Foreword by Tony – Prop Traders Club
My Forex Funds and The Funded Trader are just two examples of how the unregulated nature of the online prop industry can cost traders greatly. Now more than ever it’s important to research the firm you are considering partnering with.
It’s becoming clearer each day that the large players are just as susceptible to collapse as new firms. That’s why Prop Traders Club will be focusing on bringing our members’ content focused on providing insights and expert analysis from industry professionals with years of experience.
This piece was written by Michael Buchbinder, CEO of Tradiac as well as managing partner at Scandinavian Capital Markets. Here Michael explores the effect that the rise of prop firms may have on the MetaTrader platforms.
Michael will be joining me for the first episode of our behind-the-scenes podcast later this month. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified of this dropping!
It is without a doubt that the Metaquotes platforms of MT4 and MT5 are the two most preferred platforms across the retail fx trading industry. Whether you are trading with a brokerage account or trading with a funded trader program, your preferred platform is either MT4 or MT5.
Why are the MT4 / MT5 platforms so popular with traders?
Since 2009, when my career in the FX trading industry began, Metaquotes was always a leader in the space. I remember the company I started with opted to use Act Trader, because they offered us a discount for the first 6 months. Once we began, we saw how difficult it was to attract clients. They expressed interest in doing business with us, but they always wanted to use the MT4. So, we did what any business would do and we got a white label with MT4 to service those clients and we saw our business take off.
I think some of the reasons why the Metaquotes platforms are so successful is that it is a great starter platform for any trader. Clean user interface. Easy to look at the charts and place trades. One click trading features for opening and closing orders. Demo accounts are available for traders to practice with and get used to the functionality. Allows for Expert Advisors (EA’s) to be coded for and used on its platform. Social copying trade services. Used across tons of brokerages so it is easy to go from one brokerage to another with out having to learn how to use new trading platforms. Tons of how to videos on YouTube, making it easy to learn functionalities. Tons of third party EA’s and tools available. Easy to use mobile and web versions to accompany the .exe downloadable platform.
Why could this be the end of Metaquotes dominance?
I’ve seen many generations all choose the Metaquotes platforms. However if Metaquotes chooses to outlaw the funded trader space from using its platforms, I believe this could be the beginning of the end of its dominance across the retail trading industry. Funded trader programs are the future of FX trading. Nothing is going to stop traders from using these offerings vs. a traditional brokerage account. Cost of entry and risk to reward are the major factors in why this method for trading will not fade away. When you could access $100,000 trading capital for only $1,000, vs. risking $100,000 of your own capital in the market, the choice is clear. If traders need to use another trading platform to access funded trader programs, they will not hesitate to ditch MT4/MT5.
After the announcement of funded trader platforms being kicked off of Metaquotes over the last two months, we have seen a rise in the popularity of other trading platforms, such as, cTrader, DX Trade, TradeRevolution, Match Trade and many others. This is the moment these other platforms have been waiting for.
I think Metaquotes went after some funded trader programs, was because they were offering their services to clients from the USA. Which appears to be a no go zone for Metaquotes. If you remember last year when they were banned from the apple store, it had to do with some scams being run in the USA utilizing Metaquotes software. After a lot of working cleaning house with bad actors they were able to get the platform up and running again. I don’t think they want to repeat those mistakes with funded trader programs running a muck. The fact that FTMO continues to operate their own MT4/MT5 and have exited the USA, I think Metaquotes is going to continue servicing the industry. They may come up with their own special funded trader service offering in the future, which would be the smart move, rather than shunning away from this space.
We will continue to see some shake ups in this space as it goes through growing pains. But this business and model is not going anywhere. The Funded Trader space is only just beginning to take off.
Want to read more?
Check out some other guest posts from Michael below:
Traders Seek Fundraising via Funded Trader Programs [Tradiac Series #1]
Risk and Reward with a Tradiac Funded Account vs Own Capital [Tradiac Series #2]
Keep your Progress Scaling to $1,000,000 Funded Account [Tradiac Series #3]
Looking for more information on Tradiac?
Tradiac has a ton to offer traders from a highly rewarding scaling system, excellent trading conditions as well as support from experts who understand the industry.
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