BEST TRADING APPS
BEST TRADING APPS IN LEBANON
You probably went into Google searching for the best online brokers available in Lebanon. You are interested and wish to trade a particular asset class like Forex, International Stocks or Cryptos, or maybe a specific asset like Apple Stocks, Oil instruments or the latest DeFi Cryptocurrency.
Although you already know the asset or asset class you want to trade, Google isn't inside your mind (yet). So, Google couldn't figure out whether you wished to trade Forex, US stocks, or buy investment fund units, and it brought you here. This article is long, but it has the basics of what you need to know about the best investment and trading platforms. So, let's talk about Lebanon's top online trading apps, divided by asset class.
Which Asset Class are you looking for?
Top FX Brokers in Lebanon
The Middle East is a region where Forex Online Brokers focus in particular: The industry has developed rapidly over the past years thanks to growing investor appetite from the local client base. According to Bloomberg.com, the most popular Forex currency pairings are EURUSD, GBPUSD, XAUUSD, EURJPY and XAGUSD, which is in line with the global trading demand.
As a result of this growth, in the forwards market, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait’s moved to stifle speculation against the Riyal and Dinar, respectively, since the FX market was bringing liquidity issues to the local currencies.
The list we propose here does not include online brokers offering FX pairs that have foreign currencies pegged to the Lebanese Pound. Instead, it allows you to trade the global major and minor pairs.
An important point to emphasize regards the Shariah-compliant forex trading, which are swap-free accounts (Shariah-compliant). Recently, more and more online brokers increased the availability of Islamic trading products. If you are respectful of Islamic principles, you should first open an account with the presented alternatives that follow. Second, before placing any FX trades, send a request to the customer service team to switch your account to the Shariah-compliant version.
FX PLATFORM #3
OANDA is a US-based forex broker founded in 1996. OANDA is regulated by top-tier authorities, such as the US Commodity Trading Futures Commission, the National Futures Association (CFTC) and the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Although OANDA has a limited product portfolio limited to Forex and a small list of CFDs, they excel in the Forex market (It's what we are discussing here in the end). A higher number of pairs and low spreads make OANDA a good alternative when trading in the FX markets.
DEMO ACCOUNT >>>
FX PLATFORM #2
With over 5,000,000 clients since being founded in 2009, XM has grown into a large and well established international investment firm and has become a true industry leader.
XM is a good choice for traders of all levels, handling the client base with an extensive international team capable of dealing in 30 languages.
In terms of their Forex offering, XM allows traders to deal in +55 pairs, with good spreads and exceptional trade execution. XM grants access to MT4, MT5, and their proprietary XM WebTrader platforms.
FX PLATFORM #1
AvaTrade is an extraordinary FX online brokerage. With one of the vastest offerings in terms of currency pairs (+50) and the characteristics every good FX Broker should have (Low Spreads and excellent trade execution), it has several unique features that make it an excellent alternative for traders in Lebanon.
First, its account opening and depositing processes are fast, simple, and hustle-free. This is important since some online brokers operating with clients in Lebanon are painful to deal with in these areas.
Second, it is a multi-regulated company with brokerage licenses in some of the strictest jurisdictions: Europe, Australia, Japan, British Virgin Islands, UAE and South Africa.
Third, it offers a unique tool for FX Options trading called AvaOptions, allowing you to approach your FX Trading differently and uniquely, adding Call and Put instruments to your Forex risk management.
Last but not least, AvaTrade offers an insurance service called AvaProtect, which protects your trades against losses for a chosen time frame in exchange for a fee paid at the time of purchase.
Top Crypto Trading Apps in Lebanon
Cryptocurrencies are mined or purchased from exchanges. Their skyrocketing value of them has made them popular as trading instruments. Also, to a limited extent, they are used for cross-border transfers.
Cryptos have taken over (by surprise) the financial world. As a result, everybody is talking about them, both for good and bad reasons. There's an innumerable amount of new cryptos launched every week to tackle or solve a problem in particular (Like cross-border payments, tokens used for purchases in the metaverse, etc.). You even get meme coins launched with the sole objective of making a trading profit (A shady strategy called pump and dump). So, you have to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. This list displays the top crypto trading platforms available in Lebanon. We show here 3 platforms that we have used, deposited money, traded and withdrawn successfully.
Important: Investing in cryptocurrencies, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and other Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) is highly risky and speculative, and the markets can be highly volatile. Consult with a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. This article is not a recommendation by Asinko or the writer to invest in cryptocurrencies, nor can the accuracy or timeliness of the information be guaranteed.
CRYPTO APP #3
PrimeXBT is an award-winning platform that allows you to trade global financial markets using Bitcoin, USD Tether, USDC, among many others. PrimeXBT provides a solid trading infrastructure, reliable software and a user-friendly interface with advanced traditional trading tools for the cryptocurrency space.
Also, it offers a service called Covesting, a CopyTrading module that allows you to copy top-performing traders and achieve the same performance automatically.
CRYPTO APP #2
StormGain takes a different approach to the other crypto trading platforms. They offer a trading platform via cryptocurrency futures contracts. So, with StormGain, you do not own the crypto tokens, but instead, you aim to make a profit based on the crypto's price volatility.
