Yahoo Japan’s YJFX to wind down social trading service Trade Collector
Underlining the uneven path of social trading services in the Forex industry, YJFX announces pending halt of Trade Collector, about two years after the platform launch.
FinanceFeeds has already noted the uneven path of social trading in the Forex industry – many of these services, like OANDA’s Currensee, for instance, did not make it, while others, like eToro, continue to attract new users and investments.
The latest news in this area comes from Japan, where retail Forex broker YJFX, a subsidiary of Yahoo Japan Corporation (TYO:4689), has just announced its intention to close social trading service Trade Collector. The company does not elaborate on the reasons for the planned closure.
No new trade orders will be accepted after June 10, 2017 and the service will officially close on July 21, 2017. Traders are invited to settle their positions by July 7, 2017.
The life of the service was about two years, given that YJFX announced the opening for Trade Collector registrations in late April 2015.
In its essence, Trade Collector was a platform for social trading that combined the functionalities of automated trading and traditional card games. Users were divided into Card creators and Card players, with the Card creators being those providing information about their trades, whereas Card players being the traders, those following the Card creators. The aim was to make the platform more entertaining but it could be that this gambling image put off investors.
Earlier this month, FinanceFeeds reported about another social trading platform – FxPro’s SuperTrader facing uncertain future, as the broker confirmed it had put the platform “under review”.
Meanwhile, other online trading companies, like Swissquote, continue to pump resources into the development of social networks for traders. Swissquote’s Pulse is currently in Beta and provides a smooth platform for traders to communicate and share their ideas.
Companies like eToro keep pushing into new markets and attract more investments, including ones from major banks like PingAn and Sberbank.
Apparently, talking of the end of social trading is not wise, but some social trading platforms are not fit for survival, be it for their gambling image, the deposit requirements or complex interface.
