3 Reasons behind MT4/5 Removal from App Store!

​On September 24, the widely accepted forex and CFD trading platform among online forex traders, MetaTrader 4 and 5 (commonly known as MT4 and MT5), developed by MetaQuotes, were removed from Apple's App Store​. Soon, the news became a trending story on social media.

Gravest Challenge for MetaQuotes! How the Market Responded

The market gave mixed responses to the breaking news that literally shocked the global financial industry. First of all, as it is impossible to download MT4/5 in iOS, which is a closed loop environment where sideloading an app like downloading its apk file elsewhere with your Android phone is a no-no. So, some people took the advantage and started selling various models of iPhones preinstalled with MT apps. Somebody is even selling an iPhone as high as five thousand dollars, compared to the most expensive model of the recently release iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is only 1,400 dollars.

There are a number of iPhones preinstalled with MTs on eBay open for bidding from around the world, priced from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. It is worth noting, though, we are seeing a lot of bidders on most of the phones for sale. After all, the majority of those who are accustomed to trading on MT in iOS already have the apps, and even if they deleted them for some reason, they can still download them back by going to the Purchase, not to mention that MT apps are still available in Mac OS. More importantly, as mobile trading becomes increasingly popular, Android users are making up half of the market.

Still, many have expressed their concerns, because neither Apple nor MetaQuotes have made any comment on this incident so far (by September 27, 2022).

So Why the Removal? Stories Are Different

Normally, Apple removes apps for two main reasons. First, the app becomes outdated and fails to update for a long time. This April, Apple has actually kicked out a myriad of apps that hadn't been updated for long. Second, lots of complaints. Many believe that the MetaQuotes Incident happened because of the second one.

- Is the Forbes article half of a month ago the reason to everything?

Forbes published an article, "How One Man Lost $1 Million To A Crypto 'Super Scam' Called Pig Butchering", just about half a month before the incident. It tells a story of guy named Cy, who lives in San Francisco, added a "woman" who claimed to be Jessica. As they talked and talked, the guy believed there was something "romantic" goinig on between them. What he had no idea was the Jessica was actually looking at his wallet. As a result, Cy lost his life-time savings, a million dollars.

Because the scam took place on MetaTrader, the Forbes' article led to an increasing complaints from users against MetaTrader. Soon, Adam Dema, Apple's spokesperson announced that Apple is carrying out an investigation on MetaQuotes, and they will take every measure necessary to protect Apple users.

- Regulations in MT are non-existent, hence the software becomes crime-ridden

In the same Forbes' article, the author pointed out that some scammers could somehow rig the prices on MT, fabricate untrue account balance, profits and losses, with the help of illegal plug-ins. Yet, there were no regulations whatsoever carried out by MetaQuotes. However, Fazzaco learned that MetaQuotes had actually tightened their policies on white label and corporate account verification this July.

- Is Russian Government behind MetaQuotes?

Although MetaQuotes is now known as a business registered in Cyprus, but they first developed MT some twenty years ago in Russia, before they launched it under the name of companies registered in the Bahamas, the United States, and Europe. In 2003, Renat Fatkhullin, CEO at MetaQuotes, filed a patent with the Russian Patent and Trademark Office (Rospatent). The MetaTrader trademark, on the other hand, was first registered through the MetaQuotes in the Bahamas before everything settled down in Cyprus. Therefore, people have been suspicious about who the beneficiary really is behind the MT apps. In particular, the Russia-Ukraine war that happened this year escalated the tension between the West and Russia, and some couldn't help but wonder whether are politics behind Apple removing the apps.

No Comments from Both Sides? Where is the Whole Thing Headed?

A lot of traders have engaged themselves in heated discussions after the removal. Some believe that "today it's just apple ,tomorrow ,who knows...uncertanity...all these acts, giving a warning signs of big, economic troubles, depression, whatever in future of FX industry, as it gets affected (the most liquid market)...most people who rely on MT EA's (Expert Advisors) are now in panic..."

On the other hand, some others believe that even though MT is not getting blocked out of the bridging (the backend), which connects to the LPs (as in liquidity providers such as Barclays, UBS, Goldman etc.), it cannot receive orders from clients, in which case the forex market will lose a substantial portion of volume, which is the retail FX, and the resulting impact will be dangerous. And now, the frontend is blocked by Apple, and nobody knows if some other companies will follow in the future.

Alternatives for FX Traders

At present, MT4/5 take up 79% of the market share of forex and CFD trading. It's safe to say that most traders are trading with the technology of MetaQuotes. So, at this critical moment for MT apps and nobody knows what will happen next, are there alternatives for traders? As a matter of fact, apps like TradingView, cTrader and TradeStation are pretty mature trading platforms for forex and CFD. As fintech evolves, it is foreseeable that more and more brokers will start to develop their proprietary technologies.

Fazzaco will, too, keep a close eye on this unprecedented incident between MetaQuotes and Apple.