Contents
- 1 Quick answer
- 2 How we checked IQ Option, step by step
- 2.1 Step 1: Find out which company runs IQ Option for you
- 2.2 Step 2: Check whether IQ Option may serve you, and what regulators say
- 2.3 Step 3: Open the Practice account
- 2.4 Step 4: Count the assets
- 2.5 Step 5: Look at payouts and costs per trade
- 2.6 Step 6: Run Practice trades
- 2.7 Step 7: Read the deposit rules
- 2.8 Step 8: Read the withdrawal rules
- 2.9 Step 9: Check verification
- 2.10 Step 10: Check support
- 3 IQ Option at a glance
- 4 What we could not verify
- 5 Pros and cons of IQ Option
- 6 Who IQ Option suits, and who should avoid it
- 7 Frequently Asked Questions
- 8 Related guides
- 9 Video: our 2021 review
- 10 GENERAL RISK WARNING
Last updated: 5 October 2026. The screenshots below were recorded on 4 and 5 October 2026 over a Brazilian connection: the traderoom and the asset menus on an IQ Option Practice account registered in Brazil, and IQ Option’s official pages. We read its terms, fee, withdrawal and help-centre documents on 5 October. On 2 October we placed 70 one-dollar trades on a Practice account. We did not deposit money. IQ Option Wiki is an independent website and an IQ Option affiliate partner: we may earn a commission when you open an account through our links. We do not work for IQ Option and have no access to trading accounts (contact page, editorial policy).
This material is not intended for viewers from EEA countries. Binary options are not promoted or sold to retail EEA traders.
Short answer. IQ Option is a real, long-running online broker that launched in 2013 and offers a free $10,000 Practice account. Whether to trust it with money depends on where you live and which company your account is with. Outside the European Economic Area (EEA) your contract is with SKY LADDER LLC, a company registered in Antigua and Barbuda, and IQ Option’s own licences page names a financial licence only for its separate EU company. Regulators in Brazil, Malaysia and Singapore have published warnings about IQ Option. Trading is high risk: IQ Option’s EU site says 80% of its retail CFD accounts lose money, and our 70 Practice trades lost $15.33. Use the Practice account first, and deposit only money you can afford to lose.
Quick answer
- Company: SKY LADDER LLC (Antigua and Barbuda, registration ILLC 004) outside the EEA; IQBroker Europe Ltd (Cyprus, CySEC licence 247/14) for EEA residents only.
- Licences: IQ Option’s Licenses and Safeguards page names a financial licence only for the EU company. It names none for SKY LADDER LLC.
- Warnings: Brazil’s CVM, the Securities Commission Malaysia and the Monetary Authority of Singapore list IQ Option on their warning pages (details in step 2).
- Not served: the EEA, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Japan and the other countries in IQ Option’s terms.
- Assets: on 4 October 2026 the Practice menu of a Brazilian account showed 520 option assets and 697 margin assets (a Mexican account showed 396 option assets the same day).
- Payouts: winning binary trades paid 82–88% in our test and up to 91% on a Blitz asset in the list. IQ Option says payouts can differ between clients.
- Deposit: minimum $10, €10 or £10 (R$55 in Brazil, 175 MXN in Mexico); 0% commission on its payment-methods page.
- Withdrawal: one free withdrawal per calendar month, then 2% (at most $30); standard processing takes up to 3 business days; verification is required.
- Support: chat and email, every day around the clock according to the platform; the contact page lists no phone number.
- Risk: IQ Option’s EU site states that 80% of retail investor accounts lose money trading CFDs with that provider. Our 70 Practice trades: 29 wins, 40 losses, 1 tie, net −$15.33.
How we checked IQ Option, step by step
We followed what a new customer would do: find out who runs the service, check whether it may serve you, open the platform, look at the assets and payouts, run Practice trades, and read the rules for deposits, withdrawals, verification and support. The numbers in each screenshot show where to look, in order. Every figure below comes from IQ Option’s own pages, from our recordings or from our Practice test, and each is dated.
