FXOpen has been in public beta testing since April 28th on its new MT4 ECN and anyone interested can download it and try it out.
(I know that most of people are completely confused by the MM/STP/ECN/DD/NDD terms so I’ll write a post next week explaining the exact differences). For now, I’ll just explain that an ECN broker is a broker that lets you actually participate in the Forex marketplace and you buy/sell to and from other traders, unlike STP or a Market Maker).
I prepared a much more indepth review lately so this one is no longer relevant. Read the through review here: http://forexmagnates.com/fxopen’s-mt4-ecn-is-much-better-than-originally-thought/.
Hi. I have been using the demo ECN for a few weeks now. Having traded with other ECNs, so far the demo I’ve used looks legit.
To test if an ECN is legit and real, you can try a few things.
1) Try to place an order inside the spread. If spread changes, it is an ECN. It works in the fxopen demo platform.
2) Ask the ECN broker who the counterparty was in a given deal. Most ECN brokers will give you this info. However, I won’t be able to test that until I can open a live account.
3) Open a limit order and you should see it in the lvl II quotes. There is only one level in the fxopen ECN demo but they promised multi level lvl II in live accounts. That test is easy when you see multiple levels.
4) Commission Structure. If there is commission plus interbank spreads, its a good sign that it is an ECN. The spreads in fxopen look very similar to other ECNs like hotspot and dukascopy. You can check that yourself.
I think it’s too early to start being suspicious of them. Fxopen seems to be trying to do the right thing and the reason why you have already mentioned.
MT4 with a true ECN environment is good for marketing.