Binary options glossary for Indian traders
Every term you meet on a binary options platform, in a payment screen or in Indian regulation — in one or two plain lines, with a link to the guide that goes deeper.
The three terms that matter most: payout (what a win pays), break-even win rate (what you must win just to stand still — about 54% at an 85% payout) and RBI Alert List (why no Indian regulator stands behind offshore platforms).
All terms
- Binary option
- A contract that pays a fixed amount if your prediction is right — usually "price higher" or "lower" at a set time — and loses the whole stake if it is wrong. More →
- Expiry
- The moment the trade closes and the result is decided. On Quotex it can be as short as a minute or a few seconds. More →
- Payout
- The percentage of your stake paid as profit on a winning trade, for example 85%. Losing trades pay nothing back. More →
- Break-even win rate
- The share of trades you must win just to not lose money. At an 85% payout it is 1 ÷ 1.85 ≈ 54%. More →
- OTC asset
- An asset marked OTC (over the counter) is quoted by the platform's own price feed rather than a public exchange, which is why it trades at weekends. More →
- Demo account
- A practice account funded with virtual money — $10,000 on Quotex. No real money in or out, so no tax or FEMA dimension. More →
- KYC / verification
- Identity checks — photo ID, sometimes proof of address and a selfie. Quotex may request them at its discretion, typically around withdrawals. More →
- Martingale
- Doubling the stake after every loss to win it back. It fails when a losing streak outlasts your balance, which it eventually does. More →
- Purse
- E-wallet jargon for a wallet. In a withdrawal form it is the destination — your wallet ID, account number, UPI ID or crypto address. Never an Aadhaar or PAN number. More →
- Processor spread
- The hidden cost of depositing rupees through a payment intermediary: the exchange rate and fees that make $10 cost more than ₹958. More →
- UTR
- Unique Transaction Reference — the 12-digit number of a UPI or bank transfer. The proof you need if a deposit goes missing. More →
- USDT TRC-20
- The dollar stablecoin Tether sent over the Tron network. The fastest and usually cheapest route in and out of offshore platforms. More →
- RBI Alert List
- The Reserve Bank of India's list of entities not authorised to deal in forex or run forex trading platforms. Quotex is on it. More →
- FEMA
- The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 — the law governing money leaving India. Penalties under it are civil: up to three times the sum involved. More →
- LRS
- The Liberalised Remittance Scheme, which lets residents send up to $250,000 a year abroad for permitted purposes. Margin trading in forex is not one of them. More →
- Section 115BBJ
- The Income Tax Act section that taxes winnings from online games at a flat 30% plus cess, with no set-off for losses. More →
- Section 194BA
- TDS of 30% on online-game winnings deducted by Indian platforms. Offshore platforms deduct nothing, so the liability stays with you. More →
- SEBI
- The Securities and Exchange Board of India, which regulates securities and exchange-traded derivatives. It has no licence category for binary options. More →
- Sachet
- RBI's portal for reporting unauthorised entities and checking which regulator registers whom. More →
- 1930
- India's national cyber crime helpline for reporting online financial fraud, linked to cybercrime.gov.in. More →
- Signal group
- A Telegram or WhatsApp group selling "sure-shot" trade calls. Mostly a funnel for affiliate sign-ups or paid scams. More →
- Bonus turnover
- A condition on deposit bonuses requiring you to trade a multiple of the bonus before it can be withdrawn. More →
- Trading bot
- Software that places trades automatically by rules. Our free open-source bot runs on the demo. More →
On this page
Glossary — frequently asked
What is a binary option?
A contract that pays a fixed amount if your prediction about a price at a set time is right, and loses the whole stake if it is wrong.
What does OTC mean on Quotex?
Over the counter: the asset is quoted by the platform's own price feed rather than a public exchange, which is why OTC assets trade at weekends.
What is a break-even win rate?
The percentage of trades you must win just to avoid losing money. At an 85% payout it is about 54%.
What is purse in Quotex?
E-wallet jargon for a wallet. In a withdrawal form it means the destination account — wallet ID, account number, UPI ID or crypto address. Never enter an Aadhaar or PAN number there.
Related guides
Quotex against the alternatives
A free, open-source bot for Quotex
IaTraderPro Bot is a free Python robot with 13 built-in strategies and a web dashboard. Point it at a demo account, let it run, and read the log — you can also read every line of its source before you run it. Disclosure: the bot is built by Dan Machado, the author of this site.
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Risk warning. Binary options are high-risk speculative products and the majority of retail traders lose money. A payout percentage is the return on a winning trade, not an expected return. Quotex is not authorised by SEBI and appears on the RBI Alert List; Indian residents remitting funds to unauthorised platforms may be exposed under FEMA and have no local dispute resolution. Nothing on this page is investment, legal or tax advice. Consult a SEBI-registered adviser and a chartered accountant before acting. Never trade money you cannot afford to lose entirely.