Step 1: Find out which company runs IQ Option for you
IQ Option is a brand, not one company. Its Licenses and Safeguards page says that its services outside the EEA are rendered by SKY LADDER LLC, registered in Antigua and Barbuda (registration no. ILLC 004) (1). Inside the EEA, services are provided exclusively by IQBroker Europe Ltd (formerly IQOption Europe Ltd), registered in Cyprus (2). The contact page adds that payments are handled by FIDELES LIMITED in Cyprus.
Further down, the same page says that IQBroker Europe Ltd “is authorized and operates under the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) with license number 247/14 and is permitted to offer services only to residents of the EEA”, and that “all client funds are held in segregated bank accounts, fully separated from the company’s own operational funds”.
What this means for you:
- Outside the EEA your account is with SKY LADDER LLC. The licences page names no financial licence for it. We found no financial regulator’s licence for SKY LADDER LLC on any IQ Option page we read.
- Inside the EEA only the EU company may serve you, at eu.iqoption.com. It holds CySEC licence 247/14 and may serve only EEA residents, according to the same page. The EU site sells CFDs, not binary options.
- Disputes: the global terms and conditions (updated 21 July 2025) are governed by the law of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Complaints go to complaintsglobal@iqoption.com, and IQ Option says it replies within three months.
Step 2: Check whether IQ Option may serve you, and what regulators say
The global terms say you may not use the service if you are a citizen of the USA, North Korea, Palestine or the Vatican, or a resident of the USA, Canada, Afghanistan, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Bouvet Island, Comoros, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gibraltar, Guam, Haiti, Iran, Israel, Japan, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, North Korea, Palestine, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Russia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, any EEA country “and/or other non-serviced countries”. On 5 October 2026, pages of iqoption.com opened from a Brazilian connection also showed IQ Option’s own notice that it “is not authorized by the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) to directly offer securities distribution services to investors resident, domiciled, or incorporated in the Federative Republic of Brazil”.
Regulators in some countries have published warnings. These are the ones we could read on the regulators’ own websites on 5 October 2026:
| Regulator | What it says |
|---|---|
| CVM, Brazil26 April 2021, updated 1 February 2024 | IQ Option Ltd. “is not authorized by CVM to solicit clients residing in Brazil” (our translation of the Portuguese) and any public offer must stop (Ato Declaratório CVM 17.790).Source: CVM alert |
| CVM, Brazil24 March 2026 | In the related enforcement case against IQ OPTION LLC (PAS 19957.006709/2021-81) the CVM board unanimously rejected a second settlement proposal and said the case should be decided at a judgment. The charges are alleged; we know of no final decision.Source: Board minutes no. 6 |
| Securities Commission, MalaysiaEntry from 2020 | Lists “IQ Option Ltd” (iqoption.com/en and iqoption.my) on its Investor Alert List for “carrying out capital market activities of dealing in securities without the authorisation of the SC”.Source: Investor Alert List |
| Monetary Authority, SingaporeListed 7 April 2017 | Lists “IQ Option Europe Ltd; IQ Option Ltd” on its Investor Alert List, which names firms MAS has not licensed.Source: Investor Alert List |
Other regulators may have published notices too. Search your own regulator’s warning list for “IQ Option” before you deposit. A warning is not a court finding, and in the CVM file IQ Option argues that it does not operate in Brazil and that Brazilian law does not apply to it. Even so, a warning is a reason to read the rest of this page carefully.
Step 3: Open the Practice account
After sign-up the traderoom opens on a free Practice account with $10,000 of virtual money. The orange balance (1) is the Practice balance. The green Deposit button (2) opens the cashier, where you can refill the Practice balance for free or fund a real account. The right panel shows the Profit (3), the payout for a winning trade: 85% for a Binary option on USD/THB (OTC) at 11:51 (UTC−3) on 5 October 2026. IQ Option’s help centre says you can refill the Practice account for free when its balance falls below $10,000, and that you cannot profit from Practice trades. Our sign-up guide shows the registration.
