MT4 Phase-Out Accelerates as More Forex Brokers Move to MT5

MetaTrader 4 is still operating across the forex market, but the list of brokers preparing to leave the platform is getting longer.

The latest confirmed example is FOREX.com Japan, which has notified clients that it plans to discontinue MT4 from October 2026 or later. The broker had already stopped accepting new MT4 accounts in June and introduced MT5 as the newer MetaTrader option.

The move follows a series of similar announcements during 2026. Some brokers have already completed their migration, while others have set final dates for MT4 trading later this year.

Taken together, the changes point to a gradual broker-led retirement of MT4 rather than a single industry-wide shutdown.

Contents

01

FOREX.com Japan Becomes the Latest Broker to Set an MT4 Exit

02

OANDA Securities Set Its Exit Plan Earlier

03

Other Brokers Have Already Started Leaving MT4

04

The MT4 Exit Started Before 2026

05

Why Are Brokers Retiring MT4?

06

Cybersecurity Is Becoming a Bigger Factor

07

MetaQuotes Is Putting New Development Into MT5

08

MT5 Has Taken a Clear Lead in Trading Volume

09

Why MT4 Has Not Disappeared

10

MT4 Is Being Retired Broker by Broker

11

About WikiFX

FOREX.com Japan Becomes the Latest Broker to Set an MT4 Exit

FOREX.com Japan announced that its MT4 service is scheduled to end from October 2026 or later. Once the service closes, existing MT4 access and trading through the platform will no longer be available.

The transition had already started earlier in the year. New MT4 account applications ended on June 20, leaving the platform available only to existing account holders while MT5 became available for new MetaTrader users.

The announcement places FOREX.com Japan among a growing number of forex brokers moving away from MT4 during 2026.

OANDA Securities Set Its Exit Plan Earlier

OANDA Securities announced its MT4 withdrawal in March, months before the latest FOREX.com Japan notice.

The broker stopped accepting new MT4 sub-accounts and set September 25 as the deadline for new MT4 orders. Full service is scheduled to end after trading on November 27. Remaining positions on relevant accounts are due to be moved to MT5 after the shutdown.

OANDA linked the decision to tighter cybersecurity standards and the need to strengthen protection of client assets and personal information.

Its announcement also referred to the age of MT4 and said continuing to meet newer security requirements had become more difficult.

Other Brokers Have Already Started Leaving MT4

The transition is not limited to Japan.

KCM Trade has set October 30 as the end of its MT4 service and has asked clients to prepare for migration to MT5. The broker also cited higher cybersecurity standards when explaining the decision.

CMTrading completed its migration earlier in 2026. MT4 was permanently discontinued on April 4, with existing accounts moved to MT5.

JFX also ended its MT4 service on August 19 and replaced it with MT5. Its case is slightly different because the MetaTrader service was primarily used for charting rather than as the broker's main order-execution platform.

The schedules differ, but the direction is the same: MT5 is increasingly becoming the default MetaTrader platform when brokers decide to retire older infrastructure.

The MT4 Exit Started Before 2026

The shift was already visible before this year.

Rakuten Securities Hong Kong terminated its MT4 trading service in January 2025 and directed clients toward its other trading environment.

Financial filings from Hirose Financial Group also show that several overseas subsidiaries ended MT4 services in 2025. The company said the closures contributed to a reduction in customer account numbers, although the financial impact was limited.

These earlier withdrawals suggest that the current wave is not an isolated 2026 development. What has changed is the number of brokers now attaching firm deadlines to their remaining MT4 services.

Why Are Brokers Retiring MT4?

One reason is simply the age of the platform.

MT4 was launched in 2005 and built around a retail forex market that looked very different from today's multi-asset trading environment.

MetaQuotes no longer sells new MT4 platform licences. On its broker-facing website, the company states that development efforts are focused on MT5 and that further conceptual updates will only be released for the newer platform.

This does not mean that MetaQuotes has completely stopped maintaining MT4.

In March 2026, MetaQuotes released MT4 Build 1460 with security improvements, bug fixes and stability enhancements. Build 1470 followed with additional fixes and stability improvements.

