GC Option

Our Opinion On GC Option

GC Option offers binary options trading on popular currency pairs with payouts up to 86%. It is one of the few forex binary options brokers that we use to offer the MetaTrader 4 platform and double-touch binaries. Other positives for us are the accessible starting deposit of $10 and the low minimum trade of $1.

Looking at the negatives, GC Option isn’t good for medium to long-term trading, with contracts spanning 1 minute to 48 hours. The broker’s offshore status also reduces its trust score, although it is part of the reputable Grand Capital group.

Summary

• Instruments: 30+ including 25+ forex pairs, precious metals, cryptos
• Live Accounts: Silver, Gold, VIP
• Platform & Apps: MetaTrader 4 (MT4), WebTrader Classic, WebTrader Pro
• Deposit Options: Wire Transfers, Bank Cards, Indian Exchanger, FasaPay, Growpay, PaylivreGateway, Perfect Money, ThunderXpay, Cryptos
• Demo Account: Yes

Pros & Cons

Is GC Option Regulated?

GC Option is registered offshore in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is not regulated by a trusted financial body. While this is common in the binary options industry, it does mean traders will have limited recourse options in the case of disputes. Our team also uncovered several customer complaints in their research.

On a lighter note, we are somewhat reassured to see that GC Option is linked to Grand Capital – an established and reputable broker. The broker also follows industry-standard AML and KYC protocols.

Forex Accounts

GC Option offers three live accounts: Silver, Gold, and VIP.

In our tests, we could not find any difference in the price/payout structures between the accounts. Instead, the accounts differ by the initial deposit requirement and access to trading platforms and market analysis.

We recommend stretching to the $100 deposit with the Gold account to unlock MetaTrader 4 and WebTrader Pro platforms.

We compare the three account options below.

	Silver	Gold	VIP
Minimum Deposit	$10	$100	$300
Trading Platform	WebTrader Classic	WebTrader Classic, WebTrader Pro, MetaTrader 4	WebTrader Classic, WebTrader Pro, MetaTrader 4
Market Analysis	Yes	Yes	Yes
Trading Signals	No	Yes	Yes
Expert Advisors (EAs)	No	No	Yes
Promotions	No	No	Risk-Free Trades & 10% Refund On Losing Trades

How To Open A Live Account

GC Option’s account registration process was quick and easy to complete – I was able to get started in a matter of minutes.

1. Add your name, telephone number, and email address to the online application form
2. Confirm adherence to the age limit by ticking the ‘I am over 18 years old’ box
3. Select ‘Register’
4. Login credentials will be sent to your email address

Trading Fees

Like most binary options brokers – there are no commissions. Instead, the broker makes its money from clients’ losing trades.

We appreciate that the broker is transparent about payouts, which it publishes by instrument, allowing investors to easily weigh up their odds before making a trade.

Payouts

In our experience using GC Option, the best payouts are available on major forex pairs, the highest being 86% on the EUR/USD. Other majors are available up to 85%, with minors averaging 80%.

Crypto and precious metals are less favorable, with maximum payouts of 60%, though it is common practice to offer lower payouts on more volatile instruments.

Overall though, we see higher payouts at other binary options brokers. Pocket Option, for example, offers payouts up to 92% on forex assets.

Timeframes

GC Option will serve short-term binary options traders with expiry times ranging from 1 minute to 48 hours.

For longer-term trading opportunities, we recommend IQ Option, which offers binaries up to 1 month. Alternatively, if you want ultra-short-term binaries, a firm like IQCent is a good option, with 5-second binary options.

Non-Trading Fees

While GC Option doesn’t have many non-trading fees, the withdrawal charges are a significant drawback in our view.

Most payment methods come with a charge, including a 0.5% fee for Perfect Money, 1.5% for Paylivre, and 1% for FasaPay, which will add up for active traders making frequent deposits and withdrawals.

Payment Methods

GC Option doesn’t score highly for its payment methods. Many of the deposit options are specific to African and Indian regions, with only some electronic payment solutions such as Perfect Money accepting USD transactions.

