How to Build a Trading Platform

Are you looking to build a trading platform that is customized to your personal needs and business requirements? You have come to the right place!

At Artkai, we have extensive experience in developing digital products, including trading platforms, that have proven to be top-performing solutions.

In this article, we will guide you through the essential steps required to build a trading platform, from defining the basics to finalizing the user interface, to ensure that your product is secure and user-friendly.

Understanding the Basics of a Trading Platform

Trading is a popular activity that involves buying and selling financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, and currencies. It is an activity that has been around for centuries and has evolved with the advancement of technology. Today, trading is conducted online through trading platforms.

What is a Trading Platform?

A trading platform is an online software application that provides traders with a platform to conduct financial transactions in real-time by enabling access to financial markets, monitoring investments, and analyzing market trends. Trading platforms are designed to assist users in making informed decisions while placing trades and managing investments.

Trading platforms have become an essential tool for traders of all levels, from beginners to experienced professionals. They offer a wide range of features and functionalities that help traders to make informed decisions and maximize their profits.

Key Features of a Trading Platform

A successful trading platform depends on several important features that must be optimized to meet the customers' needs:

Types of Trading Platforms

There are various types of trading platforms. Some of the most common types are:

Regardless of the type of trading platform, it is important to choose a platform that meets your trading needs and preferences. A good trading platform should be reliable, user-friendly, and provide traders with the necessary tools and features to make informed decisions and manage their investments effectively.

Planning and Designing Your Trading Platform

Building a trading platform that stands out in the market requires careful planning and design. At Artkai, we understand the importance of creating a platform that meets the needs of your target audience while also being secure and compliant. In this article, we will discuss some essential factors to consider when planning and designing your trading platform.

Defining Your Target Audience

Before building a trading platform, it is crucial to understand your target audience and their preferences. Conducting thorough market research is essential for gathering data and analytics and understanding your audience's motivations, demographics, and preferences that influence their decision to trade. By understanding your target audience, you can tailor your platform's features and design to meet their needs and preferences.

For example, if your target audience is primarily millennials, you may want to consider incorporating social trading features that allow users to share their trading strategies and insights with others. Alternatively, if your target audience is more experienced traders, you may want to focus on providing advanced charting and technical analysis tools.

Establishing Your Unique Selling Proposition

To stand out in a crowded market, your trading platform needs a unique selling proposition (USP). Your USP should be a set of features that separate your trading platform from others in the market. These unique features must be tailored to your target audience's preferences and aligned with their trading goals. It is essential to make these features clear to potential customers on the trading platform's homepage, so they can understand how your platform caters to their needs.

For example, if your trading platform offers commission-free trading, this could be a significant selling point for cost-conscious traders. Alternatively, if your platform offers a wide range of asset classes, this could be a significant selling point for traders who want to diversify their portfolios.

Creating a User-Friendly Interface

The user interface is the crucial aspect of a trading platform as it enables users to interact with the platform and access essential features. At Artkai, we prioritize creating a user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate, intuitive, and visually appealing. Our design teams spend ample time understanding your target audience's preferences and designing a customized interface that caters to them specifically.

For example, if your target audience is primarily mobile users, we would design a mobile-first interface that is optimized for smaller screens and touch-based interactions. Alternatively, if your target audience is primarily desktop users, we would design a desktop-first interface that takes advantage of larger screens and keyboard/mouse interactions.

Ensuring Security and Compliance

At Artkai, we know that security and compliance are of utmost importance to your trading platform's success. We ensure your product is built with the latest security protocols to protect your customer's data and financial transactions. Furthermore, we also ensure the trading platform is in line with relevant regulatory requirements.

For example, if your trading platform operates in the European Union, we would ensure that it complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II). Alternatively, if your trading platform operates in the United States, we would ensure that it complies with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regulations.

Overall, planning and designing a successful trading platform requires a deep understanding of your target audience, a unique selling proposition, a user-friendly interface, and robust security and compliance measures. At Artkai, we have extensive experience in designing and developing trading platforms that meet these requirements and stand out in the market. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you build a successful trading platform.

