Online Broker Demo Account | ECN Trading Platforms | About |
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Dukascopy | MT4, JForex ECN Trading Platforms | Dukascopy Bank offers demo accounts for both MT4 and MT5 and provides trading through its SWFX ECN About |
Vantage | MT4, MT5 ECN Trading Platforms | Vantage provides demo trading accounts for MT4 and MT5 and offers ECN trading accounts for live trading About |
Pepperstone | MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView ECN Trading Platforms | Pepperstone offers a wide range of trading platforms for demo and live trading, with rapid order processing and no dealing desk trading conditions About |
IC Markets | MT4, MT5, cTrader ECN Trading Platforms | IC Markets offers demo and live trading on MT4, MT5 and cTrader, and provides rapid order processing and no dealing desk trading on live accounts About |
Titan FX | MT4, MT5 ECN Trading Platforms | Titan FX offers demo trading on MT4 and MT5 and provides ECN trading infrastructure to support a wide range of trading styles About |
ECN Demo Account - ECN Forex Trading
The brokers in the table are ECN brokers which offer demo trading accounts. A demo trading account can be a way for the trader to familiarise themselves with an ECN broker, without having to risk real money. ECN brokers have typically offered a core group of markets the bulk of which are Forex pairs (although they also provide other CFD markets which in some cases can expand significantly the number of markets available to trade). ECN brokers offer a trading experience which supports the various approaches traders may make to trade the complex Foreign Exchange Market.
ECN brokers provide platforms which allow the trader to trade with both automated and non-automated trading. Forex traders use both approaches (though some may stick with or or focus on one). Non-automated Forex trading is trading where the trader executes their own trades. However their trading method may be based on following a rule or set of rules, for example entering, managing and exiting a trade based around a technical indicator signal. Rules may have the effect of making the Forex market more tradable, however the more a trader follows a rule, the more they are bound by the consequences of those rules. Which is to say, that the market may not conform to the rules being applied.
The human trader even if they follow rules, has the capacity to exercise discretion, for example by changing a trade in any way they wish. This said, because signals do not predict market behaviour and because the Forex market evidences complex moves consisting of retracmements and changes in momentum, then deviating from a rule because of current market conditions may not be the best strategy either.
These situations which occur in trading may push the trader to a further stage of trading, which is to let computer programs execute trades on their behalf. A clear potential drawback to this is that these programs will tirelessly follow the rules and therefore can produce losses or drawdown which can occur very rapidly with higher frequency trades. Thus the trader does not have to use robots to trade the Forex market, but they may wish to do so. Other reasons for using robots is that the Forex market when open operates continuously and the trader may not be available to trade and that higher frequency trading (or even lower frequency trading) may be hard or even impossible for the human trader.
The word robot itself may evoke images of machines, but they are simply computer programs which can execute trades in the trader's account in accordance with their programmed algorithm. The trader can download robots or can build them, which generally means using a programming language, though some platforms may have an interface which allows robots to be constructed without programming.
The advantage of robots is potentially in terms of speed and accuracy. ECN brokers offer an environment which aims to support this potential advantage, in that they offer high speed order execution and non-dealing desk intervention in the order process. Thus a wide range of styles can be possible, which makes an ECN broker a potential choice for traders who use non-automated trading but trade styles which may not be supported at other brokers.
The term ECN refers to the connection between the broker and liquidity providers, contrasting with a dealing desk broker where the trader trades directly with the broker. ECN STP brokers use STP which is an electronic algorithm for matching orders through the broker. Thus an ECN broker consists of the clients, the technology to route orders as efficiently as possible, the ECN connecting the broker with other market participants and algorithms to process orders. The trader does not deal with these processes directly, though, but trade through the online trading platform.
A trading platform offered by ECN brokers is MetaTrader 4 (MT4). MT4 supports the use of online trading robots called Expert Advisors (EAs). MT4 has a wider network which allows the trader to download EAs and technical indicators and other tools and information. MT4 has a successor platform, MetaTrader 5 (MT5) which offers a number of enhancements on MT4, but also includes EAs, though written in a different programming language. cTrader and JForex are platforms which are designed for ECN trading, but also have a user friendly interface which 'non-automated' traders may appreciate. Trading with robots can be seen as an advanced strategy and the trader may wish to work out their approaches and strategies before tying to automate them, or using methods designed by others. One way to do this, is to use a demo account.