

Darwinex Review
Accepts traders from United States
Recommended for traders looking for broad market access and a professional trading environment
Pros
- Low forex fees
- Wide range of products
- Many great research tools
Cons
- Complicated account opening process
- Complex desktop trading platform
- Understaffed customer service
About Broker
For this GKFX review, we have opened a standard account with the broker and deposited over €5,000.
We traded the popular instrument in each market to get the real spreads and placed a total of 15 trades.
We also reached out to customer support to solve the issues we faced.
Finally, we withdrew our funds to see if there are any issues with the withdrawal process.
What is GKFX?
GKFX is a United Kingdom-headquartered forex and contracts for difference (CFDs) broker established in 2010.
The broker group runs three retail brands: GKFX, GKFX Prime, and GKFX Cambodia. It also runs the GKPro brand, which serves only professional traders.
Retail offers in the broker include contracts for differences (CFDs) trading with forex, indices, commodities, stocks, and cryptocurrencies.
GKFX is well-regulated with operating licenses from the financial regulators in the United Kingdom, Malta, the British Virgin Islands, Australia, and Cambodia.
Some of the highlights of GKFX are:
🗺️ Authorised & Regulated in | UK, Malta, British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, Australia |
🛡️ Is GKFX safe | Yes |
💰 EUR/USD Spread | 0.67 |
💳 Minimum deposit | US$0 or €200 |
💰 Withdrawal fee | US$0 |
🖥️ Trading Platform | MT4, MT5 |
📈 Markets offered | Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies |
📉 Number of Products | 282 (depends on the jurisdiction and account type) |
Licenses and Regulations
GKFX holds licenses from regulators in 4 countries.
The broker is regulated in the UK, Malta, British Virgin Islands, and Cambodia. The UK’s FCA is considered as one of the top global financial regulators.
The full list of GKFX licenses is below:
Legal entity | Registered in | Regulator | License number | Accepting clients from | Compensation scheme amount |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GKFX Financial Services Ltd | United Kingdom | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | 501320 | United Kingdom | £85,000 |
AKFX Financial Services Ltd | Malta | Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) | C60473 | European Union | €20,000 |
International Finance House Ltd | British Virgin Islands | B.V.I Financial Services Commission (FSC) | BVI SIBA/L/1066 | Global | No compensation scheme |
GKFX Cambodia Co Ltd | Cambodia | Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) | 026 | Cambodia | No compensation scheme |
FairMarkets Trading Pty Ltd | Australia | Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) | 424122 | Australia | No compensation scheme |
Global Kapital Investama Berjangka | Indonesia | Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (BAPPEBTI) | 824/BAPPEBTI/SI/11/2005 | Indonesia | No compensation scheme |
The Malta-regulated entity operates with the tradename GKFX, the British Virgin Islands entity with GKFX Prime, the Cambodian entity with GKFX Cambodia, the Australian entity operates under FairMarkets, and the Indonesian entity operates with GKInvest.
UK regulated broker GKFX Financial Services Ltd only offers services to professional and institutional clients with the tradename GKPro.
Is GKFX Safe?
Yes, GKFX is a safe broker from a regulatory perspective.
The broker is well-regulated with a total of 4 licenses. It is also overseen by the UK’s FCA, which is a well-reputed financial market regulator and offers a compensation scheme of £85,000 to protect clients’ funds. Malta’s MFSA also offers a compensation scheme of €20,000.
For our tests, we opened an MT5 Standard account with AKFX Financial Services Ltd, which is regulated by Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) in Malta.
Fees and Commissions
Trading fees on GKFX are mostly built into spreads. The broker, however, charges commission on its higher-tier accounts with low spreads.
Spreads for forex, indices, commodities, and stocks on our trades were much below the average industry benchmark.
GKFX Spread Charged in Our Trades
For our tests, we have chosen popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument to get a picture of the average spread.
Our test is based on GKFX’s Standard account. Spreads for our trades with forex, indices, stocks, and commodities remained stable with minor deflections for all asset classes.
Details of our trades are shown below the table.
Markets | Instruments | 1st trade | 2nd trade | 3rd trade | Avg. spread |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Forex | EUR/USD | 0.75 | 0.65 | 0.6 | 0.67 |
Indices | FTSE 100 | 0.85 | 0.85 | 0.8 | 0.83 |
Stocks | Apple | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
Commodities | Gold | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Cryptocurrency | Bitcoin | 38.24 | 25 | 46.61 | 36.62 |
Our testing finds that spreads on forex, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrency CFDs are lower than the industry average. Spreads on share CFDs are, however, on the higher side.
Markets | Instruments | Avg. spread charged in our trades | Industry avg. spread |
---|---|---|---|
Forex | EUR/USD | 0.67 | 1.16 |
Indices | FTSE 100 | 0.83 | 1.65 |
Stocks | Apple | 3.7 | 1.75 |
Commodities | Gold | 2 | 3.53 |
Cryptocurrency | Bitcoin | 36.62 | 72.81 |
Other Fees
GKFX does not have any prominent non-trading fees. The broker does not charge any deposit or withdrawal fees, and there are no maintenance or inactivity fees either.