Choosing the Right Technology Stack

When it comes to developing a trading platform, choosing the right technology stack is crucial. At Artkai, we understand the importance of selecting the right tools for the job. We leverage top frontend technologies, including React, Angular, and Vue.js, to build robust and responsive trading applications that enable seamless user experiences.

Our team of experts ensures that the frontend technologies selected support browser compatibility and provide excellent consistency in application behavior across multiple devices and operating systems. We take pride in our ability to develop trading platforms that are not only visually appealing but also highly functional and user-friendly.

Frontend Technologies

React, Angular, and Vue.js are some of the most popular frontend technologies used by developers today. These frameworks allow us to create dynamic and interactive user interfaces that provide a seamless experience for traders. With React, we can build reusable UI components that help us to develop applications quickly and efficiently. Angular, on the other hand, offers a comprehensive set of tools and features that enable us to build complex and scalable applications. Vue.js is another popular frontend technology that we use to create lightweight and flexible applications that can be easily integrated into existing projects.

Our team of frontend developers has extensive experience working with these frameworks and can help you choose the best technology stack for your trading platform. We understand that every project is unique, and we work closely with our clients to ensure that we select the right tools for the job.

Backend Technologies

In addition to frontend technologies, we use backend technologies such as Node.js, Ruby on Rails, and Django to develop a real-time trading platform that delivers live-updated data while providing complete flexibility in integrating multiple trading protocols and APIs.

Node.js is a popular backend technology that allows us to build scalable and efficient applications that can handle high traffic loads. Ruby on Rails is another technology that we use to develop trading platforms that are easy to maintain and update. With Django, we can build complex trading applications that are flexible and customizable.

Our team of backend developers has extensive experience working with these technologies and can help you choose the right technology stack for your trading platform. We understand that selecting the right backend technology is critical for building a successful trading platform, and we work closely with our clients to ensure that we make the right choice.

Database Management Systems

Our experience has shown that picking the right database management system is critical for a successful trading platform. We use database management systems such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB, which help us to develop a secure and efficient platform that can accommodate high and complex data loads.

MySQL is a popular database management system that is widely used in the industry. It is known for its reliability, scalability, and ease of use. PostgreSQL is another popular database management system that we use to develop trading platforms that require high levels of security and data integrity. MongoDB is a NoSQL database management system that we use to develop trading platforms that require high levels of flexibility and scalability.

Our team of database experts has extensive experience working with these database management systems and can help you choose the right one for your trading platform. We understand that selecting the right database management system is critical for building a successful trading platform, and we work closely with our clients to ensure that we make the right choice.

Third-Party APIs and Integrations

We also ensure that third-party APIs and integrations play a crucial role in building a successful trading platform. We work with top providers such as Alpaca, Plaid, and Tradier to integrate trading functionality such as charting, trade history, and data analytics to your trading platform.

Integrating third-party APIs and services can be a complex process, but our team of experts has extensive experience working with these providers and can help you integrate the right functionality into your trading platform. We understand that every trading platform is unique, and we work closely with our clients to ensure that we select the right APIs and integrations for their project.

In conclusion, choosing the right technology stack is critical for building a successful trading platform. At Artkai, we have the expertise and experience to help you select the right tools for the job. Whether you need help with frontend development, backend development, database management, or third-party integrations, we are here to help. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help you build a successful trading platform.

Developing the Core Components of Your Trading Platform

User Registration and Authentication

We develop robust user registration and authentication features that allow traders to create and access their accounts securely. User authentication guarantees secure trading and ensures that no unauthorized persons can enter the trading platform.

Real-Time Market Data and Charting

As a customer-centric digital product development agency with proven track record, we understand how important market data and charting is to your trading platform. We ensure that the platform provides live-updated data feeds, trading charts, timeframes, and analysis tools for traders to track market trends and make informed trades.

Order Management System

Our trading platforms have an integrated order management system that allows traders to view and manage their orders effectively. The order management system allows successful placement and execution of orders based on trading rules.

Risk Management and Compliance Tools

Our trading platforms integrate risk management and compliance tools that ensure that all trading is done within the regulatory framework, and traders have access to accurate risk management tools to manage their exposure to risk.

Portfolio Management and Reporting

We also develop a portfolio management system that enables traders to view, manage and analyze their portfolio performance in real-time. We integrate reporting tools that help traders generate detailed reports for analysis purposes and strategic decision-making.

