It was recently announced that TradingView is planning to leave the Russian market. This has caused serious concern among traders and investors for whom the service had become their primary tool for market analysis and monitoring. Unfortunately, there are virtually no adequate alternatives at the moment.

There are, of course, local solutions such as Stockchart.ru, as well as the “Algopack” project I wrote about earlier, but these are more temporary measures and far from a full replacement for TradingView’s functionality and convenience. If TradingView actually shuts off access for Russian users tomorrow, we can expect a wave of frustration, harsh reactions, and even panic — the usual situation under such circumstances.

The exchange, for its part, is making attempts to create something of its own, but as practice shows, such initiatives rarely lead to success. The problem is that the exchange itself, despite having access to enormous financial resources, cannot become a successful software developer. The employees working at the exchange are experts in their fields but not entrepreneurs, and they don’t understand how to turn a good service into a profitable business.

It would be far more sensible for the exchange to invest funds in third-party companies specializing in developing such products and give them the opportunity to build fully-fledged solutions. This approach would make it possible to create a viable product that would not only replace TradingView but also become a profitable business line.

Otherwise, any internal solution developed without a clear business strategy will quickly wither at the slightest change in market conditions, as soon as management or leadership priorities change.

Ultimately, unless the exchange starts treating technologies and services as separate profitable business lines, any of their ventures in this area risk remaining in the shadows, and users will continue searching for available solutions outside of Russia or settling for less functional local alternatives.