Step 4: Count the assets
Older reviews, including the first version of this one, say “300+ assets”. The Practice asset menu showed more on 4 October 2026. On a Brazilian account (08:42 to 08:43, UTC−3) the Options list held 520 assets: Blitz 169, Binary 178 and Digital 173. The Margin list held 697 instruments: forex 44, stocks 499, crypto 80, commodities 23, indices 21 and ETFs 30. IQ Option’s Trading Specifications page agrees on stocks: it listed “499 Stocks (CFD)” for 5 to 11 October 2026.
The counts depend on your account and on the time. On the same day an earlier recording on a Mexican account showed 129 Blitz, 135 Binary and 132 Digital assets (396 option assets) and the same 697 margin instruments. On weekends the regular forex pairs are closed and the lists show OTC instruments instead. IQ Option’s help centre says OTC quotes are generated on IQ Option’s own server, and that the platform switches from market trading to OTC every Friday at 21:00 and back every Monday at 00:00 GMT. See also our guide to choosing an asset and our interface guide.
Step 5: Look at payouts and costs per trade
Binary, Blitz and Digital options pay a fixed percentage of your stake when you win and nothing when you lose. In our test winning binary options paid 82–88% (see step 6). The asset list also showed up to 91% for some Blitz OTC pairs on Sunday morning, 4 October. IQ Option’s help centre has an answer to the question “Why do my friends have a bigger payout than me?”: the company reserves the right to decide and change the profitability percentage at any given time. The cost of an option is therefore the gap between what you risk and what you win: at an 85% payout you must win more than 54% of trades just to break even.
On margin (CFD-type) deals the price you get is not the line on the chart. IQ Option’s blog explains that the white chart line is the average price, (Ask + Bid) / 2, and that these deals open at the Ask when you buy and at the Bid when you sell; the difference is the spread (IQ Option blog, updated 14 September 2026). Our 4 October recording shows “ask 1.119270 bid 1.119260” under the EUR/USD (OTC) chart. Margin trades (CFDs) cost the spread plus overnight funding. IQ Option’s General Fees Policy reserves a swap fee of 0.01% to 0.5% of the position per night, up to 1.7% in extreme conditions, three times as much from Friday to Saturday. Unleveraged crypto positions that stay open for more than three months can also carry a maintenance fee, from 0.25% after three months to 3% after 18 months. The Trading Specifications page lists spread, maximum leverage and swap per instrument. For stock CFDs it showed a maximum leverage of 1:20 and a minimum margin of 5% (1 to 3 in the picture).
Step 6: Run Practice trades
On 2 October 2026 we placed 70 binary option trades of $1 on an IQ Option Practice account while recording the strategy videos for this site: ten trades for each of seven rules (each is a script in our library), with 2-, 3- and 5-minute expiries on currency pairs, including OTC pairs. The result was 29 wins, 40 losses and 1 tie (the stake was returned), a net result of −$15.33 on $70 staked. Winning trades paid 82% (2 trades), 85% (24), 87% (1) and 88% (2).
| Strategy | Result on the Practice account |
|---|---|
| EMA 50 + CCI | 6 wins in 10 trades, 3-minute expiry |
| ADX(5) + EMA 28 | 5 wins in 10 trades, 2-minute expiry |
| Double Momentum (20 and 3) | 4 wins in 10 trades, 3-minute expiry |
| DeMarker 30/70 cross | 4 wins in 10 trades, 3-minute expiry |
| RSI + EMA 200 + engulfing | 4 wins in 10 trades, 5-minute expiry |
| Donchian Channel + RSI | 3 wins in 10 trades, 5-minute expiry |
| Keltner Channel re-entry | 3 wins and 1 tie in 10 trades, 3-minute expiry |
This is a small sample on virtual money from one day. It shows how the platform paid out, not how any strategy will perform, and the Practice balance cannot be withdrawn. Details are in our best IQ Option strategy test, and the recordings are in our video lessons.
