for the wire transfer to add funds to your account, with the other options crediting your account almost instantly.

You can also withdraw your funds through a bank transfer or UnionPay. When you are making your first withdrawal, you will first need to upload a previous bank statement. This will be to verify your account number, to ensure that this is the correct bank account of the Darwinex account holder. This usually takes about 24 hours to do. There is a fee on bank transfer deposits that are less than EUR500, with the fee being EUR5.

You can get in touch with a member of the Darwinex customer support team through email or by telephone. They have separate addresses for those looking to resolve account issues and for those looking to partner up with the platform.

You also have the option to submit your query through an emergency procedure form on their website. This is reserved for any incident that is stopping you from trading for whatever reason.

This issue will be resolved as soon as possible by a member of the support team. They currently have offices in both London and Madrid, so you can even write them a letter and send it to one of these addresses if you wish to do so. The customer support team caters for a dozen different languages and they are reachable on a 24/5 basis.

Overall, the research tools offered by Darwinex are a bit underwhelming. They do have a good system that allows you to deeply analyse the various strategies on offer. However, in terms of traditional research options, they are very limited.

There is a lack of economic news sentiment, daily market commentary and other forms of in-depth research. In terms of education, they do have a basic offering. There are videos available for beginners, as well as webinars.

Their website caters to four different languages and their customer support team can deal with about a dozen languages if you have an issue that needs to be resolved. They are unique in terms of the approach they take to trading strategies as you would financial assets, something that is not really seen elsewhere.

Both their desktop and mobile platforms are very easy to use and you have a choice between the industry standard MetaTrader 4 and their own proprietary software. Generally, Darwinex have a solid reputation among the trading community.

Darwinex is different from a lot of other trading platforms. They are a largely social platform whereby you can buy and sell different trading strategies depending on what is performing the best.

There is only a single account type and they have two different trading platforms, both of which are quality offerings. They are well regulated by the FCA and generally have a good reputation in the community.

They are generally competitive with their fee structure but they do lack somewhat in the research department. Overall, if you are looking to take a more hands-off approach to trading and letting the best performing managers do the work for you, then Darwinex could be the option for you.