MT4 Is Still The Industry Standard For Forex Trading – Here Are Five Reasons
MetaQuotes, a Russian software development company, created MetaTrader 4 (MT4) for the internet retail trading market in 2000. They had no idea they were holding a winner on their hands at the moment, especially in the nascent retail FX trading market. Despite the fact that its partner company released the MT5 in 2010, MT4 quickly became the industry standard, recognized by both brokers and traders. It has yet to loosen its monopolistic grip on trading forex platforms.
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There are a number of reasons for the marketplace’s aversion to moving away from this valued product line, the most important of which are its features, third-party support, and the user-friendly qualities that are ingrained in its global client base. MT5 has improved the features, liquidity access, coverage capabilities and more, but many analysts argue that the new MT5 platform is geared to meet the needs of brokers rather than traders. Because MT5 is not backward compatible, MT4 plugins and EAs will not work in the updated environment, which is a major drawback.
It has been interesting to see the reaction of the market. According to the most recent estimates, there are over 700 distinct forex trading platforms available. Many are either updated versions of the MT4 package or bespoke versions aimed at more experienced traders. Despite the fact that MT4 is a closed system with no open-source code, a number of third parties have created add-ons using the MQL4 software coding language to extend or enhance the base MT4 package.
One may think that as the “top dog,” MT4 would suffer when competitors offered far greater solutions, but forex traders who avoid overly intricate platforms that present cluttered screenshots with way too much information have embraced simplicity and intuitive interfaces. A trader doesn’t need anything that takes his attention away from his main purpose, which is to react to market conditions. Information overload causes decision-making paralysis when there are too many features. It is no doubt that MT4 has a few flaws that traders have been willing to ignore, but what are its major selling points? This article will suggest five reasons MT4 is still in demand.
Industry Breadth
One of the major advantages of the software is that it is widely implemented on many different platforms due to its accessibility. Some companies stopped selling the MT4 package to new forex brokers about a year ago, which forced the issue.
“Most of the previous and existing clients of the company were able to get the software for their new brands.. If we quit supporting it completely, there would be a search for a Chinese copy to quickly replace it,” Jun Dambara of Milton Markets told ValueWalk in an interview discussing their new product, Milton Prime.
Some brokers, such as Saxo Bank, have abandoned MT4 in favor of their own private SexoTradeGo and SexoTraderPro series. However, this is one tactic that may have worked for them but not for their competitors.
User Experience
MT4 also gets a big thumbs-up in this case too. It offers a basic user interface that allows you to get started trading straight away. Furthermore, if your broker gets purchased or you switch brokers, you will not have to learn a new system from scratch as long as you have access to MT4. For traders who need more sophistication, there is an active external market with plug-ins, additional indicators, and expert advisors that might assist them.
Charting
MT4’s charting capabilities are considerable, although they have been criticized for not being comprehensive enough. We live in a time when programmers create updates to accomplish all sorts of things that are lovely but not essential. The last thing a trader wants or needs on his screen is clutter or a slew of icons demanding to be toggled to see what cool new functions have been added. There are nine timelines available and a variety of indicators and add-ons, but the overarching concept needs to be kept simple.
Ability to Customize
If one has to choose only one thing that makes MT4 valuable, it is its unrivaled customization. The trader can make almost any screen style, indicator or other object seem and act the way they want it to. Although it lacks some of the more advanced functionality found on proprietary platforms, there is a large community of programmers who have created plug-in solutions to meet your every requirement. There are over 1,700 trading robots and 2,100 technical indicators.
Automated Trading
Some of you might ask about features such as notifications, signal services and expert advisors. Now we come to the part that makes switching to MT5 such a pain. Numerous automated solutions for MT4 have been created. None of the above-mentioned features will easily work on MT5 or any other platform. MetaQuotes vets signal service providers for a month and publishes ongoing findings to eliminate the likelihood of fraud, which is common in the external market.
It should be noted that MT4 has clearly endured the test of time and has a devoted following throughout the world, which is why it is still the industry standard in retail forex trading.
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Source valuewalk
