A MetaTrader4 (MT4) Bridge is software that “connects” a MT4 Server to a Liquidity Provider (LP), allowing trade orders to pass from a FX Broker’s online MT4 Trading platform to the Liquidity Provider that serves as the trading counter-party. Alternatively, if a FX Brokers chooses they can also utilize the bridge to manage their client’s trades internally and take the risk themselves (b-book). These MT4 Bridges contain a lot of different settings and functionality to help FX Brokers help manage their client’s trade orders. Some of the more popular features of these MT4 bridges are:
1. Flexibility in configuring price feeds and markups.
2. Connectivity to multiple Liquidity Providers and APIs simultaneously.
3. Aggregation system used to combine price feeds to show best bid/offer.
4. Complex order routing and dealing desk functionalities.
5. Configuration of automated reports.
While the amount of MT4 bridge providers has greatly increased within the last year, many of these providers don’t offer bridge technology that is inherently stable. Once of the biggest challenges facing FX Brokers in this modern era is having a stable online MT4 trading platform for their clients. For this reason, it’s usually advisable for FX Brokers to do business with bridge providers that have been in the industry for a long time and have proven solutions. The two most popular bridge providers in the retail FX industry are OneZero and PrimeXM.
TakeProfit Technologies is a relatively new entrant with a stable solution challenging the status quo. While most bridge providers charge a per-million volume fee that can quickly add up to a substantial invoice at the end of the month, TakeProfit does not charge a volume fee. Rather, they charge a one-time upfront fee for their bridge technology.
