BREAKING: Is The Funded Trader Gone Forever?
It appears that the fallout in the prop trading space is continuing. After FNG exclusively reported earlier this month that The Funded Trader has stopped making payouts to its clients, the prop trading firm has now taken down its website. But what exactly led to this situation? Let’s delve into the details.
TFT Payout Issues
Recently, many prop trading firms, including The Funded Trader, were forced to discontinue their use of MetaTrader platforms due to a crackdown by MetaQuotes on brokers who accept US retail clients without the proper licensing. The transition to new trading platforms has not gone smoothly for all prop firms.
Sometime after The Funded Trader (TFT) migrated to a new trading platform, Propfirmmatch.com, a service that compares prop trading firms, announced the suspension of The Funded Trader from its website. This action was taken in response to a significant number of complaints of denied payouts, as reported on review platforms like Trustpilot, various social media outlets, and directly to Propfirmmatch itself.
TFT Responds to Complaints and Faces Criticism
Angelo Ciaramello, the CEO of The Funded Trader, addressed these complaints, dismissing them as “propaganda against the firm”. Ciaramello’s comments came during a live YouTube broadcast, where he aimed to provide transparency and counter the negative narrative surrounding The Funded Trader.
To shed light on the firm’s financial dealings, Ciaramello presented a graphic indicating that, in the first two months of 2024, The Funded Trader paid out over $17 million to clients while blocking withdrawals of just over $2 million during the same period.
The CEO claimed to reject the payments due to KYC issues, any type of fraud, credit card fraud, and any prohibited trading strategies. However, he continued to face backlash on social media.
TFT Temporarily Pauses All Operations
After facing numerous complaints for payout denials, The Funded Trader has “temporarily paused all operations”. Currently, the TFT site shows a brief note with the countdown timer (of now 16 days), that states:
The Funded Trader has temporarily paused all operations.
We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding as we are working diligently on the steps to resume our operations and services.
Over the coming week, we will follow up with specifics as we work to resume operations.
Thank you for your continued support and loyalty.
The future of TFT is coming.
Angelo Ciaramello, the Chief Executive Officer of The Funded Trader also issued a statement on Twitter promising the company relaunch “with a slightly different look and feel”.
Future Uncertain for The Funded Trader
As part of our ongoing commitment to ensure the safety, trust, and integrity of our trading community, we have taken the necessary step to suspend The Funded Trader from our platform.
We are closely monitoring the situation and require a comprehensive resolution from TFT before any discussion of reinstatement. Our priority remains the well-being and success of our traders. We commit to providing access to only the most credible and trustworthy prop trading firms.
