City Traders Imperium, one of the prop trading firms to survive the wave of closures that hit the industry from 2024 to 2026, says it is close to launching a funding model that would pay traders no matter how much the firm makes from selling challenges.

Chief Executive Martin Najat said the structure is in its final phase of testing and called it something the prop sector has not tried before.

However, he offered no launch date and did not explain how it works. Speaking to review site ResponsibleTrading.com, Najat said the aim is to remove the conflict of interest at the center of most prop firms, where the same challenge fees that fund the business also fund payouts.

A Survivor Pitches a Fix for the Industry's Core Conflict

The Dubai-based City Traders Imperium has run since 2018, which puts it among a small group of firms with a long record in a business that has churned through hundreds of brands.

Najat said the new design is meant to break the firm's reliance on challenge income, calling it "one that decouples the business from its dependency on challenge fees entirely."

The idea is not new. Rhodium FX has discussed linking its model to liquidity infrastructure so it profits from winning traders rather than from fees, and a Singapore firm rolled out a deferred-fee challenge in May. CTI has not said how its version would differ, or when traders will see it.

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The interview is the second in a CEO series putting prop bosses on the record, after FundedHive's chief executive called a consistency rule a payout trap.

Najat framed CTI's ambition in similar language, saying the goal is "to be the most trader-aligned prop firm in the world."

Challenge Prices Fall

CTI lowered its challenge prices on June 1 and said the cut is permanent. A $100,000 account now starts at $449 before discounts, down from what Najat acknowledged were premium prices through early 2026.

"These are not promotional prices; these are our new permanent prices," he said.

The move pulls CTI closer to rivals competing hard on entry cost. FundedNext lists a $6,000 plan from $59.99 and a $25,000 plan from about $199.99, while Funding Pips runs several evaluation tracks priced by account size.

Najat put CTI's forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term and commodities commissions near $5 per lot, which he said sits below a typical $6 to $9 range.

CTI is cutting prices into a shrinking market. Industry estimates point to 80 or more prop firms shutting down across 2024 to 2026, many after MetaQuotes pulled platform support, a shakeout FinanceMagnates.com has tracked through its running closures list.

Najat said CTI came through it on its balance sheet, saying the firm "maintained enough cash reserves to operate for a full year without any revenue."

Others did not make it. FundingTicks said it would wind down in January after a backlash over new trading rules, and Seacrest closed its prop arm in February to focus on its CFD brokerage.

Najat Pushes Back on Trader Complaints

Some CTI funded traders have reported on review sites that their accounts were breached after taking stops in a roughly 2.5% to 5.6% range, with no clearly published maximum-risk figure. Najat rejected the idea of a hidden rule.

"There is no hidden rule," he said, describing it instead as an overleveraging policy listed in the firm's FAQs and welcome emails.

He went further, saying organized groups of traders deliberately exploit prop firms and then run complaint campaigns to pressure payouts.

"We are aware of these groups, we recognise the patterns," Najat said, adding that CTI enforces its rules regardless.

On whether CTI has altered terms on existing funded accounts, Najat said stricter changes apply only to new purchases, with one exception around copy trading and VPN use handled case by case.

Retroactive changes have stung the sector before, including at FundingTicks, which drew a backlash over a rule change late last year.

Najat would not give CTI's exact payout rate, the share of challenge buyers who ever withdraw, but said it runs above the 7% industry figure Finance Magnates reported from a study of 300,000 accounts.

He separately cited an average payout worth 4.5% of a starting balance, a different measure that does not answer how many traders get paid. His line on cheap challenges was blunt: "They mean the firm can't afford to pay you."

Offshore Structure Faces a Tightening Regulatory Net

CTI's setup spans a UK origin, a Dubai headquarters, and a trading entity registered in the Comoros, the offshore jurisdiction it tapped to run its own MetaTrader 5 license.

Najat described the Comoros as a stable, recognized framework, though jurisdictions like it are not known for substantive oversight of CFD or prop trading firms.

He argued that regulating prop firms like brokers would do more harm than good, forcing country-by-country licensing and heavy compliance Compliance In finance, banking, investing, and insurance compliance refers to following the rules or orders set down by the government regulatory authority, either as providing a service or processing a transaction. Compliance concerning finance would also be a state of being following established guidelines or specifications. This designation can also encompass efforts to ensure that organizations are abiding by both industry regulations and government legislation. Understanding ComplianceCompliance is a In finance, banking, investing, and insurance compliance refers to following the rules or orders set down by the government regulatory authority, either as providing a service or processing a transaction. Compliance concerning finance would also be a state of being following established guidelines or specifications. This designation can also encompass efforts to ensure that organizations are abiding by both industry regulations and government legislation. Understanding ComplianceCompliance is a Read this Term costs. For traders, he said, that would mean "higher challenge fees, fewer firms to choose from," not stronger protection.

The pressure is already real. MetaQuotes' crackdown on unlicensed platform use rippled across the industry and forced FTMO to halt US client acquisition, while the CFTC's MyForexFunds case and growing FCA attention have signaled that formal rules may be coming.