There is no licensing regime for binary options in Kenya. The product is not banned, and it is not supervised either.
Sourcing note: we could not confirm the legal position in Kenya against a named primary instrument published by the CMA. Verify with the regulator before acting on it.
Archive notice: this page was written in 2012, before binary options were banned for retail clients across the EEA, the UK and Australia. It is kept for reference. For the current position, see Legal status by country.
After talking about the EUR/USD pair, let’s move to the second largest economy in Europe after Germany, Great Britain. Great Britain is filled with rich history and beautiful landscapes. Unfortunately, the Pound is not as easy going. The GBP is known for unexpected spikes and chaotic price action. Despite accounting for 14% of daily currency trading volume, the GBP/USD does not have the high liquidity that the EUR/USD offers. However, this short term spikes can be an easy lunch for some savvy traders.
The good news is that Great Britain is not all that involved with the debt crisis that is hurting most of Europe currently due to its refusal to join the Euro. The bad news is the Britain’s economy has been contracting, throwing the country into a recession. In addition, the country does have the highest debt load on record, according to several British media sources. However, several British media outlets have printed stories saying that the country’s economy could see a nice rebound in the third quarter.
Before we go any further there are a few things that you should know about the British Pound. Firstly, as I stated above the GBP/USD is much more volatile than EUR/USD. This creates short term volatile spikes which can be hard to swallow if you are not prepared for them. Secondly, the Pound is extremely sensitive to rate changes from the Bank of England. If you trade this pair, you need to write out all the expected Bank of England events because you could lose a lot of money if you don’t. Additionally, the GBP/USD pair is extremely sensitive to US economic data reports. This means GDP, unemployment, payrolls, retail sales, consumer sentiment, etc. Some Forex pros say that US economic data affects the GBP/USD pair more than the EUR/USD pair, mostly due to the lack of liquidity that the EUR/USD has in spades.
If you are a technical trader this next warning is extremely important to know. The fact is the Pound has unreliable technical analysis. What I mean by that is there are a lot of false breakouts/breakdowns. This makes it extremely difficult for technical traders to determine their next move. Unless you have been studying and thoroughly understand the GBP/USD pair, it could get ugly if you rely solely on technicals. Remember what I said though in my EUR/USD article; always back up your technical findings with the underlying fundamentals. If you find bullish technicals with bullish fundamentals, you have a winner.
The bottom line here is the GBP/USD pair is a much sensitive pair overall than the EUR/USD. This can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on your level of trading. One thing that is for sure is that the GBP/USD relies very heavily on fundamentals. That is why I recommend the GBP/USD to fundamental traders and not to technical traders. The EUR/USD has a healthy balance of fundamental and technical, making it a great pair to trade and certainly price action is much clearer than the GBP/USD. I highly recommend that if you are new to currency trading or not familiar with the GBP/USD that you paper trade the pair for awhile until you learn the ropes. Paper trading this pair could save you a lot of grief and money.
Funding and withdrawals in Kenya
Local rails here are M-Pesa, Airtel Money and card. Deposit method decides whether money can come back out: card payments carry a chargeback route with a time limit, transfers to an offshore entity generally do not. Confirm the withdrawal method, minimum, fee and stated processing time in writing before funding an account. Profits are generally taxable, with KRA the relevant authority.
Brokers accepting Kenyan clients
Ranked by our published methodology, which weights licensing at 35% — on an unsupervised counterparty every other quality is contingent. Ratings are derived from the sub-scores, not assigned.
| # | Broker | Rating | Entity holding your funds | Min. deposit | Payout | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deriv | 7.9 | Deriv (BVI) Ltd / Deriv (V) Ltd | $5 | up to ~95% on synthetics | Visit |
| 2 | IQ Option | 5.1 | IQ Option Ltd (international) — unregulated | $10 | up to ~95% | Visit |
| 3 | Pocket Option | 4.7 | Gembell Limited (Comoros) | $5 | up to ~92% | Visit |
| 4 | Quotex | 4.6 | Awesomo Ltd — unregulated | $10 | up to ~98% | Visit |
| Regulated alternative — does not offer binary options | ||||||
| — | Exness | 8.8 | FSCA (South Africa) — ODP · FSP 51024 | $10 | n/a — CFDs and FX only | Visit |
Advertiser disclosure: buttons marked ad are affiliate links and earn us a commission if you open an account. The others do not. The ranking is derived from the published sub-scores either way, which is why the highest-rated provider here is not the one that pays us.
Risk warning: binary options are high-risk speculative instruments and most retail accounts lose money. Nothing on this page is investment advice or a recommendation to trade.