The more accurate distinction is that MT4 remains under maintenance, while major product development has moved to MT5.

For brokers, that difference matters when deciding where to invest in infrastructure for the next several years.

Cybersecurity Is Becoming a Bigger Factor

Security has appeared directly in several of the latest broker announcements.

OANDA Securities pointed to stricter cybersecurity standards when explaining its MT4 withdrawal. KCM Trade made a similar reference, saying that maintaining the older platform under newer security requirements had become increasingly difficult.

This does not establish that MT4 itself has suddenly become unsafe.

Instead, brokers are having to compare an ageing platform architecture with newer internal security requirements, authentication systems and compliance controls.

OANDA, for example, is introducing stronger login controls around its newer trading environment while winding down MT4. The decision therefore forms part of a wider infrastructure change rather than a simple platform replacement.

MetaQuotes Is Putting New Development Into MT5

The difference in development activity between the two platforms has become increasingly visible.

While recent MT4 releases have concentrated mainly on security, bug fixes and stability, MT5 has continued to receive larger feature updates.

During 2026, MetaQuotes added native AI and Model Context Protocol integration to MT5, expanded its AI Assistant and continued updating the Strategy Tester and MetaEditor. The latest builds allow the AI Assistant to retrieve testing reports, launch optimization tasks and work more directly with trading robots.

That does not make every MT5 feature relevant to every forex trader. It does, however, show where the platform developer is concentrating new engineering work.

MT5 Has Taken a Clear Lead in Trading Volume

Broker migration is also showing up in trading-volume data.

MT5 first overtook MT4 in combined MetaTrader retail CFD volume in the first quarter of 2025, when it reached 54.2% compared with 45.8% for MT4.

Its lead widened quickly.

By the third quarter of 2025, MT5 accounted for 62% of combined MT4 and MT5 retail CFD trading volume, leaving MT4 with 38%. The latest Q1 2026 data puts MT5 at about 65%.

These figures measure the split between MT4 and MT5 trading volume, not MT5's share of the entire retail trading-platform market.

Even with that distinction, the trend is difficult to miss. MT5 moved from overtaking MT4 for the first time to handling nearly two-thirds of combined MetaTrader volume within roughly a year.

Regional data also shows MT5 ahead of MT4 in most major markets, although MT4 continues to retain a stronger presence in North America.

Why MT4 Has Not Disappeared

Despite the migration, MT4 still has a large installed base.

One reason is the ecosystem built around the platform over the past two decades. Many traders continue to use Expert Advisors, custom indicators, scripts and templates developed specifically for MQL4.

Moving those systems to MT5 is not always automatic.

OANDA Securities explicitly warns that MT4 EAs, indicators and templates cannot simply be used on MT5. JFX has likewise told users that existing MT4 settings cannot be transferred directly into its MT5 environment.

For discretionary traders, changing platforms may involve little more than learning a new interface.

For traders running years of automated strategies, the migration can require code conversion, testing and rebuilding parts of the existing setup. That helps explain why MT4 has remained in use long after MT5 became available.

MT4 Is Being Retired Broker by Broker

There is still no global date on which MetaTrader 4 will stop working.

Existing brokers can continue operating MT4 infrastructure, and MetaQuotes has continued to issue maintenance updates. The platform therefore cannot yet be described as discontinued across the industry.

The change is happening at another level.

New MT4 licences are no longer sold. New feature development is concentrated on MT5. MT5 has taken the larger share of MetaTrader trading volume, and an increasing number of forex brokers are now closing their remaining MT4 services.

FOREX.com Japan's latest announcement adds another name to that list.

For WikiFX, changes in trading-platform support form part of the evolving information attached to broker profiles. MT4 and MT5 availability can differ by broker, legal entity and region, alongside changes in licences and regulatory status.

MT4 remains active, but the 2026 shutdown schedules show that its position in the forex market is becoming increasingly tied to legacy accounts rather than new platform growth.

About WikiFX

WikiFX is a global forex broker information and verification platform. It provides broker profiles, regulatory records, licence information, trading-platform data, risk alerts and industry updates, covering the entities and infrastructure behind forex and CFD trading services.