Testing and Optimizing Your Trading Platform

Functional Testing

At Artkai, we follow an agile development process that ensures comprehensive testing of every aspect of the platform. Our quality assurance team verifies every functionality and feature before releasing it to the market.

Performance Testing

Performance testing is an essential part of the development process. We test the platform to make sure it can withstand high traffic and can perform efficiently under various load conditions.

Security Testing

We perform rigorous security testing to ensure your trading platform is secure, and there are no vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. We test all aspects of security, including user authentication, secure data transmission, compliance, and regulatory requirements.

User Acceptance Testing

User Acceptance Testing is an essential step to ensure that the trading platform meets customer requirements. We run UAT to get feedback from traders, which we use to develop strategies for improving customer experience and satisfaction.

Launching and Marketing Your Trading Platform

Preparing for Launch

Launching a trading platform is a significant milestone that requires a checklist of essential items such as testing, setting up payment gateways, and secure server hosting. At Artkai, we have a tried and tested approach to launching trading platforms to ensure a seamless launch process.

Creating a Marketing Strategy

From our experience, marketing strategy is critical to the success of any trading platform. We work with you to identify the target market, design a content strategy, and social media campaign plan. We also optimize the trading platform to rank higher on leading search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Building a Community and User Base

We also believe in building a community and growing your user base through social media outreach and content marketing. We collaborate with influencers and bloggers, create engaging content, and leverage the power of social media platforms to build a strong user base for your trading platform.

Ongoing Platform Maintenance and Updates

Maintenance and updates are essential to keep the trading platform relevant and competitive. We offer maintenance and support services, including bug fixing, security updates, and upgrades, ensuring that your trading platform is in excellent health.

Our experience in development of trading apps

Huobi – Top-5 crypto trading platforms in Asia

Geography: Asia

Platform: Web

About

Huobi is an established Asian crypto trading platform listed as a top-5 blockchain project ideas in China. The company established itself as an accomplished player in its home region, and opportunities began to emerge beyond the Asian market.

Objectives

Seeing the excellent performance of Huobi in Asia, our client planned to repeat the product’s success and expand one of the best new crypto projects into the European market. Artkai’s main task was to study and understand European users, uncover their pain points and understand how the product can address needs through the UX/UI design.

Challenges

User habits vary across different markets. To design the platform properly, we needed to find out the difference between Asian and European customers at top Web3 crypto projects. This would allow us to ensure successful adoption by the European trading audience. 

Outcomes

Thanks to the insights we received during our extensive UX research, we were able to create a UX/UI design that perfectly addresses Western users’ needs and pain points. It ensured the blockchain development project’s success in the new market and helped create new income streams for our client.

NDA – speculative tokenized trading service

Platform: Web

About

NDA is the world’s first AI-based broker-less financial trading platform, allowing users to trade directly against financial markets without involving an intermediary broker. Several thousand new user accounts are added every month, and the NDA Trading Platform is the fastest growing platform for digital contracts, becoming one of the top web 3.0 blockchain projects 2022.

Objectives

The main goal for our client was to substantially improve the user experience by visually and functionally refreshing the platform. The business goal behind these initiatives was to strengthen the retention of customers and speed up user adoption.

Processes

Outcomes

Artkai came up with a unique, responsive, feature-rich, and easy-to-use web-based trading platform that exceeds customer expectations of the best web3 crypto projects. We made sure the venue was 1) equipped with all the essential trading tools and parameters required for a safe and fraud-free trading experience and 2) easily accessible to the masses thanks to a simple and interactive interface that educates its users from their very first trade.

To see in detail what technology project ideas we incorporated and what came out of it, check out the full NDA case study.

Conclusion

Building a trading platform requires careful planning and execution from ideation to launch and beyond. We hope this step-by-step guide helps you to understand the various aspects of building a successful trading platform. Our experience and expertise shine through in every trading platform we build. We at Artkai are a team of experienced developers who strive to deliver innovative and high-quality digital products.

Let us help you build a trading platform that meets your business requirements and generates exceptional ROI. Contact us now to learn more about our trading platform development services.