Account Types
The retail account types offered by GKFX vary with each regulated entity.
Details of all account types under AKFX Financial Services Ltd (regulated in Malta) are:
Standard Account | Premium Account | |
---|---|---|
Trading Platforms | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 |
Account Currency | USD, GBP, EUR | USD, GBP, EUR |
Minimum deposit | €200 | €25,000 |
Commission | None | €6/lot |
Order execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution |
Spread | From 0.6 | From 0.1 |
Details of all account types under International Finance House Ltd (regulated in the British Virgin Islands) are:
Standard Fixed Account | Standard Variable Account | VIP Variable Account | ECN Zero Account | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Trading Platforms | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 |
Account Currency | USD, GBP, EUR | USD, GBP, EUR | USD, GBP, EUR | USD, GBP, EUR |
Minimum deposit | None | None | $5,000 | None |
Commission | None | None | None | $10/lot |
Order execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution |
Spread | From 1.8 | From 1.2 | From 0.6 | From 0 |
Details of all account types under GKFX Cambodia Co Ltd (regulated in Cambodia) are:
Standard Account | ECN Zero Account | VIP Variable Account | |
---|---|---|---|
Trading Platforms | MetaTrader 4 | MetaTrader 4 | MetaTrader 4 |
Account Currency | USD | USD | USD |
Commission | None | $15 per round lot | None |
Order execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution |
Spread | From 1.2 | From 0 | From 0.6 |
FairMarkets Trading Pty Ltd (Australian regulated broker) offers only one account type:
Real Account | |
---|---|
Trading Platforms | MetaTrader 5 |
Account Currency | USD, AUD |
Commission | None |
Order execution | Instant Execution |
Spread | From 1.2 |
Details of account types offered by Global Kapital Investama Berjangka (regulated in Indonesia):
Standard Fixed Account | Silver Fixed Account | Gold Fixed Account | Platinum Fixed Account | Standard Variable Account | ECN Zero Account | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trading Platforms | MetaTrader 5 | MetaTrader 5 | MetaTrader 5 | MetaTrader 5 | MetaTrader 5 | MetaTrader 5 |
Account Currency | USD, IDR | USD, IDR | USD, IDR | USD, IDR | USD, IDR | USD, IDR |
Commission | $2 per lot | $2 per lot | $2 per lot | $2 per lot | $2 per lot | $10 per lot |
Order execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution |
Spread | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1 | 0.8 | From 1.2 | From 0 |
The Indonesian entity also offers a Multilateral account for commodities trading.
Account Opening
Our overall experience of opening a new account with GKFX was smooth and fast.
We opened a MetaTrader 5 Standard account for our tests under the Malta-regulated entity.
The process of registration of a new GKFX account:
- Enter personal details like the first name, last name, country of residence, phone number, email, and declaration of non-US nationality.
- Prove more personal details like date of birth, place of birth, residential address, nationality, and passport number.
- Provide professional and financial information: employment status, annual income, total assets, liquid assets, source of assets, expected annual deposit amount and expected trading frequency.
- Answer some questionnaires on trading knowledge and experience.
We submitted the following documents to verify our GKFX account:
- Copy of national identification (both front and back)
- Copy of our bank statement
The registration process took around 12 minutes. Our account was verified in 1 working day.
Our account was registered on March 26, 2022, and approved on March 29, 2022.
Our overall account opening experience was smooth and without any issues from registration to verification.
Deposit and Withdrawal
Both deposits and withdrawals on GKFX are easy and fast. All our funding and withdrawal requests were completed without any issues.
The broker does not charge any fees for deposits and withdrawals.
Minimum Deposit
The minimum deposit on GKFX varies with the account types.
For Malta-registered entity operating as GKFX:
- Standard account: €200
- Premium account: €25,000
For the British Virgin Islands-registered GKFX Prime:
- Standard Fixed account: $0
- Standard Variable account: $0
- VIP Variable account: $5,000
- ECN Zero account: $0
Traders only need to maintain the minimum deposit balance on their accounts.
Deposit
GKFX supports deposits with bank transfers, credit and debit cards, two online wallets, Neteller and Skrill. There are no deposit fees.
The deposit methods also depend on the account jurisdiction.
We tested the deposit process on GKFX using a credit card, Neteller, and Skrill.
Details of our fund deposits are shown in the below table.
Payment Method | Submitted Date | Funded Account Date | Funding Time | Fee |
---|---|---|---|---|
Credit card | 2022-04-06 | 2022-04-06 | Instant | 0 |
Neteller | 2022-04-06 | 2022-04-06 | Instant | 0 |
Skrill | 2022-04-06 | 2022-04-06 | Instant | 0 |
Withdrawal
GKFX allows withdrawals with bank transfers, credit and debit cards, and online wallets like Neteller and Skrill. It does not charge any withdrawal fee.
