The binary options market has been showing some good signs of progress as many more people have come to take interest in what the market has to offer. This article will take a look back at some of the events that defined the binary options market in 2012, and some of the things that traders should look forward to in 2013.
One of the key events that occurred in 2012 in the binary options market was a paradigm shift in the issue of regulation. Many binary options brokers purport to do business in Cyprus and the regulatory authorities in that country, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has decided to come down hard on many of the scam brokerage operations tarnishing the image of that jurisdiction. Brokers who claim to be doing binary options brokerage business in Cyprus are now required to be licensed. This has come too late for some unfortunate victims of some of these unlicensed brokerages, but the good thing is that the tide has finally turned with this announcement. So far, SpotOption limited has applied for licensing and with this development, there is no doubt that all the brokers who are plugged into the SpotOption white-label products such as the trading platforms, will be forced to follow suit. We foresee a situation where all the partners of this company will either be forced to clean up their act or be shown the way out. After all, no company wants any of its partners to get it a bad label in the industry.
Another area where there has been some outstanding performance in the market is the area of bonuses and promotions. Gone are the days of the bogus 100% bonus offerings or bonuses which only serve to attract new traders after which they can go to blazes. Brokers are gradually realizing that keeping existing clients happy is just as important as bringing in new ones. Now there are bonuses and promotions that target existing traders. For instance, a broker is giving out new SUVs in a raffle draw to be held for high volume traders. This is unheard of in the industry and will surely serve to keep the morale of traders high and motivate them for better performance. All manner of promotions and giveaways such as branded prepaid cards, travel rewards, etc are really creating attention and one can only expect that in 2013, brokers will struggle to outdo each other for the precious clients who have the money and who want to trade.
Binary Options in 2013
The binary options market is begging and yearning for some more innovation. In 2012, we saw more binary options brokers improving the bonus structure of their packages and developing mobile trading platforms to give their traders more flexibility and mobility.
What do we expect of the binary options market in 2013?
a) We need some more advancement in the binary options trading platforms. One of the advancements we would like to see is added functionality to allow traders to add their expert advisors so that automated binary options trading can kick off in earnest, just as we have in the spot forex market.
b) We need to see more expert advisors specifically for the binary options market.
c) The issue of improved regulation of binary options brokers is something that should get priority attention in 2013. There are now so many binary options brokers that it is now difficult to sift out the wheat from the chaff. Improved regulation will help traders sift out the good ones and this will increase confidence in the market and bring better business to operators who are genuinely in the market to render brokerage services.
We can also expect to see many brokers and third-party businesses build on the gains of their product offering to come up with even more innovative products that will not only improve their bottom lines, but also improve the experience traders have with the market. This will be enhanced with better regulatory framework which will ensure that only the genuine guys are in the market. With the binary options market, filled with so many assets to trade and at least 6 to 8 trade types on every trading platform, there is never a dull moment and traders who pay attention to learning the ropes of the market should profit from it in 2013.