If your goal is to trade and you do not care about owning cryptocurrencies, this platform might be a good alternative since it is based and quoted in Tether (USDT).
CRYPTO APP #1
Binance is the #1 Crypto trading platform globally, with the highest cryptocurrency offering and trading volumes. Although it has a rather steep learning curve, it supports advanced users and provides international traders with hundreds of crypto trading, staking and DeFi alternatives.
No competitor can beat Binance's low cost in the crypto space. Low fees, comprehensive charting options, and hundreds of cryptocurrencies make Binance a must-try alternative.
Top Stock Broker Platforms in Lebanon
US Stocks like Apple, Tesla or even seniors like Ford and McDonalds. UK Stocks like BP, Rolls-Royce or Tesco. European Stocks, Japanese Stocks and Australian Stocks. International Stocks are one of the main gateways to start investing; everyone wants a share of the brands they like and use. Although some investors in Lebanon focus on local stocks (and debt instruments) only, most use a global portfolio. The online stockbrokers and trading platforms have granted access to the international markets to the general public easily and understandably. We bring you three of the best alternatives available locally.
STOCKBROKER #3
XTB offers +2,100 CFDs on global stocks from 17 stock exchanges with 0% Commission.
With over 15 years of experience, XTB is one of the largest stock exchange-listed FX & CFD brokers in the world. XTB as a Group is regulated by the world's biggest supervision authorities including the IFSC, FCA, KNF and CySec.
STOCKBROKER #2
An innumerable dose of trading, research and e-learning tools, an easy-to-use web trading tool, low requirements to set up an account, and an unbeatable regulation level make AvaTrade one of the top stock trading apps.
Although it is not the one offering the vastest number of CFDs on stocks, you may trade +600 of the most renowned companies trading at the New York, Nasdaq, London, and European Exchanges.STOCKBROKER #1
ETFS
XTB allows you to trade over 81 CFDs on the top ETFs by volume: iShares by BlackRock, Amundi, Lyxor, SPDR, VanEck Vectors; every top ETF from the most famous asset managers are available. At XTB, buying and selling ETFs through its trading platform xStation 5 is very straightforward. Moreover, it requires a low minimum investment, making it accessible for beginners.
COMMODITIES
PAYMENT GATEWAYS
Do you need a payment provider to transact in different currencies?
Wise is an online account that facilitates sending money, receiving payments, and moving money across borders. Wise allows you to hold 53 different currencies and make local transfers in 10. It works worldwide and enables you to withdraw cash at ATMs if you have their MasterCard card. In addition to being free, you can check the exchange rate before sending money abroad, and there are no hidden fees. Furthermore, it is a safe app, as the FCA and FinCEN regulate it. Also, if you need to solve payments with your company, it offers a practical solution for companies to pay invoices, suppliers, and employees in 80 countries.
COPYTRADING
We chose AvaTrade as a top CopyTrading broker since it allows you to choose between different platforms: ZuluTrade and DupliTrade.
ZuluTrade is hard to beat if you are looking for an excellent way to set up a copy trading system. You'll get access to over 10,000 traders, and the powerful ZuluTrade search feature lets you narrow that number down based on a large variety of conditions. For example, you could specify that you need traders with a minimum of 1 year with the service who have a maximum drawdown of 30% and who trade their own money. And since you can follow more than one trader, you could use the service to set up your diversified mutual fund of traders that you're following.
DupliTrade is designed to make automated trading as straightforward as possible. As a result, DupliTrade doesn't allow just anyone to become a signal provider. The traders available to copy into the system are all audited and vetted, with many having years, if not decades, of trading experience. Even after the stringent audit process, these traders remain under the close eye of DupliTrade to ensure they continue performing at their best.
Conclusions on our List of Top Trading Brokers
Many websites that write about trading and financial instruments topics will recommend "The Best Online Broker", and it will probably be the platform that pays them the best commissions. Moreover, they will do it in a way that looks professional. But, on the contrary, we remark that there is no "Best Broker" that covers all the needs of a trader because, should there be a "perfect trading platform", it would have to have the following:
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0 commissions,
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0 spreads,
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Outstanding order execution,
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A Great Visual interface,
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Complete access to every financial market.
Unfortunately, no online trading app offers all of these features simultaneously. However, many aspects make them stand out in specific aspects/markets. This article lists 3 Brokers per asset class (Forex, stocks, crypto, etc.) and why it can be recommendable over the others available, specifically for local traders. Why do we present just three options? We believe that when trading instruments of each asset class, there are not 100 infallible brokers available; some stand out above others. Also, you will find that some apps appear more than once because they are the top option on several.
ASINKO receives a commission from specific online platforms for referring clients, but it does not charge a commission to you nor from all the ones we present here. Notwithstanding this, if we consider that a platform has to be in the Top 3, we will do so whether we promote them or not. Please note that the lists presented here are part of our professional opinion: there is a possibility that this does not fit 100% of all traders' needs. In other words, try them before depositing money.