 | |
| Company type | Online Foreign Exchange ECN |
|---|---|
| Industry | Brokerage |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founders | Daniel Uslander, Ron Comerchero, Josh Levy |
| Defunct | 2002 |
| Headquarters | New York, NY , US |
Area served | Worldwide |
Matchbook FX was an internet-based electronic communication network ("ECN" or Electronic Trading Network) for trading currency online in the Spot-FX or foreign exchange market. It operated between 1999 and 2002.
Founded in 1999, Matchbook FX (sometimes referenced as "MatchbookFX", "MatchBook FX" or "Match-Book FX") was the world's first [1] [2] open and inclusive internet ECN for Foreign Exchange trading, [3] available to all willing FX trading participants including hedge funds, CTAs, banks, corporations and, uniquely at the time, retail FX traders as well. [4]
Matchbook FX was initially conceived by Daniel Uslander, Ron Comerchero (commodity futures and equities traders) and Josh Levy (former Goldman Sachs FX trader) of the New York-based proprietary FX trading firm Valhalla Forex Inc, as well as Mark S Smith of the Florida-based equities-trading technology firm NexTrade ECN. Several months later, GlobalNetFinancial.com, a NASDAQ-traded financial news and technology firm, bought in as the third major equity partner in the three-way joint venture. [5]
As one of the earliest providers of open-access FX e-trading, [6] Matchbook FX received considerable acclaim for its efforts to instigate change and level the playing field in the insular, closed, clubby, and highly profitable domain of interbank Forex dealing, likely to the chagrin of the major international money center banks. [7]
Matchbook FX was recognized in 2000 as one of Silicon Alley Reporter Magazine's "12 to Watch", its annual listing featuring top internet companies. [8]
Prior to Matchbook FX, most FX trading was transacted mainly by phone or amongst large banks (such as Chase, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Deutsche Bank, or Citibank) in the "interbank market" [9] or by phone between large banks and their multinational corporate clients (such as IBM, Intel, Coca-Cola, etc.) or institutional clients (such as hedge funds, pensions, mutual funds, and other asset managers). [10] [11] [12]
Despite on-line FX "e-trading" being rare at the time, [6] Matchbook FX's ECN approach was considered unique by market participants because of its stated aims to democratize the Foreign Exchange market [13] by empowering all "Buy side" FX participants (including retail traders and institutions) to be, for the first time, Market Makers or Price Makers, instead of only Price Takers. [14] [15]
Matchbook FX functioned as an open limit order-book, also known as a Central Limit Order Book or CLOB – similar to an online exchange – where any participant subscribed to the network could either post its own bids and offers just like a market maker, or immediately trade on any other existing bids and offers for a given currency. This process allowed users to join or better the prevailing prices in the network and thus directly impact (and tighten) the bid–ask spread widths on which they traded. As such, Matchbook FX was considered to be one of the main catalysts that presaged rapid technological advances, [16] sharp compressions in bid/ask spreads, and other sweeping changes into the currency market. [17] [18]
Matchbook FX was also unique in that, in addition to its own user-generated bids and offers, it was the first ever e-FX trading platform to feature dynamic fully automated, executable streaming currency prices (as opposed to Request for Quotation "RFQ" driven prices) contributed directly from a major FX bank (rumored to have been Deutsche Bank). [19] Though such a configuration is now commonplace, it was widely considered by those in the industry to be a technological innovation in 1999. [16]
One of the most important factors that set MatchbookFX apart, however, was its 100% pass-through, "agency" brokerage model, as opposed to the 'market-maker/principal,' or 'counterparty' model which was far more common at that time, and is still. [20] [21] Market-making/principal FX brokers typically assume the opposite position & risk from their clients' trades, which causes an immediate conflict-of-interest; The brokerage gains when the clients lose. These types of FX brokers are sometimes referred to as "bucket-shops" [22] because most customer trades are not immediately offset, but simply accumulated in the broker's 'bucket' and are managed, either actively or passively, at a later time. [23] [24] As an ECN, MatchbookFX never carried market-risk or managed FX positions [20] and thus was never subject to conflicts-of-interest with its users. [20]
