Scott BlackFX trading is incredibly popular in Japan and a significant volume of trading on the global forex market can be attributed to Japanese traders.
In fact, USD/JPY is one of the most actively traded currency pairs in the world. With a highly developed economy and a robust financial system, FX trading has been popular in the country for decades.
However, it is essential to recognize that forex trading carries inherent risks. The forex market can be highly volatile and traders can experience substantial losses without proper risk management. Despite these risks, many traders continue to participate actively in forex trading, leveraging platforms like MetaTrader 4 (MT4). Even as trading platforms continued to evolve and MT5 and cTrader released to the public, the usage of the older MetaTrader 4, which was released in 2005, has not reduced at the expected rate.
In fact, many forex traders and brokerage firms alike, still use MT4 as their primary forex trading software, despite the advanced depth of market features and multi-asset support offered by MetaTrader 5.
In order to understand why so many traders still prefer MT4 to this day, we must overview the features of MT4 and what advantages sticking with the software may have for modern traders and brokerages.
Major features of MetaTrader 4
As we have already established, MetaTrader 4 is one of the most popular forex trading platforms in the world, with millions of concurrent users and a loyal user-base.
MT4 was developed and published by MetaQuotes in 2005 and has since become a mainstay among forex and CFD traders globally.
A second rendition of the platform, MetaTrader 5, was released to the public in 2010, but has failed to dislodge MT4, which still remains the top choice to this day.
Below we can look at several key features of MeatTrader 4 and why they have become so popular.
Simple and user-friendly interface
The interface offered by MetaTrader 4 is simplistic and easy to process for any modern trading desktop, which is characteristic of older platforms released in the early 2000s.
Finding the required technical indicators and features of the platform is quite easy and does not require much effort, which makes for a more user-friendly experience overall.
Furthermore, experienced forex traders in Japan favor the legacy platform they are used to, as it does not require them to become acquainted with an entirely new platform that may not offer much in terms of new features and technical tools to affect their returns.
Advanced charting and technical analysis tools
MT4 users can access dozens of technical analysis tools and indicators they can plot on a price chart to generate overbought and oversold, as well as buy and sell signals for their strategies.
The incomplete list of indicators includes the likes of:
- Exponential moving averages (EMAS)
- The Relative Strength Index (RSI)
- Bollinger Bands
- Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD)
- Fibonacci retracements
These technical indicators are the core features of the trading experience using MT4 and are completely free to use.
Alternatively, traders can code their own custom indicators, using moving averages of different periods than normally used with the indicators mentioned above.
Expert Advisors and backtesting
MT4 also gives traders automated and algorithmic trading capabilities using the Expert Advisors feature, which can also be used to backtest existing strategies to see how they would have performed during past market conditions.
MT4 uses the MQL4 programming language, which allows traders to create their own custom bots and deploy them in algorithmic trading strategies.
Multi-device compatibility
MetaTrader 4 is available as a web-based platform, as well as iOS and Android, which makes it accessible to different demographics of traders in Japan, allowing them to easily access their trading accounts on the go.
The mobile MT4 platform does not compromise on the essential features that have made MetaTrader 4 the most popular forex trading software in Japan and beyond.
Wide broker support
Hundreds of forex brokerage firms all over the world use MT4 as their primary trading platform, despite the existence of MetaTrader 5 and cTrader, which are newer and offer more advanced features.
Due to the popularity of forex trading in Japan, experienced forex traders favor the simplistic design and ease of access provided by MetaTrader 4.
As for beginner traders, the wide acceptance of MT4 among brokers provides a baseline introducing them to various technical features, strategies, backtesting capabilities and more, which reduces the demand for switching platforms for beginners as well.
Conclusion
While newer forex trading platforms, such as MetaTrader 5 and cTrader, are both available to Japanese traders, the simplicity and long-standing experience of MetaTrader 4 has meant that the trader base has chosen to stick with the older rendition of the software.
What further reinforces this choice is the wide support for MT4, which is also the most popular trading platform for brokerage firms. Therefore, traders tend to favor the already familiar interface, layout and features of MetaTrader 4, which is also less taxing on their computers, thanks to its simplistic design and low graphical fidelity.
