Is Firstrade Safe and Legit?

We reviewed 20 key factors and found that Firstrade is a legitimate broker, not a scam. Like all brokers, it has some risks. We gave it a safety score of 70/100. This comes from 100+ hours of testing, a careful review of SEC and FINRA records, audited filings, its over 40-year history, and feedback from 22,000+ users.

Written By
Christian Harris

Fact Checked By
Tobias Robinson

Edited By
James Barra

Updated
October 6, 2026

Firstrade Safety Assessment

We used a data-driven process to decide if Firstrade is safe. We rated the broker from 0 to 5 in each category, then added up the scores for a total out of 100.

« Make Full Width »

Firstrade Safety Assessment
Metric	Score (0-5)	Firstrade Details
1. Regulated	5/5	Yes – We confirmed on FINRA’s BrokerCheck that Firstrade Securities Inc. has been an SEC-registered broker-dealer (SEC# 8-34642) and FINRA member (CRD# 16843) since 1985, licensed in 53 US states and territories. There’s no offshore arm. SEC and FINRA oversight earns an A (most trusted) in our regulator banding system.
2. Investor Compensation Schemes	5/5	Yes – SIPC covers up to $500,000, including $250,000 in cash, if the broker fails. Firstrade’s account protection page shows its clearing firm, Apex, adds Lloyd’s-backed cover of up to $37.5 million per customer, but that’s capped at $150 million across everyone the policy covers. Neither pays out for market losses.
3. Age	5/5	Founded in 1985 as First Flushing Securities, with John Liu in charge since April 1985, and online since Firstrade.com launched in 1997. In contrast, scam trading brokerages often disappear within weeks or months.
4. Listed On Stock Exchange	0/5	No – Firstrade Holding Corporation owns 75%+ of the broker, and John Liu owns 50% to 75% of that holding company. It still files an audited balance sheet with the SEC every year.
5. Registered As A Bank	0/5	No – Brokers also operating as banks face very strict capital rules that provide strong financial transparency. Cash swept through Apex’s program sits at FDIC-insured banks, which covers a bank’s failure, not Apex’s.
6. Third-Party User Reviews	3.5/5	We checked both app stores and Trustpilot. The app scores over 4.5/5 from about 9,000 ratings on App Store and around 4.5/5 from roughly 14,000 reviews on Google Play. Trustpilot has just over 50 reviews, mostly one-star, but Firstrade doesn’t invite customers to post there, so complaints dominate.
7. Withdrawal Complaints	4/5	In the reviews we read, unverified users say ACH withdrawals were held until they sent bank statements and ID, and one Trustpilot reviewer says a $50,000 withdrawal sat for nearly two weeks. That matches Firstrade’s funding rules, which demand a voided check, a statement and photo ID to change a linked bank. We found delays, not missing money.
8. Handling Of Complaints	3.5/5	We saw no Firstrade replies to negative Trustpilot reviews, and reviewers say emails went unanswered for weeks. BrokerCheck shows two FINRA arbitration awards against Firstrade, both involving unauthorized-trading claims, and both customers were awarded at least what they claimed: $25,392 in 2008 and $22,156 in 2012. Firms don’t have to report customer claims filed against them, so treat two as a minimum.
9. Regulatory Fines & Infractions	2.5/5	We went through Firstrade’s BrokerCheck record: seven settled US actions since 1999, totalling $438,500, none involving fraud. They were $3,500 in 1999 over missing staff-training plans; $10,000 in 2009 from Nasdaq over locked and crossed quotes; $12,500 in 2009 for late bond-trade reporting; $20,000 in 2011 over electronic record storage; $7,500 in 2011 for 3,067 unrepaired order-audit reports; $300,000 in 2013 for anti-money-laundering controls that missed apparent pre-arranged trades; and $85,000 in 2025 for 33 posts and web pages that didn’t make clear crypto came from an unregistered affiliate. We also found Hong Kong’s SFC added the real Firstrade to its Alert List on 19 May 2025 as unlicensed, yet its international page still listed Hong Kong as a supported region when we checked.
10. Accounts Audited By Big Four	2.5/5	We pulled its latest statement of financial condition from the SEC. A Big Four firm doesn’t audit it; Wei, Wei & Co. does, and as an example, the June 2025 figures showed $76.1 million in assets and $66.4 million in net capital, 265 times the required minimum. Only the balance sheet is public.
11. Hands-On Testing Experience	4/5	Our team opened a real-money account, with documents submitted in about five minutes and same-day activation (full Firstrade review). Placing US stock trades was simple, with quantity, order type and duration on one ticket. The web platform looks dated but did the job, and the app was the stronger of the two, with straightforward navigation and clean watchlists. The stock matcher gave us a usable shortlist when we filtered for stocks under $200 with no dividend. There’s no demo account.
12. Working Support	3.5/5	Phone, fax, email and a help centre, in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. When we tested Firstrade for our full review, support was one of the areas we flagged as needing improvement. The contact page now lists 24/7 phone support, which the app’s update log shows arrived in February 2026, but the pricing page still shows weekday 8am to 6pm hours.
13. Security	5/5	Two-factor login, a list of your 20 most recent devices, and a Security Guarantee refunding eligible unauthorized losses, unless you shared credentials or allowed remote access. We found no reports of a platform-wide breach, but we did find a fake ‘First Trade Securities’ on the SEC’s PAUSE list, added in 2019. Only log in at ‘firstrade.com’.
14. Realistic Marketing	3.5/5	Risk warnings run site-wide, but we spotted some claims that don’t hold up. The margin page calls its rates among the lowest while charging 12.25% under $25,000. The app sells its Fiscal.ai-powered FirstradeGPT as a trading-decision copilot, yet its terms say output shouldn’t guide any investment decision. The About page still cites a 2019 award.
15. Industry Reputation	4/5	Well known among US discount-broker users and Chinese-speaking investors. The awards Firstrade promotes are dated, though: its history page highlights 2005 and 2006 wins from SmartMoney and Kiplinger’s.
16. Segregated Client Accounts	5/5	Yes – Firstrade never holds your money. Its BrokerCheck filing shows Apex Clearing has carried all client cash and securities since 2012, and SEC rules require Apex to keep them apart from its own assets. You rely on Apex as much as Firstrade.
17. Negative Balance Protection (NBP)	2.5/5	No – Firstrade warns that margin trading can lose you more than you deposit. Cash accounts can’t go negative from buying stock, and margin and options both need separate approval. Most brokers don’t offer NBP to retail clients in the US.
18. Number Of Clients	2.5/5	Firstrade doesn’t publish client numbers or assets. The best proxies we found are 500,000+ Android downloads, about 23,000 app ratings, and the 23 registered representatives in two branches named in FINRA’s 2025 order.
19. Transparent Fees	4.5/5	Firstrade’s pricing and special services pages list $0 commissions on stocks, ETFs, options and online mutual funds, $25 outgoing wires and $75 transfers out. The catch we found is cash: idle balances earn a low, sub 1% amount, and its relationship summary says Firstrade shares that interest and takes payment for order flow.
20. Company Transparency	4.5/5	BrokerCheck names Firstrade’s owners and senior officers, and the relationship summary admits past discipline up front. But Firstrade’s website names no executives, its international page still claimed ‘38 years of experience’ during our last checks, and FirstradeGPT runs through Firstrade Technology, LLC, which shares your data with Fiscal.ai’s parent company, Stratosphere Technology, Inc.
Total	70/100