Processing times are reasonable and vary from 15 minutes to five days depending on the payment method.

We are pleased to see e-payment solutions and crypto deposits have their fees waived by the broker. Deposit fees do apply for some methods, however, such as help2pay with a 3% fee.

• Transfer agents – Indian Exchanger
• E-payments – Crypto, FasaPay, Growpay, PaylivreGateway, Perfect Money, ThunderXpay
• Bank wire transfer – Bank Windhoek, FNB Namibia, FNB South Africa, GTBank Nigeria, Ngan Luong, help2pay

How To Make A Deposit

GC Option’s payment portal is easy to use and I have no problem making a deposit in a few steps:

1. Log in to the GC Option private office
2. Select the ‘Deposit’ icon next to your live trading account
3. Choose a payment method and complete the relevant information in the section below
4. Click ‘Continue’ to proceed
5. Review the details on the following screen and press ‘Transfer Funds’
6. Complete the payment details in the pop-out to complete the transaction

Forex Assets

GC Option offers 27 currency pairs with all majors and a modest selection of minors and exotics. This provides enough opportunities for most aspiring traders, even if it falls short of the 52 currency pairs available at alternatives like World Forex.

The table below shows the availability of popular forex pairs:

Currency Pair	Available
EUR/USD	Yes
USD/GBP	Yes
USD/JPY	Yes
AUD/CAD	Yes
USD/CAD	Yes
USD/CNH	No
USD/CHF	Yes
USD/HKD	No
EUR/GBP	Yes

Non-Forex Assets

GC Option offers little in terms of non-forex assets. The broker provides a very narrow selection of cryptos and precious metals, meaning it isn’t the best option if you want to trade popular financial markets. In contrast, alternatives like Pocket Option offer shares, indices and energies.

You can trade binaries on the following underlying assets at GC Option:

• Two precious metals – gold and silver
• Eight cryptos – including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance Coin

Leverage

Investors cannot apply leverage to binary options trades. The size of a position is controlled by the amount of invested capital only.

For leveraged trading, consider the broker’s parent company Grand Capital, with leverage up to 1:1000.

Platforms & Apps

The biggest strength of using GC Option for me is the suite of trading platforms. There are three options: the popular MetaTrader 4, plus the brand’s proprietary WebTrader Classic and the feature-packed WebTrader Pro.

WebTrader

I find the WebTrader option sleeker and easier to use than the MetaTrader platform, making it a good starting point for beginners, especially the Classic version. The design is clean and you can analyze forex markets with basic drawing tools and technical indicators.

The Pro solution’s more extensive technical analysis capabilities are better suited to more experienced traders, though I think new traders will be able to learn to use them quickly.

However, the stand-out features for me are the double-touch and break-out contract variants, available on the Pro platform. The former allows you to specify upper and lower price points that an asset will hit before expiry, while the latter enables you to make a profit by identifying a price level that an asset will ‘break through’. These aren’t available at most forex binary options brokers we test and lend themselves to different trading strategies.

On the downside, I think the platform is trickier to use on mobile and tablet devices. I find navigation more challenging, particularly when viewing charts in smaller screen mode, so I would like to see a dedicated mobile app developed in the future.

How To Make A Forex Binary Options Trade

I find it straightforward to trade binaries on WebTrader. The interface works intuitively and the charts are easy to customize using the icons on the left.

To place a trade:

1. Sign in to the client office and launch the WebTrader terminal
2. Select a forex instrument from the menu on the left to refresh the chart
3. Input your investment amount using the ‘+’ and ‘-‘ icons
4. Decide on the contract expiration time (1 minute to 48 hours)
5. Review the potential payout (up to 86%)
6. Choose the price direction to confirm the position (higher or lower than the current price)

The WebTrader helpfully displays all open positions under the chart.

MetaTrader 4

The MetaTrader 4 platform is best for serious forex traders and those already familiar with the popular software. It offers dozens of indicators and drawing tools with a wide range of charting intervals, graphing styles and ample customization.

