Continuing the robust momentum from the previous year, the Contracts for Difference (CFD) industry has reached a new milestone entering 2026. Despite record-breaking overall trading activity and participation numbers, the market share distribution among major trading platforms remains largely unchanged. According to the latest statistics, global retail monthly trading volume in the first quarter of this year hit a staggering $33.6 trillion. This not only surpassed the previous quarter's $29.8 trillion but also represents a substantial leap compared to the average of $18.2 trillion during the same period in 2024. Meanwhile, the number of active retail FX and CFD accounts outside Japan has broken through the 7.4 million mark, with the continuous influx of new capital constantly pushing the industry ceiling higher.
Amidst market expansion, broker data reveals an interesting phenomenon: the dominance of MetaQuotes platforms remains solid. This quarter, only 16% of retail trading volume flowed to platforms outside the MetaQuotes ecosystem, a proportion even lower than historical peaks. Looking back at the first quarter of 2025, the share of non-MetaQuotes platforms once approached one-third, reaching 27%. However, subsequent competitive landscape analysis shows that while alternative platforms strive to attract new clients, their growth rate often lags behind MT5, and in some periods, underperforms even MT4.
Notably, while external competitors have failed to shake MetaQuotes' overall position, changes within its internal product line warrant attention. Over the past year, MT4's market share has shown a trend of rapid decline. If this trend continues, other platform categories outside the MetaQuotes system are expected to surpass MT4's share this year, which may mark the moment when the trader community begins to truly detach from reliance on MT4. Currently, MT4 is facing substitution pressure, but the entire MetaQuotes system maintains its monopoly status. The real threat comes not from external competing products, but from its own MT5 platform.
