Depositing from Kenya
The answer is never a brand name. It is your country × the broker: the entity your address gets, the protection behind it, and what the Capital Markets Authority (CMA Kenya) says. All 40 verdicts for Kenya are computed below, checked on October 22, 2026.
Facts checked on October 22, 2026
Kenya licenses online forex brokers through the CMA and publishes the licensee list. Some brands operate a genuinely CMA-licensed Kenyan entity; most global brands Kenyans see advertised still onboard them to offshore entities with no CMA cover. Some global brands do not accept Kenyans at all.
The locally licensed route: a broker on the CMA licensee list (the Kenyan entity, not the global brand).
about KSh26,000 (about $200). M-Pesa makes depositing feel free; the costs arrive as spread and conversion. About KSh26,000 is the practical floor the mechanics respect.
Minimums and rails checked on October 22, 2026. Advertised minimums are the platforms' own published figures — accepted minimums, not viable ones.
| Broker | Verdict for a resident | The entity that would hold the account | Protection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exness | Deposit has real protection | Exness KE Limited (CMA (Kenya)) | CMA-licensed: client money segregated under CMA rules (Kenya has no compensation fund) |
| XM | Deposit has real protection | TPXMGLOBAL Kenya Limited (CMA (Kenya)) | CMA-licensed: client money segregated under CMA rules (Kenya has no compensation fund) |
| Deriv | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Deriv (SVG) LLC and sister entities (SVG / Labuan / BVI registrations) | No compensation scheme |
| FBS | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | FBS Markets Inc (FSC Belize) | No compensation scheme |
| HFM (HotForex) | Deposit has real protection | HFM Investments Limited (CMA (Kenya)) | CMA-licensed: client money segregated under CMA rules (Kenya has no compensation fund) |
| Octa (OctaFX) | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Octa Markets Ltd (Mwali International Services Authority (Comoros)) | No compensation scheme |
| AvaTrade | Deposit has real protection | Ava Trade Kenya Limited (CMA (Kenya)) | CMA-licensed: client money segregated under CMA rules (Kenya has no compensation fund) |
| Pepperstone | Deposit has real protection | Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited (CMA (Kenya)) | CMA-licensed: client money segregated under CMA rules (Kenya has no compensation fund) |
| IC Markets | Deposit has real protection | IC Markets (KE) Limited (CMA (Kenya)) | CMA-licensed: client money segregated under CMA rules (Kenya has no compensation fund) |
| FP Markets | Deposit has real protection | FP Markets Limited (CMA (Kenya)) | CMA-licensed: client money segregated under CMA rules (Kenya has no compensation fund) |
| Tickmill | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Tickmill Ltd (FSA Seychelles) | No compensation scheme |
| Plus500 | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Plus500SEY Ltd (FSA Seychelles) | No compensation scheme |
| eToro | Not accepted — don't try workarounds | — | — |
| Capital.com | Deposit has real protection | CC Kenya Securities Limited (CMA (Kenya)) | CMA-licensed: client money segregated under CMA rules (Kenya has no compensation fund) |
| XTB | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | XTB International Limited (FSC Belize) | No compensation scheme |
| IG | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | IG International Limited (BMA (Bermuda)) | No compensation scheme |
| Quotex | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | ON SPOT LLC GROUP (registered in St. Kitts and Nevis — no government licence) | No compensation scheme |
| Pocket Option | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Infinite Trade LLC (Mwali International Services Authority (Comoros) — licence reported suspended) | No compensation scheme |
| Olymp Trade | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Aollikus Limited (VFSC (Vanuatu) — and FinaCom membership, an industry body, not a government regulator) | No compensation scheme |
| Binomo | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Dolphin Corp LLC (registered in St Vincent & the Grenadines — FinaCom membership, an industry body, not a government regulator) | No compensation scheme |
| IQ Option | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | SKY LADDER LLC (registered in Antigua and Barbuda) | No compensation scheme |
| Axi | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | AxiTrader LLC (registered in St Vincent & the Grenadines) | No compensation scheme |
| LiteFinance | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | LiteFinance Global LLC (registered in St Vincent & the Grenadines) | No compensation scheme |
| FXTM | Deposit has real protection | Exinity Capital East Africa Limited (CMA (Kenya)) | CMA-licensed: client money segregated under CMA rules (Kenya has no compensation fund) |
| Vantage | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Vantage Global Limited (VFSC (Vanuatu)) | No compensation scheme |
| RoboForex | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | RoboForex Ltd (FSC Belize) | No compensation scheme |
| JustMarkets | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Just Global Markets Ltd (FSA (Seychelles)) | No compensation scheme |
| Headway | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Jarocel Pty Ltd (FSCA (South Africa)) | No compensation scheme |
| PU Prime | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | PU Prime Limited (FSA Seychelles) | No compensation scheme |
| Moneta Markets | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Moneta Markets Ltd (FSA Seychelles) | No compensation scheme |
| ThinkMarkets | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | TF Global Markets (International) Ltd (registered in Seychelles — not authorised by FSA Seychelles) | No compensation scheme |
| CMC Markets | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | No CMC entity serves this country (regulated entities only — CMC has no offshore arm) | No compensation scheme |
| OANDA | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | OANDA Global Markets (BVI) (BVI FSC) | No compensation scheme |
| FOREX.com | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | GAIN Global Markets (Cayman) (CIMA (Cayman)) | No compensation scheme |
| Interactive Brokers | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Interactive Brokers (the entity for your country of residence) (a regulated IB entity — this group onboards to regulated entities in most countries) | A regulated entity with local dispute access; there is no single global compensation fund |
| Admirals | Deposit has real protection | Admirals KE Limited (CMA (Kenya)) | CMA-licensed: client money segregated under CMA rules (Kenya has no compensation fund) |
| BlackBull Markets | Not accepted — don't try workarounds | — | — |
| Fusion Markets | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | Gleneagle Securities Pty Limited (VFSC (Vanuatu)) | No compensation scheme |
| MultiBank Group | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | MEX Atlantic Corporation (CIMA (Cayman)) | No compensation scheme |
| easyMarkets | Deposit with eyes open — offshore entity | EF Worldwide Ltd (BVI FSC (British Virgin Islands)) | No compensation scheme |
Run any pair through the checker for the full five-line verdict, or open a broker page for its whole entity map.
The free check gives you the verdict for one country and one broker. The Deposit Safety Kit gives you the complete walkthroughs: how to verify the entity in the broker's own legal footer, where on your regulator's site the register and the warning lists live, how to read a compensation scheme, and the first-withdrawal test protocol — deposit small, withdraw first, then decide.
Included in the $39 Deposit Safety Kit
Sources: the brokers' own legal and entity pages as published on the check date; the Reserve Bank of India Alert List; the UK Financial Conduct Authority Register and Warning List; the Australian Securities and Investments Commission registers; Bappebti (Indonesia) licensed and blocked lists; CVM (Brazil) declaratory acts; the FSCA (South Africa) FSP register; the Capital Markets Authority (Kenya) licensee list; the Securities and Exchange Commission (Philippines) advisory list; SECP/PMEX (Pakistan) membership; SEC Nigeria and Central Bank of Nigeria publications. Affiliate bounty figures from the programs' own published terms (Exness, XM, Plus500, eToro affiliate pages). If a fact has moved since our check date, the regulator's or broker's own publication wins — and write to help@doogex.com so we can correct ours.