My only criticism is that the Silver account doesn’t provide access to MT4, though the $100 minimum deposit with the Gold account is still accessible.

Forex Tools

We are disappointed by the limited additional tools to elevate the trading experience. Pocket Option, for instance, offers a range of features such as social trading and signals, leaving GC Option lagging behind leading competitors.

With that said, we do rate the early closeout feature. We can exit positions before the expiry time and secure a payout of up to 40% and a refund of up to 10% for early-cut losses, making for a useful risk management tool.

Forex Research

GC Option offers daily market analysis which covers major global economies and foreign exchange markets. There is useful information on inflation rates, employment data, and interest rate changes, though they aren’t always provided routinely.

We also find the economic calendar helpful for tracking upcoming events that could affect our trading positions.

Forex Education

GC Option offers little in terms of education, reducing its appeal to beginners. The brand does not offer any guidance in the form of videos or step-by-step tutorials. We find it especially disappointing that there are no platform user guides, particularly given that the firm offers a proprietary terminal.

Since trading binary options can be especially risky, we find the lack of resources to be a significant disadvantage.

Demo Account

GC Option offers a free binary options demo account loaded with $10,000 in virtual funds.

We appreciate the opportunity to practise trading risk-free and learn the functions of the platform before trading with our own money. The demo profile allows users to try analysis tools, customize charts, and open positions.

The only major downside in our view is that there is no access to MT4 in demo mode.

How To Open A Demo Account

You will need to register for a GC Option profile before you can open a demo account. Once you have done so, the demo account registration is simple and can be completed in about a minute:

1. Click ‘Demo Account’ from the client portal homepage
2. Choose a virtual balance amount
3. Agree to the T&Cs and click ‘Create’
4. Login credentials will be displayed on the following screen and sent to your email address
5. Launch the WebTrader

Bonus Offers

The broker offers several trading incentives. While using GC Option, we got a ‘day of risk-free trading’ in which you can choose one day within 31 days to receive compensation for losses. You will be reimbursed with trading credit up to a maximum of $10,000.

With that said, it is worth noting we found a withdrawal clause that states this credit can only be removed once an account’s trading volume surpasses the bonus amount x40.

Additionally, we don’t recommend choosing a forex binary options broker based on their bonus offers, as these can encourage bad trading habits and there are more important factors, such as the firm’s reputation and trust score.

Trading Restrictions

Our team did not come across any strategy restrictions while trading with GC Option. This means you can trade all binary options freely using the tools available. The only exception is that you need a Gold or VIP account to access MetaTrader 4.

Customer Service

The GC Option customer service team is available Monday to Friday from 6 AM to 6 PM (GMT). However, we tested the live chat function outside of these hours and were pleased to still reach a customer support representative, with responses on average coming within two minutes.

You can speak to an agent via live chat, email, or telephone:

• Telephone – +1 646 844 7187
• Email – support@grandcapital.net
• Live Chat – bottom right of the broker’s official site

Company Details

GC Option was founded in 2012 and is registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

It is the binary options affiliate of Grand Capital, an established brokerage operating since 2006 with 750,000+ registered customers.

On the downside, there is limited public information about the management team and the history of GC Option, which could add to its credibility.

Trading Hours

Binary options trading is available on all instruments between 1 AM and 11 PM Monday to Friday. The firm operates on a GMT +2 and GMT +3 time zone (DST).

You can view an updated holiday schedule tracker by country.

Who Is GC Option Best For?

GC Option is best for investors looking for short-term binary options trading on popular forex assets through a user-friendly platform. The low starting deposit and web-accessible software make it easy to start trading forex binaries.

GC Option will also serve investors looking to trade binary options on the popular MetaTrader 4 platform, which is home to sophisticated charting and analysis tools.

Finally, the broker will appeal to traders looking for double-touch and break-out binaries, alongside useful risk management functions like the early closeout feature.

FAQ

Article Sources

GC Option Website