Step 7: Read the deposit rules
IQ Option’s payment-methods page for a Brazilian account listed a minimum deposit of 55 BRL, 10 EUR, 10 GBP, 700 RUB or 10 USD (1), 0% commission (3) and instant processing for cards, Neteller, Skrill, Apple Pay and Google Pay (4). Volet.com started at 60 BRL, and the tabs (2) switch between deposits and withdrawals. A Mexican account showed a 175 MXN minimum on 4 October. Country guides show every method and limit: Brazil, Mexico and the full deposit guide.
Two rules matter before you pay:
- Conversion fee. If the payment currency differs from your account currency, IQ Option’s General Fees Policy reserves a currency conversion fee of up to 4% on deposits and withdrawals, and your bank may add its own.
- Bonus code. On every account we tested the cashier pre-applied the welcome code IQWELCOME, and the amount at which the bonus starts differs by country (R$52 in Brazil, 180 MXN in Mexico; see our country guides). IQ Option’s Promotional Codes Policy says that once a deposit bonus is active you cannot withdraw anything, deposits or earnings, until you reach the trading volume shown in the offer or cancel the bonus after closing all open trades. Only Blitz, Turbo and Digital option trades count towards that volume. Remove the code with the × in the amount step if you do not want a bonus.
Step 8: Read the withdrawal rules
The withdrawals page says you have one free withdrawal per calendar month, whatever the method (1). Later withdrawals cost 2%, with a minimum and maximum fee per currency. For a Brazilian account the page shows minimum withdrawals of 12 BRL by card (2) and 60 BRL to Brazilian banks, and “2%, max 125 BRL” (3). Cards show “Instant*” (4): the footnote says the card issuer can take up to 21 calendar days to process the payment.
| Rule | What IQ Option’s documents say |
|---|---|
| Withdrawal fee | One free withdrawal per calendar month, then a fixed 2% per withdrawal: at least $1 and at most $30 (EUR 1–30, GBP 1–25, BRL 5–125, MXN 21–620 and other currencies in the policy).Source: General Fees Policy |
| Expedited option | An optional fixed 5% fee for a withdrawal processed within 1 business day. The option excludes bank card refunds and bank transfers.Source: General Fees Policy |
| Processing | Standard requests take 3 business days; expedited requests 1 business day. IQ Option may extend this or cancel requests during a risk assessment.Source: Withdrawal Policy |
| Where the money goes | Only to the payment system you deposited with. Card withdrawals are limited to what you deposited with that card in the last 180 days.Source: Withdrawal Policy |
| Minimum | $2 on the global platform (help centre); the page shows the minimum per method.Source: Help centre |
| Fair-usage rule | If you deposit and withdraw more than 50% without genuine trades, IQ Option may withhold its transaction fees, charge a penalty of up to 5% and restrict the account.Source: General Fees Policy |
| Dormant account | After 90 consecutive days without a deposit, a new trade or an open position, €10 a month while funds remain. Logging in does not count.Source: General Fees Policy |
Our guides cover the steps: how to withdraw, withdrawing in Brazil and the fees guide.
Step 9: Check verification
You need a verified account to withdraw. IQ Option’s help centre lists accepted documents: a passport, national ID card, driver’s license or residence permit as proof of identity, and a recent utility bill, bank statement or official certificate of residence as proof of address. If you deposit by card it may also ask for a copy of the card. It says documents are verified within 3 business days after you upload them, that extra checks can take at least 48 hours, and that trading, deposits or withdrawals may be limited until you are verified, depending on your region. Its Payment Policy allows 10 business days for identification, and up to 30 in some cases. Verify early: see our verification guide.
Step 10: Check support
The contact page names SKY LADDER LLC (1), the support email support@iqoption.com (2) and the payment company FIDELES LIMITED (3). It says the average chat response time is 3 to 5 minutes (4). It lists no phone number. In the traderoom the footer shows the Support button (1) and the email with the words “every day, around the clock” (2). Older reviews, including the first version of this one, listed phone and Skype support; we found neither. Our support guide shows the chat step by step.
