City Traders Imperium Cuts Challenge Prices, Readies New Payout Model

City Traders Imperium (CTI), a prop trading firm that has operated since 2018, is testing a new funding model that would pay traders regardless of how much the firm earns from challenge sales, according to CEO Martin Najat. In an interview with ResponsibleTrading.com, Najat said the structure aims to remove the central conflict of interest in the prop sector, where the same fees that fund the business also fund trader payouts.

Najat provided no launch date or details on how the model would work, but described it as something the industry has not tried before. He stated the goal is to decouple the business from its dependency on challenge fees entirely. Rhodium FX has previously discussed a similar concept tied to liquidity infrastructure, and a Singapore firm launched a deferred-fee challenge in May, but CTI has not said how its version would differ.

Price Cuts Into a Shrinking Market

CTI reduced its challenge prices permanently on June 1. A $100,000 account now starts at $449 before discounts, down from what Najat acknowledged were premium levels through early 2026. The move brings CTI closer to competitors like FundedNext and Funding Pips on entry cost. Najat also noted CTI’s forex and commodities commissions near $5 per lot, below the typical $6 to $9 range.

The price cuts come amid a significant industry shakeout. An estimated 80 or more prop firms shut down between 2024 and 2026, many after MetaQuotes pulled platform support. CTI survived, said Najat, because it maintained enough cash reserves to operate for a full year with zero revenue. He predicted that rivals offering extremely low challenge prices will disappear, telling the publication, “Some of them won’t be around in six months .”

Trader Complaints and Enforcement

Some CTI-funded traders have reported on review sites that their accounts were breached after taking stops in roughly a 2.5% to 5.6% range, with no clearly published maximum-risk figure. Najat denied any hidden rule, describing the policy as an overleveraging restriction listed in the firm’s FAQs and welcome emails. He further alleged that organized groups of traders deliberately exploit prop firms and then run complaint campaigns to pressure payouts.

Najat said stricter terms apply only to new challenge purchases, with one exception for copy trading and VPN use handled case by case. He declined to give CTI’s exact payout rate but said it exceeds the industry figure of 7% reported by Finance Magnates from a study of 300,000 accounts. He separately cited an average payout worth 4.5% of a starting balance.

Regulatory Landscape

CTI’s structure spans a UK origin, a Dubai headquarters, and a trading entity registered in the Comoros, which allows it to run its own MetaTrader 5 license. Najat argued that regulating prop firms like brokers would lead to higher challenge fees and fewer choices. The industry faces growing scrutiny, with MetaQuotes’ crackdown on unlicensed platform use, the CFTC’s case against MyForexFunds, and increasing FCA attention signaling that formal rules may be forthcoming.