Show Full Table

Professional Opinion

Based on my safety review, I do not consider Firstrade a scam. It has been registered with the SEC and FINRA since 1985. Your assets are held by the clearing firm Apex, not by Firstrade itself. Its audited balance sheet from June 2025 shows net capital 265 times higher than the legal minimum.

Still, its record isn’t perfect, and it has received seven fines since 1999, including an $85,000 fine in 2025 for unclear crypto posts about who was selling the coins.

A warning from Hong Kong regulators, withdrawal holds during ID checks, an ignored Trustpilot page, and an AI copilot whose own terms say not to trust all point to the same issue. Firstrade has a strong custody setup, but its service, marketing, and overseas compliance do not get as much attention.

Firstrade offers commission-free trading for US stocks, ETFs, and options, and SIPC protects your account. I would use Firstrade for investing, not for holding cash, because the relatively low interest rate means you effectively lose money on idle balances.

Firstrade Invest 3.0 Web trading platform

Firstrade Invest 3.0 Web Platform

If you want to use Firstrade, check BrokerCheck and make sure you are on ‘firstrade.com’ before logging in. Link your withdrawal bank account right away, because changing it later will require statements and a photo ID. Try a small withdrawal before moving a large amount.

If you live in Hong Kong, be aware that the SFC says Firstrade is not licensed there, so you may not have the same investor protections.

Safest Alternatives To Firstrade

Firstrade is a legitimate broker. However, some bigger brokers regulated by top authorities, publicly listed, and publishing full audited accounts can be more transparent. You can check our list of the safest brokers for trading and investing.

Before switching brokers, check four things:

The exact company your account will be with
A license you can verify on the regulator’s register (like FINRA’s BrokerCheck)
Membership in a compensation scheme such as SIPC
Who actually holds your cash and securities (many US brokers use a third-party clearing firm, like Firstrade, which uses Apex)