The LSE Directory / Charting platforms
NinjaTrader is a Chicago-based futures trading software and brokerage company founded in 2003 by Raymond Deux. Its flagship product, the desktop platform NinjaTrader 8, provides charting, order-flow analytics, a SuperDOM depth-of-market ladder, market replay, strategy backtesting, and C#-based automation through NinjaScript, alongside web and mobile trading applications. The brokerage arm, NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC, is a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant and National Futures Association member (NFA ID 0309379) offering direct access to CME Group, Eurex, ICE, and Coinbase Derivatives, covering more than 100 futures contracts across stock indexes, currencies, metals, interest rates, energy, agriculture, and cryptocurrency. The company specialises in serving active retail and professional futures traders rather than the broader multi-asset retail brokerage market. Advanced charting, backtesting, and unlimited simulated trading are available free without a funded account, a model that differentiates it from platforms that gate analytics behind a live account. Live trading is monetised through three commission tiers: a free plan at $0.39 per micro contract and $1.29 per standard contract, a $99 monthly plan at $0.29 and $0.99, and a one-time $1,499 lifetime plan at $0.09 and $0.59, with day-trading margins starting at $50 for micro contracts and no minimum account deposit. NinjaTrader also exposes a REST API with WebSocket market-data feeds and supports thousands of third-party indicators and add-ons built by its user community. Founder Raymond Deux remains Executive Chairman; Martin (Marty) Franchi has been CEO since 2018, having joined as CFO in 2014 when NinjaTrader acquired Mirus Futures and launched its brokerage arm, then became COO in 2017. The company expanded through further acquisitions of TransAct Futures and Infinity Futures, and acquired rival platform Tradovate in a deal reported at $115 million. NinjaTrader states it serves more than 2 million users, and Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities magazine named it Best Trading Software for four consecutive years, 2021 through 2024. In March 2025, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced it would acquire NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, a deal it described as the largest ever combining traditional finance and crypto; the acquisition closed on May 2, 2025. NinjaTrader continues to operate as a standalone platform within Kraken's suite of trading applications. The deal gives Kraken use of NinjaTrader's CFTC futures commission merchant license to offer regulated U.S. crypto futures and derivatives, while NinjaTrader gains access to Kraken's regulatory licenses in the U.K., EU, and Australia for international expansion.
