There have been many changes in the binary options industry since we first started Binary Score in 2016. Back then the industry had only just taken off and with large amounts of money pouring in, we saw an influx of scammers and bad operators entering the market. Similar to what we saw with anything crypto related in 2018.
Here we take a look at the binary options industry in 2019.
In the years following, we saw a crackdown from governments, regulators and payment providers. Many of the bad operators have now been driven out of the market.
Is Binary Options Still a Dirty Word?
Following on from the peak of binary option scam behavior in 2016 and 2017 the reputation took a severe beating. Binary options were automatically viewed in a negative light within the financial community.
Many of the larger brokers, particularly European based ones moved away from the association with binary options all together. IQ Option for example began to push CFD, crypto and margin forex trading.
Binary Options Regulation
In 2018 we saw continued action from regulators and governments towards binary options and the online trading industry more broadly. The most prominent example being the European regulator ESMA issuing a ban on binary options. This change impacting EU and UK residents.
In other parts of the world governments and regulators have been taking different actions. In Indonesia for example, we have seen outright blocking by authorities. Even major institutional brokers like FXCM and Interactive Brokers remain blocked in 2019.
Future of Binary Options
Will we see a reemergence of the binary options industry? We are not so sure what the future holds. While we don’t see a return to the “glory days” of 2013-2016, we expect to see further consolidation and emergence of new professional players. Zentrader is one example of a new binary options broker launch this year.
Regardless, there is still considerable demand for binary options trading from around the world. And despite government bureaucrats telling us they know better, people will still find a way to do what they want to do.
Expect to see much more from the Binary Score team in 2019. Feel free to get in touch or leave us a comment below.