Your Prop Trading Account Hangs on Infusion

The traders of prop firm Axe Trader were anxious to trade. But on December 11th, while checking the firm's Discord channel, they encountered a very unusual picture - Axe's CEO in the hospital after a heart attack. The announcement read, "A temporary pause in our operations, effective immediately."

While a medical emergency is a relatively rare case, there is no shortage of reasons for halting operations, delays - or even outright non-payment - in the prop trading space. This sector has been growing aggressively in recent years. Entry into this unregulated niche is easy. Anyone with a few thousand dollars can set up an operational platform within days, leaving marketing as the primary challenge.

As a result, many new platforms emerge every month. However, launching services is one thing; sustaining operations is another. Over the past few months, dozens of prop trading platforms have shut down or suspended their services. While some of the reasons seemed legitimate, others may be perceived as less acceptable.

"With a heavy heart"

"Dear Axe Fam," the Axe Trader discord announcement stated, "It is with a heavy heart that we announce a temporary pause in our operations, effective immediately. This decision comes due to unforeseen circumstances involving our beloved CEO, Uncle Rick."

Axe Trader did not provide any specific timeline for resuming operations, and as of the time of publishing, no further updates had been shared.

The Discord announcement on its channel mentions that "the partners and legal team have made a difficult decision to temporarily pause operations to allow him the time needed for a safe recovery."

Several traders on social media and Trustpilot complained that although they have passed Axe Trader's challenge, they cannot access funded accounts anymore as services are suspended.

"Total fraud company," one user wrote on Trustpilot. "I have passed 5k challenges and now they stopped my trading... Now today I try to log in but they even changed my password and are not replying my emails. This is a drama that their CEO is ill. Only 1 man is running the firm???"

Finance Magnates reached out to Axe Trader to inquire about the health of the CEO and their plans for resuming operations but did not receive any response.

“We Only Made Four Sales”

Competition often drives many out of business. And prop trading has become intensely competitive.

Ascetic Capital, which teased its launch for five months, ceased operations within a week after its launch. The reason? The platform only made four sales. According to its social media statement, the official launch in late November “did not meet even the most modest expectations.”

At least, the platform said that it initiated refunds and halted operations “before even a single trader gets funded to mitigate the damage.”

We Are Refunding Everyone

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the closure of Ascetic Capital. Despite our hopes and meticulous planning, the launch did not meet even the most modest expectations. In our first week, we only made four sales, and this unexpected shortfall led…

— Ascetic Capital (@AsceticCapitalX) December 3, 2024

$600 in Sales and No Funding

If there are no sales, a company needs funding - Gold Fund Trader did not have either.

UAE-based Gold Fund Trader permanently closed its operations only five months after its launch. It cited cash flow issues and a lack of liquidity as the reasons behind the harsh decision.

The firm distributed approximately 150 accounts through giveaways but has since generated only $600 in sales from evaluation accounts. It also reported 90 active accounts with no funded accounts or pending payouts.

Hello everyone,

This is a very tough conversation to have.

We been working in goldfundtrader for 5 months now ! UPS and down ! We have multiple experience before with this industry !

Big investor was ready to provide funding of 250k usd for 50% of stake in gold fund…

— Gold Fund Trader (@goldfundtrader) September 12, 2024

Cost Cutting Failed

Funded Engineer, which was at the centre of controversy due to its relationship with its tech vendor, permanently closed its services and filed for bankruptcy.

The company explained that it “explored every possible avenue to stabilise [its] financial standing, including strategic restructuring, cost-cutting measures, and seeking additional investment” over the past months but failed.

“Cheaters” Shuttered the Firm

Karma Prop Traders blamed it on “cheaters” for causing “cashflow issues” that replenished the firm's liquidity for the firm and forced it to shut down. It also admitted to not implementing the risk checks correctly.

The founder of the doomed platform also blamed it on a third-party tech provider that promised a tech solution but failed to deliver.

Another firm gone, @karmaproptrader...

Website no longer operating, Discord chats are closed.

Drop your thoughts in comments 👇 pic.twitter.com/MS4JViTegP

— TheTrustedProp (@TheTrustedProp) August 11, 2024

We Want a New Dashboard, Not Traders

What do companies usually do when they want to add new features? The drill is to test before putting them into production. This also makes sure that services are not disrupted. But prop firms are different.

Funded Nation suspended its operations - “all sales and trading activities” - for 45 days as it is bringing “a major upgrade” to the company's dashboard.

Traders' reactions to the announcement were, however, far from positive. Several comments indicated that some investors have been waiting for their money for nearly a month.

🚨Important Update 🚨 pic.twitter.com/57EAueYa6Y

— FUNDED NATION (@FundedNation) December 6, 2024

Traddoo is another prop trading platform that temporarily suspended selling challenges to new clients while working on a new dashboard. The platform did not provide a timeline, so it can take months or years to resume operations.

No Trading Platform - No Trading

Prop firms need to offer services on a trading platform. However, SurgeTrader lost the license to its sole trading platform provider.

The prop trading firm said that Match-Trade Technologies had terminated its license, forcing it to cease operations. It asserted that the provider had no justification for such a move and speculated that "a well-known third party" may have influenced the decision.

However, according to its customers, the issue was much more profound. “The problem is they don’t communicate anymore,” one person commented to Finance Magnates.

We Want Licenses, Not Customers

Prop trading is still unregulated. Bullo, a prop firm that completed its Series A funding round, temporarily suspended operations. It wants to pursue regulatory licenses in multiple jurisdictions.

The company, which has seen rapid growth, said the decision to pause prop-based services stems from regulatory uncertainty surrounding proprietary trading firms. Its board determined this move was necessary as the company seeks licenses in “several Tier 1 jurisdictions.”

.@bulloai stops it’s services.

Share your thoughts 👇 pic.twitter.com/tAM16aIKp5

— TheTrustedProp (@TheTrustedProp) July 30, 2024

But which license it has been seeking?

We Are Just Shutting Down

Legit businesses usually provide reasons to shutter. But not all prop trading firms do that.

Smart Prop Trader closed down operations at the end of 2024. Why? The company did not provide any solid reason. It only posted on social media that it was “doing the right thing by prioritising fairness, transparency, and respect” for its traders.

However, to give credit, the platform gave its customers a month's notice before shutting services.

Important Announcement from Smart Prop Trader
As of November 27, 2024, Smart Prop Trader will no longer onboard new traders. We want to express our deepest gratitude for your trust, dedication, and support for this amazing trading community!
Unlike a typical prop firm closure,…

— Smart Prop Trader (@SmartPropTrader) November 28, 2024

Disappearing Slowly

Indigo Trader Funding is another prop trading platform that suddenly ceased operations and disconnected all customer communication channels. The platform did not bother to tell its customers to give any reason.

The platform's president announced the suspension of communication channels following the cessation of services and directed all support issues to one email address. Then, the company suddenly filed for a strike-off from the company register.

🚨 @IndigoFundingUK 🚨 You need to address this ASAP.

😕 Have you guys closed up shop or sold the rights. pic.twitter.com/bOScgd3LNd

— RB Trading (@RB_Tradingltd) August 14, 2024

What will be next reason for a prop firm to go out of business? Can it be more interesting (or weird)?