How to choose a broker or crypto exchange
You test a strategy here; if you decide to trade it, you do that on your own broker or exchange. This is a checklist for picking one — what to compare, and the question to ask about each. It is not a recommendation, and there is no “best broker” list below.
This page is independent. No affiliate links, no referral deals, no sponsored placements — we earn nothing from where you choose to trade, the same way we earn nothing whether you trade at all. That's the point: a broker guide that gets paid to send you somewhere isn't a guide, it's an ad. This one has no reason to point you anywhere.
Six things to compare
Prices, promos and apps change constantly, so this is deliberately not a fee table — it's the durable questions that actually decide it.
The single most important one. Whether a provider is authorised — and what protection that gives you if it goes under — varies a lot by country, so check it for your jurisdiction, on the regulator's own register, not the broker's marketing page.
Ask: Is it regulated in MY country, and what happens to my money if it fails?
A strategy you tested on a US stock, an ETF, a commodity or a coin is useless at a venue that doesn't list it — or only offers a derivative of it (a CFD, a wrapped token) with different behaviour. Match the venue to what you actually tested.
Ask: Can I actually trade this asset, this way, here?
Especially for crypto: an exchange that holds your coins is a counterparty you're trusting, and “not your keys, not your coins” is a real risk, not a slogan. For stocks, understand how your positions are held and segregated. Know who's holding what before you fund anything.
Ask: Who controls the money — me, or them?
Every result here is computed with costs and slippage ON, because a strategy that only works at zero cost doesn't work. Understand the structure — commission, spread, and any overnight/financing charge — not just the headline “$0 commission,” which is often paid back through a wider spread.
Ask: What's the ALL-IN cost per round trip, including the spread?
To check the honest simulation against your real trades — the whole sim-vs-real loop — you need your actual fills. A venue that lets you export your trade history (CSV, or a read-only view) makes that possible; one that traps your data makes it a chore.
Ask: Can I export my own fills?
A venue whose pitch is screenshots of big wins, “90% win rate” influencers, bonuses for depositing more, or gamified confetti is optimising for your activity, not your outcome. That's a tell. Boring and well-regulated beats exciting.
Ask: Does its marketing lean on the tricks this site exists to shame?
What this is and isn't
This is information to help you compare, not advice — I don't know your situation, and nothing here is a recommendation that any venue is suitable for you. There's no ranking, no “top 5,” and no link that pays me. You do the comparison against your own country's rules and your own needs, and you decide. And the honest reminder the rest of the site keeps making applies here too: most strategies don't beat simply holding — but a real few do. Fund a broker once one has survived the preparation — not before; the cheapest, safest venue is the one you never had to fund for an idea that didn't hold up.
Built by A.P., one engineer who builds quantitative trading systems. No name to Google and no résumé to take on faith — the method is open, and the scoreboard shows the whole glass: most strategies fail, mine included, and the rare few that genuinely beat buy & hold. Why I built this →