Bitcoin just the latest in a long line of trading evolution

When we look at the new cryptocurrency market which Bitcoin represents, it’s easy to get caught up with just how enormous game-changer this technology is. What many of us are not aware of, however, is that prior evolution in trading are just as important, and still shape the trading industry as is exists today.

Taking off

What could be considered the first trading app came from the development of the Small Order Execution System (SOES) in 1987. Far from the analogue system now synonymous with older, wasteful, and incredibly inefficient ticker systems, the communication systems helped set the stage for what would later become the dominance of the digital world. While the proto-stages of the internet still existed at this time, just how far this would go in adapting online share trading to the world of the future is still a development commonly overlooked.

Online trading itself didn’t come around until August of 1994, as offered by K. Aufhauser & Company, Inc. While many predicted these systems would suffer an ultimate fate of failure, the increased efficiency and ease of communication made this an almost immediate success. In the first year alone this brokerage managed to bring in 3.5 million traders, an explosive growth which even the most optimistic would not have predicted.

This was followed by the commercialization in the USA the following year, with similar rates of adoption and success bringing in around four million traders.

The Modern Age

The modern age of trading, at least as we currently know it, owes considerably to mobile phones, and what would later become the smartphone revolution. A step up from what was largely a landlocked internet infrastructure, mobile devices evolved into an online trading platform which allowed near instantaneous action from almost anywhere in the world.


"Mobile Device Evolution" (CC BY 2.0) by AdamSelwood

Again surpassing the already incredible growth which came from the previous jumps in technology, the mobile trading market brought in 20 million traders and set the stage for the age of smartphones. When these finally came about, dedicated apps like IG Trading not only helped improve the speed of existing systems, they introduced a level of simplicity which allowed even newer traders to effectively utilise trading tools for themselves.

Trading Today

Today, almost every form of trading possible can be performed quickly, easily, and from the vast majority of smartphone devices. Not only has this become the case in the Western world, but for indeed the entire globe. With almost a third of the world's population now using smartphone devices, the amount of both traditional and new age traders has jumped to over an unprecedented 45 million.


"Bitcoin" (CC BY 2.0) by Hektorej

As cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have now become established as lasting market forces, with countries like Brazil even opening these up to trading, the world is set for another trading boom. Exactly what this will look like and the sheer spread remains to be seen, though if the past is any indication, we should be looking at a market which exceeds the wildest predictions made just a few short decades ago.