IQ Broker Review · 2026

What is IQ Broker?

IQ Broker is a market maker, meaning the broker acts as counterparty to customer trades on its platform. The global iqbroker.com service is operated by Cortex Engine LLC, company number L 23716. Its registered address is in Charlestown, Nevis, within Saint Kitts and Nevis. The company history used for this review dates the business to 2013.

The current General Terms describe iqbroker.com as an over-the-counter, or OTC, trading service rather than an exchange. OTC means transactions execute directly through the provider instead of a regulated securities exchange. Cortex Engine CY LTD, company number HE 477982, handles payment transactions from Limassol, Cyprus. The global website excludes residents of the United States, Canada, the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Australia.

Is IQ Broker regulated? Verification check

IQ Broker's global iqbroker.com operation does not disclose a financial-services licence for Cortex Engine LLC. The company registration in Saint Kitts and Nevis is a corporate registration, not evidence of broker supervision. This distinction matters because the account agreement identifies Cortex Engine LLC as the contractual provider. No investor-compensation scheme is disclosed for customers of that global entity.

A separate company, IQBroker Europe Ltd, appears in the CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission) public register. CySEC lists licence 247/14, issued on July 30, 2014, and identifies IQBroker as an approved trade name. The entity was previously named IQOption Europe Ltd. That CySEC licence belongs to the Cyprus company and does not automatically regulate accounts contracted with Cortex Engine LLC through iqbroker.com.

The distinction also appears at domain level. CySEC's public record lists approved domains including eu.iqoption.com and quadcodemarkets.com for the licensed company. The global iqbroker.com Terms identify Cortex Engine LLC in Nevis instead. A licence attached to one legal entity should therefore not be transferred to another entity simply because both use related branding.

Trading platforms

The trading platform is a proprietary platform, meaning IQ Broker supplies its own web and mobile interface instead of MetaTrader or cTrader. The earlier verified profile lists IQ Broker Web and IQ Broker Mobile as the available platforms. FXSharp found no verified MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, or cTrader server.

The interface supports both options contracts and leveraged instruments. Current broker materials advertise forex, cryptocurrencies, stocks, indices, commodities, and exchange-traded funds. The verified instrument counts are 51 forex pairs, 80 cryptocurrencies, 312 stocks, 15 indices, 10 commodities, and 27 ETFs. Digital Options and Turbo Options are also described in the broker's legal documents.

Red flags and warning signs

Regulatory separation is the central risk issue for the global service. Cortex Engine LLC operates iqbroker.com without a verified financial-services licence. The CySEC licence belongs to IQBroker Europe Ltd, a different legal company. Customers therefore need to identify the exact contracting entity before treating any licence number as relevant to their account.

The second issue is leverage. Leverage means controlling a position larger than the cash committed as margin. The global site advertises leverage up to 1:3000. That level sits far above retail leverage limits used in major regulated markets and can magnify both gains and losses quickly.

Investor protection is also narrower than under a regulated European investment firm. The global Terms state that customer funds can be held through third parties in segregated accounts. Segregation separates client money from the third party's own funds. This review found no verified compensation scheme or negative balance protection for global Cortex Engine LLC accounts.

Minimum deposit

The minimum deposit is $10 according to the broker's current public material and FXSharp's research. The platform also provides a practice balance of $10,000. A low entry amount reduces the cash required to create a live account, but it does not change the legal status of the contracting entity.

The difference between minimum deposit and minimum trade size is also relevant. A deposit funds the account, while individual option or CFD (Contract for Difference) positions use part of that balance. A CFD is a derivative that tracks price changes without transferring ownership of the underlying asset. The broker's Terms classify both CFDs and option contracts as financial instruments offered through its OTC environment.

Is the broker on any regulator warning lists?

The confirmed public regulatory action located for iqbroker.com comes from Turkey's SPK (Capital Markets Board). In weekly bulletin No. 54 dated September 3, 2020, SPK included iqbroker.com among websites targeted for access-blocking legal action. The bulletin stated that the listed sites facilitated leveraged transactions for residents of Turkey (source: SPK Weekly Bulletin No. 54, September 3, 2020).

This SPK action should not be described as a revocation of a Cortex Engine LLC licence because no such licence was verified. It was an access-blocking measure concerning leveraged trading directed at Turkish residents. The current global website separately states that services are unavailable in several restricted jurisdictions. Geographic availability should therefore be checked against both local law and the broker's current Terms.

