FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that Retail FX and CFDs broker Eightcap has informed its prop trading clients that it will be halting brokerage services for all prop trading firms, as of the end of February.

The move by Eightcap comes as Cyprus based trading platform firm MetaQuotes, developer of the popular MetaTrader platform family, has informed several of its brokerage clients that they might have their MT4/MT5 licenses revoked if they don’t cut off prop firms.

Behind the move seems to be an initiative by MetaQuotes to more closely control how (and by whom) MT4 and MT5 are used, in particular trying to ensure that it is only used by brokers (and those who introduce clients and trading activity to brokers such as prop firms) who execute trades for clients in jurisdictions where they are properly licensed to do so.

Many of the prop firms have been taking on clients from the US, where brokers (or those providing introducing-to-broker services) need to be duly licensed by US regulator bodies.

Prop trading firms which Eightcap has provided services to include Blue Guardian, Funded Trading Plus, Glow Node, Lark Funding, Skilled Funded Traders, Smart Prop Trader, The Funded Trader, and UWM.

The move by Eightcap comes as other brokers, such as BlackBull Markets and Purple Trading, effectively already halted the operations of their respective prop trading clients Funding Pips and Funded Engineer. Another prop firm popular with the retail trading crowd, True Forex Funds, has also been forced to halt operations and is looking to restart next week.

In response, the prop firms are scrambling to add new brokerage relationships, with brokers that operate with platforms other than MT4 and MT5. A number have made mention to their clients of a planned switch to brokers that run cTrader.

Matt L., CEO of Lark Funding, posted the following tweet today on X (formerly Twitter), after earlier (on February 2) posting that “Lark is having no issue with MetaTrader. It’s business as usual and if US clients get restricted, as always we’ll find an alternative,”

Eightcap informed us this morning that as of February 29th, they’ll no longer be offering their services to props. But not to worry, ThinkMarkets has reassured us several times over the last few weeks that operations on their end and their relationship with MetaQuotes is solid. But of course, we’re not going to rely on just one broker. We’re already in discussions with other brokers to see who we can work with and provide additional options to traders. The good news is that we have two weeks to finalize the migration and do so in a way that is seamless for traders currently with Eightcap. As of now, Eightcap traders can continue trading their evaluation. Once we have more details on the migration, we will post announcements and updates along the way. You won’t be left in the dark. This is all a part of a quickly moving industry, and while it might be a headache, rest assured we’re working overtime to ensure everything runs smoothly. I appreciate all of your support!

UWM Trading tweeted to its clients over the past 24 hours:

We will be introducing many new platforms to trade on!… CTrader, DXTrade, it’s all coming at UWM. Of course the usual ones as-well.

Eightcap (at website eightcap.com) is a Melbourne based online brokerage brand, which operates licensed subsidiaries in Australia, Cyprus (for the EU), and the UK, as well as offshore operations domiciled in the Bahamas and Seychelles. We believe that they service their prop trading clients via their offshore operations. Eightcap is controlled by Australian businessmen Joel Murphy and Joseph Jeffriess.