Pick firms that don't weaponise vague rules
Favour long track records, independent audits and clean payout history. Check any firm →
/prop-firm-payout-tracker · independent · sourced
Prop firm shutdowns & payout denials — what the 2026 trust collapse looks like
Public trackers count an estimated 80–100 prop firms closed since 2024. This is an independent, sourced record of who froze payouts or shut down — and the rules that actually block withdrawals. We take no money from any firm, and we never claim a tool can force a payout. Every line links to its source.
the mechanics
Why payouts actually get blocked
A challenge failing is loud and obvious. A blocked payout is quiet: you passed, you traded clean, and the money still doesn't move. These are the levers firms pull at the withdrawal window — some are stated rules, some are opaque algorithmic flags that misfire on honest traders.
payout_killers
-
Consistency / best-day ruleOne big day can quietly block the withdrawal (not the account) until profit is spread across more days. Most traders only learn the threshold when they hit it.
-
Prohibited strategiesTick scalping, HFT, news-window trading, grid/martingale — worded broadly on purpose and enforced at the withdrawal window. FundedNext alone lists ~36 restricted practices.
-
Copy / group trading & latency arbitrageAn algorithm decides your fills "look coordinated" or "look like arbitrage" — frequently a false positive on a trader who acted independently. Opaque and hard to contest.
-
Cross-account hedgingOpposing/correlated positions across your own accounts are in nearly every firm's prohibited list, and only become visible when the firm sees your whole book.
-
Operational trapsAn open trade at the moment you request a withdrawal, late KYC, or a missed payout-eligibility window can void an otherwise clean request.
the graveyard
Firms that looked fine — until they didn't
Every one of these had traders and reviews too, right up until they didn't. The recurring pattern before a collapse is consistent: payouts slow, rules tighten, and earned profit gets cut retroactively. Watch the trend, not the star rating.
closed_or_froze_payouts
✗ FundingTicks
May 2026
Began winding down after retroactive rule changes that cancelled already-earned profits; Trustpilot fell from ~4.1 to ~3.2 as traders reported cut payouts.
→ Retroactive rule changes are the loudest warning siren — earned profit is not safe if the rulebook can move under it.
source: Finance Magnates ↗
✗ Seacrest Funding
Feb 2026
Announced closure, leaving funded traders to reconcile open balances and pending payouts.
→ A young firm with fast growth and thin operating history can close with little warning.
source: OFP Funding ↗
✗ MyFundedFX
Feb 2026
Closed after months of tightening rules and slowing payouts — the classic deterioration pattern.
→ Slowing payouts + rule-tightening is the pattern that precedes most closures. Watch the trend, not the star rating.
source: Trustpilot ↗
✗ TrueForexFunds
2024
Went dark citing insolvency — an estimated ~300 traders left with roughly $1.2M unpaid.
→ Insolvency means the money was never ring-fenced. Withdraw earned profit; do not let it accumulate.
source: Finance Magnates ↗
✗ MyForexFunds
2023 (case dismissed 2025)
A CFTC seizure froze ~135,000 traders overnight. The case was later dismissed (2025) with the CFTC fined $3.1M; a 2026 relaunch is underway — but the freeze still happened.
→ Even a market leader can be frozen by a regulator or counterparty event. Size matters less than you think.
source: CFTC / public record ↗
the methodology
How to tell if a firm is shaky
A star rating is the easiest thing on the internet to fake. So we don't lead with it. Weight the signals that are hard to fake — and weight reviews down. This is the same model behind our free firm trust checker.
trust_signals · weighted
-
Longevity + verified payout volumeTakes years and real money at scale — can't be faked overnight.
-
Independent audit / on-chain payout proofThird-party verifiable (e.g. Hola Prime's Deloitte review; FundingPips' on-chain proof).
-
Public shutdown / regulator historyOn the public record — can't be erased by a marketing budget.