Matchbook FX also innovated on the US FX regulatory front, by being the first major US-based FX dealer to voluntarily subject itself to NFA (National Futures Association) regulations, [25] prior even to the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. [6]
At the time of Matchbook FX's launch, a handful of other retail-focused online FX dealers existed, none of which were NFA regulated, notably CMC Markets, GFT Forex and MG Forex but these firms served as Principals/Market-Makers, where clients could only trade on the prices they were quoted, at bid/ask spreads they could not control. [26] [15] [17]
The implosion of the dot-com bubble in 2000 severely hindered Matchbook FX's ability to raise continued operating funds. The stock price of GlobalNetFinancial.com (NASDAQ: GLBN), Matchbook FX's main financial backer, fell from a high of over $70 per share in 2000 to less than $1 per share by the end of 2001. By 2002, Matchbook FX was sold to a consortium of investors who made the decision to discontinue the Matchbook FX brand. [27]
Following Matchbook FX, many technology-driven FX trading operations soon emerged including Currenex, Atriax (now defunct), FXall, Hotspot FX (a Matchbook FX carbon-copy ECN), as well as FXCM, Gain Capital and Saxo Bank which together with CMC Markets ushered in an explosive new era of online retail FX trading. [28] [11]
Day trading is a form of speculation in securities in which a trader buys and sells a financial instrument within the same trading day, so that all positions are closed before the market closes for the trading day to avoid unmanageable risks and negative price gaps between one day's close and the next day's price at the open. Traders who trade in this capacity are generally classified as speculators. Day trading contrasts with the long-term trades underlying buy-and-hold and value investing strategies. Day trading may require fast trade execution, sometimes as fast as milli-seconds in scalping, therefore direct-access day trading software is often needed.
The foreign exchange market is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspects of buying, selling and exchanging currencies at current or determined prices. In terms of trading volume, it is by far the largest market in the world, followed by the credit market.
In finance, a contract for difference (CFD) is a legally binding agreement that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between two parties, typically described as "buyer" and "seller", stipulating that the buyer will pay to the seller the difference between the current value of an asset and its value at contract time. If the closing trade price is higher than the opening price, then the seller will pay the buyer the difference, and that will be the buyer's profit. The opposite is also true. That is, if the current asset price is lower at the exit price than the value at the contract's opening, then the seller, rather than the buyer, will benefit from the difference.
An electronic communication network (ECN) is a type of computerized forum or network that facilitates the trading of financial products outside traditional stock exchanges. An ECN is generally an electronic system that widely disseminates orders entered by market makers to third parties and permits the orders to be executed against in whole or in part. The primary products that are traded on ECNs are stocks and currencies. ECNs are generally passive computer-driven networks that internally match limit orders and charge a very small per share transaction fee.
Foreign exchange fraud is any trading scheme used to defraud traders by convincing them that they can expect to gain a high profit by trading in the foreign exchange market. Currency trading became a common form of fraud in early 2008, according to Michael Dunn of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The Foreign Exchange Dealers Coalition (FXDC) was an alliance of the largest U.S. foreign exchange market dealers, that appears to have closed sometime after 2010. The FXDC partnership was formed in the fall of 2007 to pool industry resources to demonstrate the viability of the forex industry and to ensure fair regulation and oversight that does not hamper freedom of choice, innovation or job creation. The Coalition aimed to provide input to the proposals for major regulation changes at the time, including the required registration for Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers (RFEDs) with the National Futures Association.
Retail foreign exchange trading is a small segment of the larger foreign exchange market where individuals speculate on the exchange rate between different currencies. This segment has developed with the advent of dedicated electronic trading platforms and the internet, which allows individuals to access the global currency markets. As of 2016, it was reported that retail foreign exchange trading represented 5.5% of the whole foreign exchange market.
