How Prop Firms Win India Without Saying ‘Forex’ or ‘CFDs’

FundingPips, The5ers, FundedNext, and Maven are some of the top names in the prop trading industry, and all have one thing in common – India is their top web traffic-generated country, according to Similarweb data. The subcontinent is also a significant market for Alpha Capital, which is more focused on the UK.

Not only these top names, but also an industry-wide search revealed India to be one of the leading markets. A recent prop industry analysis found that roughly 40 per cent of the organic traffic volumes among the prop sector's top 50 companies comes from India.

Google Trends also shows Indian interest in prop trading, as popularity for the two related terms – “prop firm” and “prop trading” – has risen sharply since 2023.

Unlike contracts for difference (CFD) brokers, which benefit when traders trade more, prop firms generate most of their income from challenge fees. If website traffic leads to the purchase of challenges, this can directly correlate with their revenues.

Between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of the prop industry’s overall revenue comes from India, estimates Ruben Abitbol, an independent consultant to prop firms. “While many Indians opted for smaller account sizes due to the low entry barrier, India still ranks among the top in revenue thanks to the sheer trading volumes generated,” he said.

As a result, prop firms are also spending a lot to promote their services to Indians.

Google Ads Work the Best

Google’s Ads Transparency Centre shows that prop brands run dozens of ad campaigns in India.

According to Stanislav Galandzovskyi, a user acquisition and growth consultant to prop firms, Google Search is the highest-quality channel for marketing prop firms in India. The conversion from lead to first-time deposit in the country reached 2.98 per cent.

While Google ads are strong in quality, Facebook and Instagram promotions are cheaper at about $15 CPL (cost per lead), with 2.61 per cent of those leads converting to deposits.

Although YouTube campaigns have only 0.45 per cent CTR (Click-Through Rate), their view-through rates are solid.

“Animated videos with neutral text like ‘What are global markets?’ worked better than anything mentioning CFD,” Galandzovskyi revealed, specifying on India-centric campaign he ran. “CTAs (call to action) like ‘Free ebook’ or ‘Join webinar’ worked well. Traffic volume was small, but it helped build awareness that later supported conversions through search and remarketing.”

However, The5ers, whose top market by volume – about 12 per cent – comes from India, told FinanceMagnates.com that its primary marketing strategy revolves around content marketing.

“We've established a dedicated team that creates culturally relevant content, adapting our proven methods of sharing trading expertise and knowledge to resonate with the Indian trading community,” said Gil Ben Hur, founder and CEO of The5ers.

“This content-driven approach builds genuine trust with our traders because our materials show that we understand their motivations, ambitions, and objectives,” he explained.

The content-driven strategy is clear, as The5ers launched a YouTube channel for India last March, sharing trading videos in Hindi, one of the country’s most spoken languages.

Ben Hur further revealed that The5ers maintains minimal paid advertising efforts in India, focusing more on organic growth.

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Young Population Is the Primary Target

India has a population of 1.45 billion, as per the World Bank. However, only a fraction of them are potential prop traders, as the country is highly diverse economically, with an extremely low baseline.

The country is still popular among brokers and prop firms as it has a substantial number of developing traders. Abitbol believes that trading is viewed as a privilege in India, shaped by a strong sense of meritocracy. People are conservative with their savings, yet a parallel culture of gambling and speculation runs alongside it.

Galandzovskyi revealed that prop firms’ main target segment in India is young people aged between 18 and 30 years. “Many were students or seeking a secondary source of income,” he said. “They showed strong interest in learning to trade, but average deposits were modest, typically around $20–50 for a first-time deposit.”

The5ers also revealed that its “3-step low-cost program” is the most sought-after plan among its Indian customers. Its 2-step evaluation plan ranks as the second most popular.

“The popularity of these programs reflects the diverse skill levels within India's trading community, from newcomers seeking affordable entry points to experienced traders looking for more advanced funding opportunities with greater leverage potential,“ said Ben Hur.

Cultural themes work well in advertising in India. According to Galandzovskyi, gold-related creatives and seasonal promos (Diwali, Holi) perform the best.

“A creative featuring gold coins with the tagline ‘Start learning global trading’ outperformed the average click-through rate by 15 per cent,” he said, adding that language is also key in the country, as Hinglish (Hindi + English) creatives lift CTR by about 10–12 per cent compared to pure English.

Multiple prop firms are also running localised ads targeting Indians. “At 21, he went from surviving on ₹50 meals to earning $114k,” an Instagram reel by FundingPips stated, where ₹, the symbol of the Indian currency, was the hook for Indian audiences.

Platforms like FundedNext have also partnered with local social media influencers to produce promotional videos in Indian languages. Several other prop firms have dedicated social media handles and landing pages for Indians.

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Circumventing Advertising Platforms’ Rules

Although prop trading is not regulated, marketers have to consider the rules of advertising platforms. Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, restricts CFD ads as “misleading financial products,” while Google requires financial services certification.

Marketers are also finding ways around terms like “forex” and “CFD” that might get blocked. They promote “trading education” and “free demo account.” Landing pages are also written as educational articles with registration forms at the bottom, which helps pass moderation.

“We used Lead Ads to generate volume and then followed up with calls. To remain compliant, we avoided terms like ‘forex’ or ‘profit,’ instead using softer angles such as ‘Learn risk management’ or ‘Get a free investing guide.’ Since some accounts were restricted, we kept backup models ready,” Galandzovskyi said.

Interestingly, Google labels campaigns with an educational tone and without a reference to CFDs under “Eligible (limited)” status, which means lower reach but still delivers traffic.

“On Meta, our accounts were disabled several times, which we managed by rotating creatives and keeping backup Business Managers,” Galandzovskyi continued. “New accounts were first warmed up with general finance campaigns before shifting to more trading-focused ads.”

“On the landing pages, we included disclaimers such as: ‘CFDs are not available to Indian residents. Trading involves risk. No guaranteed profits.’ This helped reduce moderation issues and potential complaints while setting clear expectations for users.”

CFDs are not regulated in India. Moreover, the two regulatory heavyweights in the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), consider CFDs unlicensed.

SEBI even issued an advisory last year highlighting that platforms offering “virtual trading services” are violating local laws. The RBI also added a few top prop firms' names to its long warning list against unauthorised forex trading platforms.

This regulatory uncertainty also prompts marketers to keep prop campaigns strictly educational and focus deposit activities on non-resident Indian audiences.

“Our operations globally, including in India, rest on two fundamental principles,” said The5ers’ Ben Hur. “First, proprietary trading firms are not financial service providers – we don't handle clients' money, manage traders' capital, or require traders to invest their own funds through our platform. Second, when a trader qualifies for funding, they are not investing their personal capital. Therefore, Indian traders never directly handle or risk their own money with CFD assets.”