IQ Option at a glance
| Item | What we found |
|---|---|
| Launched | 2013 (“Online Trading Platform Since 2013” on its home page)Source: iqoption.com, 5 October 2026 |
| Operator outside the EEA | SKY LADDER LLC, Antigua and Barbuda, ILLC 004Source: Licenses and Safeguards; contact page, 5 October 2026 |
| Operator inside the EEA | IQBroker Europe Ltd, Cyprus; CySEC licence 247/14; EEA residents onlySource: Licenses and Safeguards, 5 October 2026 |
| Products | Blitz, Binary and Digital options; margin CFDs on forex, stocks, crypto, commodities, indices and ETFsSource: Practice asset menu, 4 October 2026 |
| Assets | 520 option assets (169 Blitz, 178 Binary, 173 Digital) and 697 margin instruments on a Brazilian accountSource: Our recording, 4 October 2026 |
| Practice account | $10,000 virtual, free refill when below $10,000Source: Help centre; our recording, 5 October 2026 |
| Trade size | Minimum $1 or the equivalent in your account currency (the help centre’s copy-trading answer), subject to current trading conditions; maximum $20,000 per trade, lower for some assetsSource: Help centre, 5 October 2026 |
| Minimum deposit | $10, €10 or £10; R$55 in Brazil; 175 MXN in Mexico; 0% commissionSource: Payment-methods pages, 4 and 5 October 2026 |
| Payouts we saw | 82–88% on winning binary trades; up to 91% on Blitz OTC pairs in the listSource: Our test, 2 October; recording, 4 October 2026 |
| Platforms | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android (Google Play and APK)Source: Download pages, 5 October 2026 |
| Interface languages | 18 in the platform menu (English, Español, Português, Indonesia, Deutsch, Русский, Français, Italiano, Svenska, हिन्दी, Tiếng Việt, 中文, বাংলা, 한국어, ไทย, Türkçe, العربية, Wikang Tagalog); 15 on the websiteSource: Traderoom settings, 5 October 2026; terms page |
| Support | Chat and email, every day around the clock; no phone number on the contact pageSource: Contact page; traderoom footer, 5 October 2026 |
| IQ Option’s own size claim | 188,456,643 traders in 180 countries. It does not say how many are active: its “In Numbers” page counts registered users (140,896,887 for 2023).Source: iqoption.com, 5 October 2026; we could not check it |
What we could not verify
- Size and awards. We cannot check IQ Option’s user numbers, its Trustpilot score or the awards listed on its website.
- Fairness of prices. We did not compare IQ Option’s quotes with another market feed, so we cannot say whether its prices match the market. Its help centre says OTC quotes are generated on its own server.
- Real-money withdrawals today. We did not deposit or withdraw money for this update. The Skrill confirmations in our “Is IQ Option legit?” article date from July 2022.
- Indicators. IQ Option’s website says its platform has more than 100 ready-to-use indicator tools; the indicator menu shows the categories but no count, so we state no number.
Pros and cons of IQ Option
Pros
- Free $10,000 Practice account that you can refill for free.
- Low minimum deposit ($10, €10 or £10) and 0% commission on its payment-methods page.
- 520 option assets and 697 margin instruments in the October 2026 Practice menu.
- One free withdrawal per calendar month, and published fee tables for withdrawals and dormant accounts.
- Apps for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android and 18 interface languages.
- Chat and email support around the clock, with an average chat response time of 3 to 5 minutes on its contact page.
Cons
- Outside the EEA the operating company is registered in Antigua and Barbuda, and IQ Option’s licences page lists no financial licence for it.
- Regulators in Brazil, Malaysia and Singapore have published warnings about IQ Option, and the CVM enforcement case continues.
- Not available in the EEA, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and the other countries in its terms.
- Payouts are set by the company and can differ between clients; binary options need a win rate above 54% at an 85% payout to break even. Our 70 Practice trades lost $15.33.