Forex autotrading is a slang term for algorithmic trading on the foreign exchange market, wherein trades are executed by a computer system based on a trading strategy implemented as a program run by the computer system.
MetaTrader 4, also known as MT4, is an electronic trading platform widely used by online retail foreign exchange speculative traders. It was developed by MetaQuotes Software and released in 2005. The software is licensed to foreign exchange brokers who provide the software to their clients. The software consists of both a client and server component. The server component is run by the broker and the client software is provided to the broker's customers, who use it to see live streaming prices and charts, to place orders, and to manage their accounts.
MT4 ECN Bridge is a technology that allows a user to access the interbank foreign exchange market through the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) electronic trading platform. MT4 was designed to allow trading between a broker and its clients, so it did not provide for passing orders through to wholesale forex market via electronic communication networks (ECNs). In response, a number of third-party software companies developed Straight-through processing bridging software to allow the MT4 server to pass orders placed by clients directly to an ECN and feed trade confirmations back automatically.
FXCM, also known as Forex Capital Markets, is a retail foreign exchange broker for trading on the foreign exchange market. FXCM allows people to speculate on the foreign exchange market and provides trading in contract for difference (CFDs) on major indices and commodities such as gold and crude oil. It is based in London.
Currensee was a financial services company based in Boston to serve as a social network for foreign exchange traders. The company provided mirror trading services to its clients that allowed them to make trading decisions based on other traders actions. The company was acquired by Oanda in 2013, which decided to close down the service a year later in October 2014.
GAIN Capital was a US-based provider of online trading services, headquartered in Bedminster, New Jersey until it was acquired by StoneX Group in 2020. The company provided market access and trade execution services in foreign exchange, contracts for difference (CFDs) and exchange-based products to retail and institutional investors. Trading was provided via one of two electronic trading platforms, its own proprietary FOREXTrader PRO later renamed as StoneX Pro and MetaTrader 4. GAIN Capital allowed retail and institutional clients to speculate on global foreign exchange markets in what is known as ‘margin forex trading’.
CitiFX Pro was Citigroup's online foreign exchange market trading platform for retail and small institutional traders including commodity trading advisors, broker-dealers, money managers, and hedge funds. CitiFX Pro provided the service from 2009 until it discontinued offering services to clients in June 2015 and sold all U.S. accounts to FXCM, and international accounts to Saxo Bank.
FXOpen is a retail and institutional forex broker offering online trading services via MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and TickTrader trading platforms. It provides access to the electronic communication network (ECN) to trade currency, commodity, indices and stock CFDs. FXOpen companies operate in Australia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the United Kingdom and Cyprus and have representatives in a number of other countries.
Interactive Brokers, Inc. (IB), headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, is an American multinational brokerage firm. It operates the largest electronic trading platform in the United States by number of daily average revenue trades - in 2023, it processed an average of 3 million trades per trading day. The company brokers stocks, options, futures contracts, EFPs, futures options, forex, bonds, mutual funds, and cryptocurrency. It offers omnibus and non-disclosed broker accounts and provides clearing services to 200 introducing brokers worldwide. It has operations in 34 countries and 27 currencies and has 2.6 million institutional and individual brokerage customers, with total customer equity of $426 billion as of December 31, 2023.
IronFX Online Forex Broker is an online CFD broker operating globally as a trade name of IronFX Group of Companies, with headquarters in Limassol, Cyprus. The multi-asset broker provides trading instruments and services to retail and institutional clients in 180 countries.
Integral Forex, a branch of Integral Securities, is a Turkey-based financial trading services provider specialized in foreign exchange (forex) and contract for difference (CFD) brokerage.
Fondex Global is a Cyprus registered online brokerage that provides financial trading in contracts for difference (CFD) on the currency markets, shares, ETFs, major indices and commodities such as precious metals; gold and crude oil.
Forex Club is a group of companies based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines participating in the retail market of Contract for difference, Foreign Exchange Trading. The company uses the Libertex web and mobile trading platform in addition to MT4 and its structure includes financial and educational companies.
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