The impact on the prop trading space continues.
After FNG exclusively reported earlier this month that trading company The Funded Trader had stopped making payments to its clients, the company took down its website (thefundedtraderprogram.com), which now displays a brief note that reads:
The Funded Merchant has temporarily ceased all operations.
We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding as we diligently work through the steps to resume our operations and services.
Next week, we will continue with details as we work to resume operations.
Thank you for your continued support and loyalty.
The future of TFT is coming.
There is also a countdown timer on the page, which as at the time of writing is approximately 21 days and 4 hours from now.
In a more detailed note on X (formerly Twitter), The Funded Trader CEO Angelo Ciaramello explained:
I wanted to address all of you personally. You have been the soul of TFT. You fought the battle with me day in and day out for years. You have been part of one of the greatest movements in history and you have delivered to me what I have dreamed of, this community.
Being in the position we are in, it absolutely boggles my mind to say that we need to stop TFT operations. What does this mean? The most important thing for us is to deliver to all our existing customers. There’s an experience you’ve all come to love with TFT, and that’s our main focus. Upon ceasing operations, we will relaunch the brand but with a slightly different look and feel. Next week we’ll be posting updates on what that will look like and how this decision affects everyone involved.
We know the main pain points of our community and these are what will be addressed in the coming days and weeks.
The TFT reboot is coming and it’s going to be hard to earn your trust, but we know what it takes. The time for action is now.
I want to thank you all again for your support, faith and energy.
The future of TFT is coming…
– Angel
As we previously reported, the popular company comparison service Propfirmmatch.com suspended The Funded Trader from its website in mid-March due to a significant number of complaints and cases of payment refusals reported on Trustpilot, via social media and directly to Propfirmmatch.
Funded Trader subsequently posted that it was conducting a “self-imposed internal audit” of all payments. The parts trading company said at the time that it “will ensure that all payments are in accordance with our Terms of Service” and that they do not breach the company’s gambling policies.
The company also said that due to [trading platform] migration, in which mistakes were made, created a large ticket backlog for the company to resolve, including payments.
Belgium’s FSMA recently became the first major EU regulator to issue a warning against item trading companies, warning retailers that backers are there to make money by selling Challenges to retailers, with the potential “reward” of a share of the profits from a funded transaction the account is not always implemented.