The recent delisting of PipFarm from Prop Firm Match has exposed tensions between some prop firms and the rating website in this niche sector. While Prop Firm Match stressed that its decision followed “an extensive review process”, PipFarm’s founder and CEO, James Glyde, highlighted that the final request from the rating website “went far beyond what is reasonable.”
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Filling the Regulatory Gap in Prop
Prop Firm Match is a popular platform that lists and ranks reliable prop firms, which are obviously not regulated. Its ratings create authenticity around the prop platforms because of its extensive review process and ratings from real users.
The website attracts over 1.2 million monthly visits globally, according to Prop Firm Match. SimilarWeb data also shows that India is its largest traffic source, accounting for around 10 per cent of the total.
The platform came into existence to tackle the lack of transparency around the prop industry. While other generic review websites struggled with the nuances of the prop industry, Prop Firm Match focus specific to this niche boosted its authenticity.
Read more: Trustpilot or Bust – Why Brokers and Prop Firms Are Going All-In on Review War Rooms
Suspension and delisting of prop firms from Prop Firm Match are not unusual. The rating platform suspended or delisted True Forex Funds, The Funded Trader, Bespoke Funding Program, Funded Engineer and several others. However, all these firms faced severe operational issues or were eventually shut down.
PipFarm, however, does not seem to fit into that group, despite numerous negative reviews on social media.
Are Requests Getting Unrealistic?
According to Glyde, his company provided “extensive documentation” on its “operations, procedures and resources” to Prop Firm Match, but the rating website was “asking for written commitments and legal undertakings.”
The PipFarm CEO believes that the final request by the rating platform even exceeded “what regulators require of shareholders when licensing a broker or a bank.”
“I was advised against it, and out of principle, I chose not to comply with their demand,” he added.
FinanceMagnates.com reached out to Prop Firm Match’s CEO, Martin Jensen, but he refused to share anything specific to PipFarm beyond what’s public, only adding: “We have very strict demands for firms to get listed and monitor listed firms to ensure they uphold the standards we expect from our partners.”
“I’d rather be criticized for requesting too much than too little — which is the opposite of what most actors in the prop industry are doing... At the end of the day, we need to feel confident about every firm we feature,” he explained. “We’ll request whatever information we find necessary, and we have valid reasons for doing so.”
Glyde revealed to FinanceMagnates.com that his platform received about $12,000 sales in 30 days before it was delisted. However, most of those sales came from existing customers who were arbitraging their coupon codes.
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Another prop firm confirmed that Prop Firm Match brought “quite a lot of traffic” to its platform when they were running big discount offers. However, according to them, around half of that traffic was toxic.
The rating platform, according to the prop firm, also asked for enhanced visibility into its payout systems. However, the prop firm refused the offer as it was unwilling to share such a large amount of sensitive data.
Jensen, on the other hand, said his platform does not request such an access, elaborating: “What we offer is an optional API connection, allowing firms to display their payout times and amounts (with no user data shared with us). This feature is currently used by 10 listed firms, with several more in the process of joining. It’s a transparency initiative – one of many we’ve launched – that adds value for both traders and reputable firms. The firms participating have nothing to hide and are proud to have their payout speed and volume verified by a neutral third party.”