Overall, our experience with the GKFX withdrawal process was positive.
Details of our withdrawal requests are in the table below.
Payment Method | Submitted Date | Fund Released Date | Fund Arrived Date | Withdrawal Time | Fee |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Credit card | 2022-04-06 | 2022-04-07 | 2022-04-08 | 2 working day | 0 |
Neteller | 2022-04-06 | 2022-04-07 | 2022-04-07 | 1 working day | 0 |
Skrill | 2022-04-06 | 2022-04-07 | 2022-04-07 | 1 working day | 0 |
Markets and Products
GKFX offers CFDs trading services with forex, indices, stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies instruments.
The complete list of GKFX’s offerings are:
Markets | Instruments |
---|---|
Forex | 47 |
Indices | 20 |
Stocks and ETFs | 198 |
Commodities | 14 |
Cryptocurrency | 3 |
The markets and the number of offered instruments will depend on the account jurisdiction and also the type of account.
Trading Conditions
Trading conditions on GKFX are bad. The broker does not allow hedging and scalping strategies. Retail traders cannot even change leverage levels.
Only professional traders can change leverage levels.
Trading Method | Allowed |
---|---|
Hedging | No |
Scalping | No |
Change Leverage | No (only professional clients can change leverage levels) |
Leverage
Leverages offered by the various entities of GKFX are detailed below:
Markets | GKFX Financial Services Ltd | International Finance House Ltd | AKFX Financial Services Ltd | GKFX Cambodia Co Ltd | FairMarkets Trading Pty Ltd | Global Kapital Investama Berjangka |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Major Currency Pairs | 30:1 | 400:1 | 30:1 | 400:1 | 30:1 | 400:1 |
Non-Major Currency Pairs | 20:1 | 400:1 | 30:1 | 400:1 | 20:1 | 400:1 |
Gold | 20:1 | 200:1 | 20:1 | 400:1 | 20:1 | 400:1 |
Other Commodities (except Gold) | 10:1 | 50:1 | 20:1 | 400:1 | 10:1 | 100:1 |
Indices | 5:1 | 200:1 | 20:1 | NA | 20:1 | 100:1 |
Stocks | 5:1 | 10:1 | 20:1 | NA | NA | NA |
Cryptocurrencies | NA | 20:1 | 2:1 | NA | 2:1 | NA |
Copy Trading GKFX Prime Review
The British Virgin Islands-registered GKFX Prime offers services with two third party copy trading platforms:
- Autotrade
- Zulutrade
Trading Platform
GKFX offers trading services on MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms. These are industry standard third-party platforms developed by the company MetaQuotes Software.
Both these platforms are available on the web, desktop, and mobile.
GKFX MT4
We executed all our trades on MetaTrader 5 platform.
Research and Tools
GKFX offers excellent market research and analysis tools.
Tools offered by the broker include:
- Good charting tools
- Trading signals using Autochartist and Trading Central
- Economic calendar
- Forex VPS
- Trading automation with Tradeworks
- Market research articles and weekly videos
- Newsfeed
Education
GKFX offers good educational resources.
The broker’s educational materials include:
- Video tutorials for beginners and expert traders
- Details guides on trading and platforms
- Ebooks
- Webinars
- Demo account
Customer Service
GKFX has good customer support.
Traders can contact the broker via:
- Live chat
- Phone
The support staff is available only on weekdays and takes questions in 14 languages.
Our experience with GKFX customer support was very good.
The support staff on both live chat and email was quick enough to answer our query accurately and in detail.
Question | Response Time | Quality of reply | |
---|---|---|---|
Live Chat | Asked questions on hedging and scalping | 1 minute | Clear and accurate |
Asked about the number of trading instruments | 30 minutes | Clear and accurate | |
Asked about releasing our withdrawal fund | 8 hours | Clear and direct instructions |
The broker also has a detailed FAQ section for frequently faced issues.
Conclusion
Our overall experience with GKFX was decent.
The broker offers attractive spreads on forex with fast execution. Commodity spreads also remained stable.
Account opening, deposits, and withdrawals are also smooth and fast on the broker. Our experience with customer support was again excellent as the responses were fast, clear, and detailed.
On the negative side, GKFX does not allow traders to run hedging and scalping.
We recommend GKFX to forex traders who run EA.
We recommend GKFX for traders who are
- Experienced traders
- Beginners
- EAs trading
- Trading through MT4
GKFX might not be a fit if you are
- Real Stock / Futures Trading
- Commission based trading
- Run Scalping
- Hedging
- Prefer other platforms rather than MetaTrader
Broker Features
Recommended for traders looking for broad market access and a professional trading environment
- Unlimited withdraw limits
- Multiple withdraw methods
- Live chat open 24/7
Broker Details
Licences:
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