The Israeli Meir Barak is a professional day trader and the author of The Market Whisperer. In 2002, he founded Tradenet, an online day trading academy. The pioneering firm was founded in Israel but is currently operated by the Cyprus-registered F.S. Tradenet CY Ltd, whose director is Itai-Zwi Loewenstein. He is also a director in the CySEC-regulated broker ColmpexPro. In 2020, the U.S. SEC charged Tradenet with violations of securities laws with its “funded accounts” approach.
Key Data Tradenet
| Trading name | Tradenet |
| Business activity | Trading education |
| Domains | www.tradenet.com www.fstradenet.com www.tradenetcapitalmarkets.com https://payment.fstradenet.com https://payment.tradenetcapitalmarkets.com |
| Legal entities | F.S. Tradenet CY Ltd, Cyprus EduCap Ltd, UK Tradenet Capital Markets Ltd, Israel |
| Jurisdiction | Cyprus |
| Related individuals | Meir Barak, Itai-Zwi Loewenstein |
| Payment facilitator | BridgerPay |
| Related brand | ColmexPro |
The SEC Charges
In October 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Tradenet Capital Markets Ltd. Without admitting or denying the findings in the order, Tradenet consented to a cease-and-desist order and agreed to pay a penalty of $130,000.
Tradenet provided its customers with a simulated “funded account” in which they could “trade” securities. The participants received a portion of the upside, and their downside was capped as their accounts were closed if they fell below predetermined thresholds. The SEC found that the contracts to provide funded trading accounts were security-based swaps under U.S. federal securities laws.
The Funded Accounts
Tradenet offers different education packages with prices ranging from $500 up to $9,000. The business seems to be successful given the payment traffic it produces (see below).
Tradenet has also repeatedly conducted simulated trading challenges in the past, providing the best traders with a $14,000 funded account. 70% of the profits that the traders achieved with these funded accounts could be taken home, and 30% remained at Tradenet. The offer was not valid for US residents according to the SEC order.
The Analysis
The Tradenet website was visited by around 65,000 visitors in the last 28 days before December 19, 2022, of which just under 7,500 visited the payment page (https://payment.fstradenet.com), i.e. placed an order. The payment is processed via BridgerPay for which Tradenet seems to be a good customer. Almost 59% of BridgerPay‘s referral traffic comes from Tradenet. That’s impressive, isn’t it?
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