What do user complaints say?

User-review data requires careful entity matching because public pages frequently combine IQ Broker and IQ Option branding. A clean, domain-specific aggregate for Cortex Engine LLC at iqbroker.com was not verified well enough for publication. This review therefore does not assign a star rating or repeat individual complaint allegations as established facts.

The absence of a published aggregate here does not prove either positive or negative customer experience. Withdrawal disputes, verification requests, and account restrictions should be evaluated against the actual account agreement and transaction record. The broker publishes separate Withdrawal, Payment, and Anti-Money Laundering policies. Those documents govern operational disputes more directly than unauthenticated forum posts.

How to verify the licence claim for yourself

Licence verification is an entity-matching process, not a brand-name search alone. The legal company, licence number, regulator, and website domain should all point to the same regulated business. A valid result for one group company does not automatically cover another company within the broader brand.

1. Open the account Terms and identify the legal company that will contract with you.
2. Record the company name, registration number, website domain, and any claimed regulator.
3. Search the regulator's official public register using the exact legal entity name.
4. Match the licence number and approved domains against the website you are using.
5. Check whether the licence is active and whether your country falls inside its permitted service area.

For this review, the global Terms identify Cortex Engine LLC, while CySEC licence 247/14 belongs to IQBroker Europe Ltd. That legal-entity difference is the key verification result. A trader seeing the IQBroker trade name in the CySEC record should still confirm which company appears on the actual account contract.

How does customer support work?

Customer support for the global service uses support@iqbroker.com as the published contact address. The current website also advertises multilingual support available around the clock. No public telephone number for Cortex Engine LLC was verified, so telephone support remains undisclosed for the global entity.

Support communication has a separate role from regulatory verification. A customer-service representative can explain platform procedures, but regulatory status should be checked through the regulator itself. Questions about withdrawals, identity checks, or transaction records are best documented in writing. Written correspondence also creates a record of dates, requested documents, and responses.

Where is the broker actually based?

The global contractual entity is based in Charlestown, Nevis, according to the current Terms and Privacy Policy. Cortex Engine LLC gives its registered address as Lighthouse Trust Nevis Ltd, Suite 1, A.L. Evelyn Ltd Building, Main Street. The company is registered in Saint Kitts and Nevis under number L 23716.

Payment processing introduces a second jurisdiction. Cortex Engine CY LTD is registered in Cyprus under company number HE 477982 and handles payment transactions. This does not make the global trading agreement CySEC-regulated. The separately licensed IQBroker Europe Ltd is another legal entity with its own CySEC registration and European operating framework.

Account types and bonus terms

The verified account structure consists of Real and Demo accounts rather than multiple named spread tiers. The Demo account uses virtual funds, while the Real account handles funded trading. No Islamic account was verified. No separate Raw, ECN, or professional pricing account was identified for iqbroker.com.

The platform supports margin products alongside option contracts. Margin is the capital reserved to support a leveraged position. Current platform material shows positions closing at a 50% stop-out level. A stop-out is the threshold where the platform automatically closes positions after account equity falls relative to required margin.

No active bonus structure was verified strongly enough to include as a current account feature. Bonus conditions can change and can affect withdrawal requirements when they exist. The broker's current contractual documents should therefore control over older promotional material. The verified payment methods include Neteller, Directa24, Volet, and Perfect Money.

Is IQ Broker safe? Honest assessment

IQ Broker's global account structure combines a low $10 entry point, proprietary software, options, CFDs, and leverage up to 1:3000. Its Terms also provide for segregated third-party handling of client funds. These operational features do not replace financial regulation or an investor-compensation scheme.

The decisive distinction is between Cortex Engine LLC and IQBroker Europe Ltd. CySEC licence 247/14 verifies the Cyprus entity, not the global Cortex Engine LLC contract used by iqbroker.com. Turkey's SPK also included iqbroker.com in a 2020 access-blocking decision concerning leveraged trading offered to Turkish residents.

The resulting risk profile is therefore driven more by legal protection than platform breadth. Customers of the global entity do not receive the verified CySEC protections attached to the separate European company. The broker's own risk disclosure also states that leveraged trading can result in loss of all invested capital.

Forex and derivative products carry high leverage; some or all invested capital may be lost. This content is for information only, not investment advice. Verify the broker's current regulation status with the relevant authority's official site before any investment decision.