IC Markets are an ECN broker and have been around for a good while if you want ones that have stood the test of time. 13 year now I think
Looking for a ECN broke to go live with, ideally with commission cost of 3$ per lot or lower as most brokers seem to be charging over this.
My Trading system only involved trading in EURUSD, so broker offering lowest spreads in this pair would be a advantage.
I don’t think there is any particular way to identify a broker whether that is a market maker or ECN; normally with ECN brokers you get lower spreads and better execution. Though almost every broker claims to be an ECN but you need to be careful while choosing a broker. You can also test some brokers by opening a demo or live account with small capital and compare their spreads you will get an idea. There are many good brokers around, you can check fxview, icm, pepper all ECN.
The term “ECN broker” is a marketing phrase used by the industry.
All retail FX brokers are market makers in the sense that they “make the market” for you and you have to trade the price they give you.
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They are not an ECN broker.
They were instructed by the regulator to change the name of their account types because it was misrepresenting their business model. They also clearly state in the fine print that they are the issuer of CFD’s. It is just the price that comes from an external source, like all FX brokers.
What does it actually mean to trade with an ECN broker anyway?
It is supposed to mean that they will pass your orders on to a “liquidity provider”. However, a liquidity provider is just another term given to what is essentially a market maker. So an “ECN broker” would just acts as a middle man between a trader and a market maker.
if you want to trade forex, you cant bypass or avoid the market makers.
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It’s meant to make a retail FX dealer or CFD issuer sound fancy.
Even though forex brokers aren’t really “brokers”, using the phrase “ECN broker” makes it sound las if the forex broker gives its customers access to an ECN(s) and allows them to trade directly with other participants of that ECN(s).
But that’s false. Retail traders can’t trade on institutional ECNs. They don’t have the necessary credit relationships and they trade too small.
Even retail FX brokers can’t even access these ECNs by themselves without the help of a prime broker (PB) or prime of prime (PoP).
When trading on an ECN, you have access to the DOM and can view multiple levels of both sides of the order book. You can also “split the spread”, where you can enter a limit order that is priced within the spread between the bid price and ask price.
Your retail forex broker is not acting as an intermediary or agent who is simply matching buy and sell orders made by traders (which is what happens on an ECN).
When you buy, your forex broker sells to you. And vice versa. It doesn’t match your trade with another counterparty. It is your counterparty.
Your order is not “passed directly” to the ECN and out into the “market”.
Now when a broker uses the phrase “ECN broker”, what this usually means is that it’s receiving price quotes from one or more liquidity providers (LPs).
And then the bid and ask quotes are cherry-picked (based on the broker’s pricing engine rules) and shown on your trading platform.
How many LPs exactly? You’d have to ask your broker.
If you decide to “lift the ask” (buy), your broker will still take the opposite side of your trade.
You want to go long 1,000 units of EUR/USD? Your “broker” (who is really a dealer or CFD issuer) will fill your order and will now be short 1,000 units of EUR/USD.
Your broker is always your market maker. In this case, it is “making a market” for you (quoting you bid and ask prices) based on prices from third-party sources, but in the end, you can still only trade with it (and nobody else).
As your counterparty, it’s now exposed itself to risk. If you win, it will lose, so it can (choose to) protect itself partially or entirely by hedging.
(While the primary purpose of hedging is to mitigate losses, it can also be used to generate profits for the broker.)
So when it comes to order execution, the broker can decide to pre-hedge, post-hedge, or internalize this risk (assuming the risk can’t be offset by another customer’s order).
That said, assuming it wants to hedge, most retail FX trade sizes are small and don’t reach 100K units so the “broker” has to aggregate these “tiny” trades before it can hedge to an LP on a volume-weighted average price (VWAP) basis.
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I agree ECN brokers are the best ones to trade with. After hearing a lot of experiences with fake brokers and scam, I was afraid to try Fxview, FxPro, and Axitrader. Doubt comes along! Fortunately I hadn’t fallen into such a situation and can now say they are trustworthy and real. Mostly, I trade with Fxview because I find its trading platform simple and I learned placing orders in a short-time with their interface.
there is also eightcap an australian broker live account mimimum deposit of 100 dollar (or your base currency) they take 3 dollar/ standard lot and 0 to 0.1 spread
These are the few things that I think one can go for while differentiating an ECN brokers with Market makers:
An ECN broker will offer a variable spreads and not fixed spreads.
You can open a demo account and real account with small capital. And you can check the difference in prices and spreads.
An ECN broker would let your account grow, let you take out profits, It becomes very evident beyond a point.
Choose FCA regulated brokers. To comply with regulations they are required to inform traders in their Terms of Service if they will act as a counterparty to certain trades (“make the market”) . Other indirect signs of ECN (including the ones that you mentioned) are unreliable.
I’m trading with FP Markets for over 7 months now, they have a Raw spreads account option which is a True ECN .
From my experience they definitely are reliable, the spreads are really tight through the day, withdrawals have been pretty quick as well.
If you are looking for an ecn broker, I advise trading with my current broker, FP Markets. I trade with their Raw ecn account regulated by ASIC and CYSEC with good spreads and lower slippage.
Yes, with all the aspects that you have mentioned, it makes for an ECN broker. You surely can try Coinexx, I have switched to it since last year. They have tight spreads, really fast trade execution,maximum leverage of 1:500 X, but you can choose, 1:100 X, since that is what you want. The broker provides minimum tradable lot size of 0.1 for cryptos, forex and commodities, but if you trade indices, the minimum lot size is 1. If it works for you, you can give it a shot.
I completely agree with trader-Zayn. There is not way that you can find out if the broker is ECN or market maket maker. The best way to decide is to read the reviews online, see which broker has good reputation. There are many brokers who show low spreads on their platform but when you place a trade, you experience slippage. I personally faced this and that is why I can say this with confidence. There are many brokers like Coinexx, Oanda,IC markets with whom you won’t face such an issue.
The above mentioned points surely make it to the list of an ECN broker along with quick trade execution and low commission structure. You can try Saxo Markets, IC Markets and Coinexx, all of them are in every way pure ECN broker and additionally they also have some affiliate programmes, which are a good source to earn money as well.
There is also a little-known broker RannForex, but the company offers very favorable trading conditions. Only one minus - no regulation 
There continues to be a lot of misinformation on this thread.
An updated Broker 101 course has been released and I recommend new traders start with the firstt lesson, How to Choose a Forex Broker.
I have heard Oanda is really good, however Oanda is not a true ECN broker.
Folks, there’s no such thing as an “ECN broker”.
I continue to see posts touting the “benefits” of an “ECN broker” that are just wrong.
Please refer to my previous post for more information.
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