Overview
1Broker was a platform that allowed Bitcoin users to participate in real-world markets directly with their Bitcoins. There were no conversions to fiat currencies like U.S. Dollars necessary. 1Broker offered trading on over 40 selected commodity, stock, index and forex markets. You can read our full 1Broker review below.
Domain Seized
In September of 2018, the 1Broker.com domain was seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in accordance with a seizure warrant issued pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981 and 982, for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1956 (money laundering), 15 U.S.C. § 78ff (willfully operating as an unregistered broker/dealer of securities), and 7 U.S.C. § 13 (willfully operating as an unregistered futures commission merchant), upon a probable cause finding by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
The official announcement from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated: “The SEC alleges that a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, acting in an undercover capacity, successfully purchased several security-based swaps on 1Broker’s platform from the U.S. despite not meeting the discretionary investment thresholds required by the federal securities laws.”
In response, the 1Pool Team released the following statement on the homepage of 1Broker.io – a read-only, back-up version of the 1Broker.com domain – with the preface “1Broker is closed”. You can read the full announcement below.
We are taking a break…
In the past years we dedicated ourselves to build innovative products for the cryptocurrency community. Our philosophy was always to offer a fair and transparent service and we hope that everyone who used our platforms had this experience.
When we started in 2012, cryptocurrencies were in an infant stage and looking back, it is hard to believe how times have changed. Especially the last weeks have shown, that a strict regulatory framework for cryptocurrency-related platforms is on the horizon and that it will be enforced across borders.
We will use this opportunity to reposition our products and our company in the coming months and most importantly we’ll take a short break. It is not possible yet to predict if or when our services will be back, but rest assured that we will keep working on crypto-related projects and you will hear from us again.
All of our platforms will remain accessible at least until the end of 2019, but will enter withdraw-only mode starting on October 18th, 2018.
In Liberty,
The 1Pool TeamBanking
On 1Broker you were only able to deposit and withdraw using Bitcoin. Withdrawals were fully automated and happened instantaneously. Deposits required two network confirmations, which usually took between 10-40 minutes.
Customers were encouraged to make sure to double check their deposit and withdraw addresses to prevent any mistakes, since all payments were irreversible. All customer deposits and withdrawals could be found in the “Transaction Log”.
Customer Support
The quickest customer support method available to 1Broker customers was via email. General support, bug reports, and technical questions were to be directed to support@1fox.com, while Business and press inquires were to be directed to office@1fox.com.
Customers could also reach out to the company on their official Twitter and Facebook pages. Although, 1Broker had a Telegram group, customer support was not offered there. Support agents were fluent in both English and German.
History
The name 1Broker came from the format of traditional Bitcoin addresses (public keys). These addresses consist of 26-35 alphanumeric characters and begin with the number 1. Initially, 1Broker also planned to use vanity addresses, which means that a 1Broker deposit address would have looked like this: 1BrokerYstWetqTFn5Au4m4GFg7xJaNVN2. Because of privacy-related problems, the company decided against this implementation, however.
1Broker was operated by 1pool Ltd., a corporation registered in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. 1pool Ltd. also operates 1fox.com, which “took a break” from operations following the same timeline as 1Broker.
1Broker Alternatives
There are a handful of Bitcoin trading platforms in operation today that are comparable to 1Broker. You might find our guides to the best forex sites and best cryptocurrency exchanges to be quite useful. Similar sites include SimpleFX, Oanda, Forex.com, and IG Forex.
Bitcoin Friendly: YES