-
Regulatory registration + ownershipCheckable with the regulator (e.g. Topstep under LSE-listed Plus500).
-
Reviews (Trustpilot, FPA, Reddit)Weighted DOWN — small bases inflate and 5-star bursts are cheap. Only counts when corroborated by the hard signals above.
check a specific firm
The sourced read on each firm
FTMO STRONG
Founded 2015 · Prague, CZ — sourced trust signals, payout rules & style-fit →
The5ers STRONG
Founded 2016 · Israel — sourced trust signals, payout rules & style-fit →
Topstep STRONG
Founded 2014 · Chicago, US · futures — sourced trust signals, payout rules & style-fit →
FundingPips STRONG
Founded 2022 · Dubai, UAE — sourced trust signals, payout rules & style-fit →
Hola Prime MIXED
Founded 2024 · Mauritius — sourced trust signals, payout rules & style-fit →
FundedNext MIXED
Founded 2022 · UAE — sourced trust signals, payout rules & style-fit →
Apex CAUTION
Founded 2021 · Austin, US · futures — sourced trust signals, payout rules & style-fit →
E8 Markets MIXED
Founded 2021 · Dallas, US — sourced trust signals, payout rules & style-fit →
your leverage — honestly
What you can actually do about it
A tool cannot force a bad-faith firm to pay — anyone telling you otherwise is overselling. What you can do is stack the odds and keep leverage before the withdrawal window, not after:
Avoid the patterns that trip false flags
See which of your habits could read as a prohibited strategy before you withdraw. Run the payout check →
Keep independent proof & don't stockpile profit
Withdraw earned profit promptly, and keep a timestamped record of your own trades as dispute ammunition. See the live guard →
questions
Payouts & firm safety, answered
Which prop firms shut down in 2025–2026?
Documented closures or wind-downs include FundingTicks (May 2026, after retroactive profit cuts), Seacrest Funding (Feb 2026) and MyFundedFX (Feb 2026); earlier, TrueForexFunds (2024, insolvency) and MyForexFunds (2023 regulatory freeze). Public trackers count an estimated 80–100 firms closed since 2024. Standings change — always check the firm's current status and recent reviews.
Why was my prop firm payout denied?
The most common reasons are a consistency/best-day rule blocking the withdrawal, a "prohibited strategy" flag (tick scalping, news, hedging), an opaque copy-trading or latency-arbitrage flag (often a false positive), or an operational trap like an open trade at the withdrawal request. The free payout check shows which of these your trading could trip.
Is my prop firm going to shut down?
No one can promise. But the pattern that precedes most closures is consistent: slowing payouts, rule-tightening, and retroactive changes to earned profit. Favour firms with long track records, independent audits or on-chain proof and clean regulatory history over star ratings — and do not leave large balances unwithdrawn.
Can a tool or service force a firm to pay me?
No — and anyone claiming otherwise is overselling. If a firm decides not to pay, no evidence compels it. What you can do is avoid the patterns that trip false flags, keep an independent record of your trades, pick firms with clean payout histories, and have ammunition for a public dispute. That is leverage and foresight, not magic.
Is this tracker affiliated with any prop firm?
No. EdgeLedger takes no affiliate money to rank firms and does not invent a score. Everything here is aggregated from public, cited sources. We build trading-journal software that is unambiguously on the trader's side — which is exactly why we can publish this and firm-affiliated tools can't.
> Aggregated from public sources, cited per firm. We don't audit firms ourselves and we don't invent a score. Prop-firm rules, standings and ownership change often — confirm the current position on the firm's own site before you trade or rely on any of this. EdgeLedger is independent and not affiliated with any prop firm. Not financial or legal advice. Last reviewed 2026-06-09.
before you withdraw
Don't give your firm a reason to deny you.
The free payout check shows what could block your withdrawal — consistency math, sizing drift and the patterns firms flag — then EdgeLedger watches it live on your real trades. No signup to try it.