The LSE Directory / CFD and forex brokers
NinjaTrader is a Chicago-based futures trading company that combines a proprietary trading platform with its own brokerage and clearing operations. The core product is a desktop application, with companion web and mobile apps, offering customizable charting, order flow visualization, a free simulated-trading mode with live market data, and support for thousands of third-party add-ons. Brokerage and clearing run through NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC, which is registered with the CFTC as a futures commission merchant and is an NFA member, while NinjaTrader, LLC develops the platform itself. Markets covered include stock index, metals, energy, and agricultural futures, in both standard E-mini and smaller Micro contract sizes. The firm's defining differentiator is NinjaScript, an open development framework written in C# that lets traders build and share custom indicators and fully automated strategies; combined with a large third-party add-on ecosystem, this has made NinjaTrader a platform of choice for algorithmic and semi-professional futures traders rather than a simplified retail app. Pricing is built around low intraday margins, as low as $50 on some contracts, and per-Micro-contract commissions starting at $0.09, with no minimum required to use the free simulator. This positions the firm toward active, self-directed futures traders who want to code and test their own strategies, distinct from broker-dealers focused on stocks and options or on purely discretionary trading. NinjaTrader was founded in 2003 by Raymond Deux and introduced NinjaScript in 2005. It became a full futures commission merchant in 2014 after acquiring Chicago-based Mirus Futures, then grew through further acquisitions of TransAct Futures, Infinity Futures, and, in 2020 to 2021, Tradovate for roughly 115 million dollars. On May 1, 2025, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken completed its acquisition of NinjaTrader for 1.5 billion dollars, describing it as the largest deal to date combining traditional finance and crypto; Kraken continues to operate NinjaTrader as a standalone brand within its trading suite, alongside affiliated entities Tradovate and Kraken Derivatives US. NinjaTrader states it serves a community of over two million users and was named Best Futures Broker by BrokerChooser in 2025 and 2026. Since the Kraken acquisition, NinjaTrader Group has pushed into new lines: it launched NinjaTrader Prop and Tradovate Prop platforms for proprietary futures traders, introduced NinjaTrader Connect in March 2026 as infrastructure for fintechs and brokerages to offer regulated futures and prediction markets, and in January 2026 expanded into Europe through Payward Europe Digital Solutions (Cyprus), a CySEC-licensed MiFID investment firm, starting in the Netherlands and Germany with France and Italy planned later in the year.
