Apple removes MetaTrader MT4 & MT5 from App Store

• MT4 & MT5 apps are no longer on the App Store globally.
• The removal of popular trading apps are reportedly linked to the Western sanctions on Russia

Apple appears to have pulled popular trading apps MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, also known as MT4 and MT5, from the App Store overnight in a move possibly linked to the Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Neither Apple nor MetaQuotes has publicly commented on the removal.

Both apps are available on on Google Play, the equivalent for Android phones, as of Saturday 9 PM AEST. The desktop versions also remain unaffected at the moment.

App versions of the popular PC electronic trading platforms  are provided by MetaQuotes Software Corp., a Russian software company that also has registration offshore in Limassol, Cyprus.

There is no publicly accessible information about the beneficial owners of MetaQuotes besides CEO Renat Fatkhullin, who himself has always kept a low profile.

The United States and its allies, particularly the EU have imposed several rafts of sanctions targeting Moscow following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, including, targeting its central bank, major lenders, oligarchs, business elites and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Visa and Mastercard suspended their operations in Russia, bank transfers and financial transactions have been banned.

Russian payment system Mir, which was only supported by a handful of countries outside Russia, was also dealt a heavy blow this week  after suspension by banks in Turkey and Central Asian countries after the U.S. Treasury sent a letter to financial institutions  warning they risked penalties if they maintained commercial ties with sanctioned Russian individuals or businesses, or any entity linked to them.

Apple stopped all product sales and suspended financial services, including Apple Pay in Russia in March.

MT4 was released in Russia in 2005 before MT5  came in 2009 to support more trading instruments. According to a study conducted in September 2019, MetaTrader 4 was still the most popular trading platform in the world at the time.