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"cTrader does accept B-book Model". Isn't the platform 100% ECN?
Is cTrader really safe? A Truth is that cTrader do support B-Book model executions too.
There are dozens of trading platforms built for trading Forex(and many other kinds of financial products), and cTrader is one of them.
You may know of the “MetaTrader4”, which is the most popular trading platform in the world though, cTrader has been growing fast and expanding its market recently.
And one of the main advantage of this “cTrader” is the “Electronics Communication Network”(ECN), it is also known as STP(Straight Through Processing).
And do you know what is the benefit provided by the above trading environment for traders? Spotware also specifies the following in the official website.
Dealing desk intervention is impossible, guaranteeing you a level trading field that helps you reach your trading goals.
100% ECN/STP trading environment where no brokers act as a Market Maker to against its traders. That is one great advantage of cTrader.
Although in the PDF released by the developer of cTrader, Spotware, it also specifies that its “Risk Management tools enable to monitor real time exposure as well as A-book and B-book on per account basis” for Forex brokers.
That is strange because the “B-Book” model of Forex brokers hedge clients’ trades by acting as a Market Maker, and they(B-book model Forex brokers) are also known as often manipulating prices & interfering to trades.
If that PDF for Forex brokers says the truth, cTrader trading platform isn’t really ECN platform…or that is what many traders think.
This article is to help you understand the mechanism of cTrader.
cTrader with “Electronic Communication Network”
So what is cTrader first of all?
cTrader is Platform as a Service (PaaS) that uses cloud technology to provide the next generation of FX trading platform offering DMA (Direct Market Access) brokerage capabilities to new, experienced and institutional traders in the FX market.
For many Forex investors, cTrader is another new trading platform and the merit of using it is the Transparency with ECN executions.
Unlike the MetaTrader where sometimes a broker use it to work SCAM on its traders,, the developer of cTrader clearly promotes that “It is impossible to interfere or manipulate prices or trades through cTrader” as the platform doesn’t allow such activities.
It is really a great advantage for traders as many of them are looking for a Fair trading environment where their funds and trades are safe from the Forex broker, and cTrader guarantees that.
A-Book & B-Book
There are mainly two models of Forex brokers.
In case of the A-Book model, the Forex broker doesn’t process clients’ trades internally but send them to its liquidity providers, in another word, to the Forex Markets. And that simply confirms that the broker is offering ECN/STP trading environment, where the broker doesn’t interfere or manipulate prices or trades.
In case of the B-Book model, the Forex broker processes clients’ trades internally, instead of sending the orders to the Markets. Meaning that the broker is counter-ordering(hedging) trades of clients. This creates the conflict of interest between traders and brokers and many Forex brokers which adopt B-Book model, often restrict certain trading activities and also cancel profits of its traders and simply take them away.
*Majority of Forex brokers adopt both A-Book and B-Book models.
And Yes, cTrader does support B-Book execution, but that is not to be confused with Market Maker Model or functionality to support or encourage any kind of manipulation towards traders prices or positions.
B-Book with FIX API from LPs
So is the cTrader trustworthy or not?
The answer is:
cTrader accepting B-Book model is not a scam or a trick and B-Book is an honest business practice when the broker has no opportunity to influence the market as is the case with cTrader.
B-Book simply means to warehouse the trades and balance them internally instead of sending them into the market, and Forex Brokers may want to do this to save on execution costs, after all, they have to pay execution fees when orders are sent into the market.
In fact cTrader can only receive genuine quotes via FIX API from liquidity providers, so all your trades will be executed at the pure price without any manipulations or interference from your Forex broker anyway.
And that may answer the question if you have been wondering the “Transparency” and “Fairness” of cTrader Trading Platform.
Hope this article helped your knowledge.
