A trader with a live account at a broker and a challenge account at a prop firm already has two sign-ins in eTrader. Each is a trading account: a login and password for one firm, on that firm's server. For trading, that model is exactly right. It stops working the moment the trader wants to own something that is not tied to a single account, such as a strategy they wrote last month or an AI Trader they want on three accounts at once.
eTrader ID is the answer to that. It is the person's own account with eTrader, separate from every trading account they hold, and it is what eTrader Code and eTrader AI sign in with.
Trading Accounts and eTrader ID Do Different Jobs
A trading account belongs to the firm. The firm opens it, sets the instruments, spreads and leverage on its own server, and keeps the record. Traders reach it by opening eTrader, picking the firm from the broker list and signing in. None of that changes.
An eTrader ID belongs to the person. It holds what the trader builds: Code projects and files, and AI Traders. It never holds money, and it never places an order on its own. When something built under an ID trades, the order goes through the trading account at the firm, the same as a click in the terminal.
| Trading account | eTrader ID | |
|---|---|---|
| Opened by | The broker or prop firm | The trader, with an email address |
| Holds | Balance, positions and history | Code files, AI Traders and connected accounts |
| Sign-in | Login and password for that firm | A six-digit code sent by email |
| Used in | The eTrader trading terminal | eTrader Code and eTrader AI |
| If deleted | Handled by the firm | The ID goes; trading accounts stay |
A Code by Email, and No Password at All
eTrader ID has no password. To sign in, a trader types an email address, receives a six-digit code and enters it. The first time, that same step creates the ID. Signing up and signing in are one flow, so there is no password reset either, and nothing for a scammer to talk a support desk into resetting.
A session lasts 30 days. From the ID panel a trader can read an activity log, sign out on every device at once, or delete the ID. Changing the email address is guarded on purpose: the confirmation code goes to the new address, so the change only goes through if the trader really controls that inbox.
Why passwordless: most account takeovers start with a reused password or a reset request. An ID that has neither leaves an attacker needing the trader's own inbox.
One ID, Several Trading Accounts
A trader can connect several trading accounts to one ID, from any of the firms listed in eTrader. When an account is connected, its sign-in details are checked and then dropped. They are not kept with the ID.
A connection is a link and nothing more. The trading account stays the firm's record. If a trader deletes their eTrader ID, every account they had connected is still there, balance and history included, exactly where the firm keeps it. Disconnecting an account also detaches any AI Trader from it, so nothing keeps pointing at an account the trader has let go.
What the ID Opens: eTrader Code and eTrader AI
eTrader Code requires an eTrader ID, in the browser and on Mac. Files are saved to the ID in the cloud and stay there until the trader deletes them or deletes the ID. The editor saves by itself about a second after typing stops, and keeps retrying while the connection is down. If the same file was changed in two places, the trader sees both versions and picks one. In the browser, a strategy can be tested on real prices from a connected trading account, and that account's login never sits in the browser.
eTrader AI uses the same ID. It runs in the browser and as a Mac app. It is not in the App Store or Google Play; the store apps are the eTrader trading terminal. Traders build an AI Trader on a canvas by wiring blocks together: what wakes it up, what it looks at, which AI models weigh in, and what it does about an order. One AI Trader can be attached to several connected accounts, each with its own on and off switch, and a single edit applies to all of them.
Each switch turns the AI Trader on or off for that account, on live and demo accounts alike.
Why It Matters to a Broker or Prop Firm
For a firm listed in eTrader, the ID gives its traders new tools without adding anything for the firm to run. The firm does not issue IDs, store files or manage a second login system. SGHK hosts all of it in the cloud as part of eTrader, built to scale across clustered servers as firms grow.
The accounts stay the firm's. An order from something a trader built under an ID goes through that trader's account at the firm, on the firm's own server, with the instruments, spreads and leverage the firm set. The ID is never a way around those settings.
The firm keeps its place in the apps too. It is listed by name inside the shared eTrader apps, and traders still pick it from the broker list. What changes for the trader is that their strategies and AI Traders live under their ID instead of on one computer, so a new laptop or a second account at the same firm costs them nothing to set up again.
"A trading account belongs to the firm. An eTrader ID belongs to the trader. Keeping those two apart is what lets one person bring their own tools to every firm they trade with."
— The SGHK Team
Key Takeaways
- eTrader ID is a trader's own account with eTrader, kept apart from the trading accounts that brokers and prop firms issue.
- Sign-in is a six-digit code sent by email. There is no password, so there is no password reset for anyone to abuse.
- One ID connects several trading accounts, and deleting the ID never deletes a trading account.
- eTrader Code and eTrader AI both run on the ID, while every order still goes through the trader's account at the firm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Trader Need an eTrader ID to Trade?
No. The eTrader trading terminal keeps its normal sign-in: the trader picks the firm from the broker list and signs in with that trading account. The ID is what eTrader Code and eTrader AI use.
Can an eTrader ID Move Money or Place Trades by Itself?
No. An eTrader ID never holds money. Any order still goes through the trader's own account at the firm, on the firm's server and under the settings the firm chose.
What Happens to Connected Trading Accounts if a Trader Deletes Their eTrader ID?
Nothing. A connection is only a link. The trading account stays with the firm, with its balance and history intact. Deleting the ID removes the ID and the files saved under it.
About SGHK
SGHK is a FinTech company that designs and builds its own software for the trading industry: the eTrader trading platform, the Broker CRM and the Prop Firm CRM. Every product is written, hosted and supported in-house and licensed to trading firms, with the CRMs branded to them, all hosted by us in the cloud, managed by each firm and built to scale across clustered servers as our clients grow. Everything is encrypted, and each firm is the only one with access to its data and its clients' data.