- A pre-applied deposit bonus locks withdrawals until you meet a trading volume or cancel the bonus.
- Fees beyond the first free withdrawal: 2% per withdrawal, an optional 5% expedited fee, up to 4% currency conversion, €10 a month on dormant accounts, and overnight swap on CFDs.
- No phone support is listed.
Who IQ Option suits, and who should avoid it
It suits people who want to learn a trading platform on a free Practice account, and who live in a country that IQ Option serves and whose own regulator has no warning against it. Avoid depositing if you cannot afford to lose the money, if you live in a country listed in the terms or in a country where a regulator has told residents not to deal with IQ Option, or if you expect a bonus or a strategy to make a profit. If you do deposit, start with the minimum, leave the bonus off unless you accept its volume rules, and test one small withdrawal before you add more money.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is IQ Option legit?
A: IQ Option is a real broker that has operated since 2013, and its EU company holds CySEC licence 247/14. Outside the EEA you deal with SKY LADDER LLC, registered in Antigua and Barbuda, and IQ Option’s licences page lists no financial licence for it. Regulators in Brazil, Malaysia and Singapore have published warnings. See our “Is IQ Option legit?” article.
Q: Is IQ Option regulated?
A: Its EU company, IQBroker Europe Ltd, is regulated by CySEC and may serve EEA residents only. The licences page names no financial licence for SKY LADDER LLC, the company that serves clients outside the EEA.
Q: Is IQ Option available in my country?
A: Not if you live in the EEA, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Japan or another country listed in its terms. In Brazil, IQ Option says on its own pages that it is not authorised by the CVM to offer securities distribution services to Brazilian residents, and the CVM has warned about it. Check your own regulator before you deposit.
Q: How many assets does IQ Option have?
A: On 4 October 2026 the Practice menu of a Brazilian account listed 520 option assets and 697 margin instruments. A Mexican account showed 396 option assets the same day, so the number depends on your account and the time.
Q: What is the minimum deposit on IQ Option?
A: $10, €10 or £10, 55 BRL in Brazil and 175 MXN in Mexico, with 0% commission on its payment-methods page. IQ Option may charge up to 4% for currency conversion.
Q: Does IQ Option charge withdrawal fees?
A: You get one free withdrawal per calendar month. After that it charges 2% per withdrawal, at least $1 and at most $30, or 5% for an optional expedited withdrawal. Dormant accounts pay €10 a month after 90 days without activity.
Q: How long does a withdrawal take?
A: IQ Option says standard requests take up to 3 business days and expedited requests 1 business day. Card payments can take up to 21 calendar days at your bank, and you must be verified.
Q: Does IQ Option give a bonus?
A: The cashier pre-applied the code IQWELCOME on our accounts, with a start amount that differs by country. While a deposit bonus is active you cannot withdraw until you reach the trading volume or cancel the bonus. You can remove the code before you pay.
Q: Does IQ Option have phone support?
A: No phone number is listed on its contact page. Support is by chat inside the platform and by email at support@iqoption.com.
Q: Can I practice before using real money?
A: Yes. The Practice account has $10,000 of virtual money and you can refill it for free. Practice results cannot be withdrawn and say nothing about future results.
Related guides
- Is IQ Option legit?
- How to deposit on IQ Option, with guides for Brazil and Mexico
- How to withdraw from IQ Option
- IQ Option fees and commissions
- Account verification and support and chat
- Our test of seven strategies on the Practice account
- IQ Option vs Expert Option, vs Binomo and vs Olymp Trade
Video: our 2021 review
This video review is from 2021. Its figures and rules are older than this page; where they differ, follow the text above.
WARNING: Your capital is at risk when trading. CFDs are complex instruments and carry a high risk of losing money rapidly because of leverage. Binary options can lose the whole stake. This page is education, not financial advice.
This material is not intended for viewers from EEA countries. Binary options are not promoted or sold to retail EEA traders.
