Is ExpertOption Halal or Haram? (2025)

Paul Titus
Barry Edwards
Last Updated on March 3, 2025

ExpertOption is a popular binary options trading platform, where users predict whether the price of an asset will go up or down within a short time frame. However, as a Muslim trader, you probably ask: is trading on ExpertOption halal? The short answer is: 

ExpertOption is considered haram because it only offers binary options trading, which involves excessive speculation (gharar) and resembles gambling (maysir), both of which are strictly forbidden in Islam.

If you are a Muslim trader who wants to trade on a Sharia-compliant platform ExpertOption is not a recommended broker for you. Instead, we suggest you check out the Islamic account of Olymptrade, which provides a similar trading experience to ExpertOption, but it offers more Shariah-compliant trading options, and it eliminates interest rates and swap charges.

Olymptrade Islamic account landing page screenshot

In this article, we will explain the basic principles of the Sharia law for online trading, why trading on ExpertOption is considered haram, and how you should trade on Shariah-compliant platforms, like Olymptrade.

Sharia Law About Online Trading: What Makes Trading Halal or Haram?

Before we explain why we consider ExpertOption haram, we briefly outline trading activities that are considered haram by key Islamic rulings, including Resolution No. 63 of the Islamic Fiqh Council and Fatwa No. 28/DSN-MUI/III/2002 by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI):

  • Gharar: Gharar refers to uncertainty or ambiguity, which means that trading activities involving significant risk and unpredictability are considered haram. Examples of gharar are binary options, highly volatile cryptocurrencies, or trading with high leverage.
  • Maysir: Maysir means gambling in Sharia Law, so trading activities that are more like gambling than a low-risk investment are strictly prohibited in Islam. 
  • Riba: Riba refers to the charging or earning high interest, which is considered haram. In online trading, swap fees on open positions are a typical example of riba.
  • Lack of actual ownership of assets: If you invest in derivatives or trades without owning the underlying assets, most Mulsim scholars will consider it haram (with a few exceptions).
  • Investing in companies whose practices, services, and products don’t align with Islam is considered haram. 

Now that you understand the basic principles for halal trading, let’s analyze the Sharia-compliance of ExpertOption.

Why is ExpertOption Considered Haram?

ExpertOpiton is considered haram (not Sharia-compliant) because it is a high-risk, speculative trading platform that violates several key principles of Islamic finance like gharar, maysir, and lack of asset ownership. Let’s analyze the features of ExpertOption to better understand why it’s not suitable for Muslim traders:

1. ExpertOption Only Offers Binary Options 

ExpertOption is solely a binary options trading platform, which is inherently speculative (gharar) and resembles gambling (maysir), as you essentially bet on price movements in a very short time frame (usually 1-5 minutes), in an all-or-nothing style.

ExpertOption trading platform

Trading in such short timeframes increases volatility, making the outcome of the trade more unpredictable and risky.

Additionally, you don’t own the underlying assets, which violates the principles of real economic participation required by Shariah law. ExpertOption only offers binary options (also known as fixed-time trading) and no Islamic trading accounts, so there is no way to use ExpertOption in a halal way.

2. The Payout Structure of ExpertOption Violates Fair Risk Trading

ExpertOption uses a fixed, unfair payout structure, where traders lose 100% of their investment for wrong predictions but would only win 10 % - 84% for correct predictions. For example, if you invest $100 and predict the price of a currency pair will rise within one minute, ExpertOption typically gives a fixed payout of 80% if your prediction is correct. Your profit remains capped at $80, even if the price increases significantly. However, you lose the entire $100, even if your prediction is just barely wrong.

ExpertOption's unfair payout structure

Additionally, ExpertOption doesn’t specifically declare how it calculates payouts or sets the pricing for trades, it simply states that” the profitability of an asset is influenced by its market popularity”, which basically justifies any random payout rate ExpertOption sets.

ExpertOption Asset profitability

For example, you may see a payout rate of 80% for a specific asset, but you don’t know how this payout percentage is determined or whether it reflects market conditions accurately.

This unfair pricing system creates an imbalance in risk and reward (which is considered gharar), where traders bear most of the financial risk while ExpertOption benefits regardless of the outcome.

3. ExpertOption is Unregulated

ExpertOption is an unregulated offshore trading platform, which enables it to use unfair business practices, like:

  • Manipulating prices or payouts.
  • Delaying or refusing withdrawals.
  • Unfair deposit bonuses and withdrawal request terms.

ExpertOption is illegal in many countries like India and is known for strict withdrawal verifications, denying withdrawal requests, and offering misleading deposit bonus terms, which violates the Sharia principle of fair risk-sharing and transparent agreements to avoid gharar (uncertainty).

Halal Alternatives to ExpertOption

If you are a Muslim trader looking for a halal alternative to ExpertOption, we suggest you try Olymptrade; here’s why:

  • Olymptrade is a very similar platform to ExpertOption as it offers the same simple, very visual trading platform and exciting features like trading signals, pre-made strategies, etc but Olymptrade is a regulated broker and offers multiple trading types besides fixed-time trading so you will find options for halal trading.
  • Olymptrade offers an Islamic Trading Account, with no Riba (Interest), zero overnight swap fees, spreads, and transparent trading terms.
  • Olymptrade offers advanced trading tools to help you make data-driven trading decisions, especially risk management features like negative balance protection.
Olymptrade islamic trading platform

Olymptrade offers a similarly simple trading platform to ExpertOption

Read our article to learn more about how to use Olymptrade in a halal way.

Conclusion

We don’t recommend ExpertOption for Muslim traders because there is no real way to use it in a halal way. ExpertOption is not only haram because it only offers binary options trading, (which is considered haram by most Islamic authorities), but also because of its lack of transparency, regulation, and compliance with Sharia principles like fair risk sharing and asset ownership.


If you are looking for a beginner-friendly, simple, and exciting trading platform, we recommend you to try Olymptrade, because it offers similar features to ExpertOption, but it also offers halal trading practices, such as real stocks, commodities, or forex trading through Islamic accounts.