The Best Prop Trading Firms – Trading Without Absurd Rules

This article reflects my personal experience and opinions as a trader. It is not financial advice and does not represent any prop firm.

Philosophy Behind the Proposed Rules

The rules presented in this article reflect my personal view of what I consider truly sustainable for professional trading with proprietary trading firms.

These criteria are designed for traders who operate with a solid, well-defined trading plan and who refuse to accept excessively restrictive constraints disguised as “discipline,” but which in practice are misaligned with real market dynamics.

It is unreasonable to expect a trader to manage (for example) $100,000 of capital while generating marginal returns that are not proportional to the capital allocated, the time invested, and the quality of the analysis—simply because they are forced to:

• trade with unnaturally small position sizes in relation to the balance of the managed account;
• operate within an extremely compressed price range for each individual trading idea.

This structural imbalance leads to a predictable outcome: traders are pushed to increase position size or trading frequency in an attempt to make the activity economically meaningful. The result is a further reduction in price breathing room, an increased probability of stop-outs, and, over time, a higher likelihood of account loss.

This dynamic is well understood by some proprietary trading firms. It is often presented through a narrative of “educational discipline” or mentorship, while the real effect is a set of statistically unbalanced rules that exploit normal market volatility, increasing the probability of account failure.

True discipline is not synonymous with constant pressure, hyper-activity, or adrenaline. Most importantly, in real-world trading it does not equate to executing dozens of trades per day, nor to hyper-aggressive execution based on disproportionate position sizing. A trader operating with a structured plan and coherent risk management should not be treated as a gambler.

Professional and sustainable trading requires:

• adequate breathing room for price, consistent with the instrument’s volatility;
• controlled and proportional position sizing;
• rules aligned with real market dynamics, rather than artificial constraints.

This approach promotes decision-making clarity, operational consistency, and execution toward realistic objectives, while reducing reactive, fear-driven behavior that more closely resembles gambling mechanics than professional trading.

Therefore, here I will list ONLY the proprietary trading firms that I personally consider among the BEST based on the conditions they offer.

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In the table below, I have outlined what I consider to be the most important rules to evaluate before opening an account with a proprietary trading firm. They are ordered based on their real impact on trading performance, starting from the most critical—and often the most subtle if underestimated—down to those that may appear more “soft,” yet remain relevant.

The most important rule by far is Single Trade Risk (sometimes referred to as risk per trade idea). When poorly structured, misunderstood, or not properly evaluated, it is one of the most dangerous rules and is often sufficient on its own to compromise an account’s long-term survival.

Next, I have included rules with a progressively less immediate but still meaningful impact, such as payout frequency, which remains a key factor. After all, one of the ultimate goals of trading is also to be able to realize and monetize the results achieved.

Alongside each rule, I have added a column outlining what I personally consider to be the minimum ideal parameters that a proprietary trading firm should offer to allow for healthy, realistic, and professional account management, aligned with market dynamics and a sustainable trading approach over time.

Finally, I have included the rules of a proprietary trading firm along with the regulations it provides. In this case, I analyze City Traders Imperium (CTI).

⚠️ Soft Violation – Warning
(Attention to Discretionary Warnings: these are assessed based on trading activity which, if deemed to be purely gambling, may lead directly to Account Closure.)

Based on the wording used in its rules, CTI appears to adopt a relatively flexible approach to this issue. The firm suggests a progressive framework in which the trader is first warned and given the opportunity to correct certain behaviors. If those behaviors persist, CTI may impose a 1% risk limitation, and ultimately proceed with account closure if what they define as a “gambling approach” is not corrected.

❌ Severe violation – Account Closure

Note: The information provided is subject to change. Proprietary trading firms may update their operating rules at any time; therefore, it is essential to regularly review the official terms and conditions to avoid violations that may result in account closure.

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City Traders Imperium – Rules Overview

IDEAL (Personal Benchmark)

• Single Trade Risk: minimum 3% per trade
• Daily Drawdown: minimum acceptable 4%
• Drawdown Type: Static calculated on Start-of-Day Balance, not on starting balance (i.e., the initial balance when you purchased the account)
• Overnight Holding: allowed
• Weekend Holding: allowed
• News Trading: allowed
• Stop Loss Required: preferably no (for greater responsiveness to the market)
• Minimum Trading Days: preferably no, or maximum 3 days
• Consistency Score: minimum 20%
• Profit Target (Challenge): phase-dependent
• Scaling Plan: minimum +25%, preferably account doubling (x2)
• Profit Split: minimum 80%
• Payout Frequency: monthly acceptable, bi-weekly good, on-demand optimal

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The information below aims to highlight the essentials; for further details, please consult CTI’s Help section.

City Traders Imperium – 1 Step

• Single Trade Risk: around 1%, indicative and not a rigid rule. Enforcement is discretionary and based on strategy and behavioral analysis
  Rule violation: generally results in a warning
• Daily Drawdown: maximum 5%
  Rule violation: account closure
• Drawdown Type: Trailing drawdown based on your account balance, updated after each closed trade. The system always takes the highest balance reached as the reference value. If, when closing a position, your balance increases from $100K to $105K, that $105K becomes the new reference. If you later close another position at a loss and your balance drops to $102K, $105K remains the reference value and does not move down. The reference is therefore updated in real time only when a new balance high is reached.
  How it work: You start with $100K. Your 5% Max Trailing Drawdown equals $5,000, so initially your stop-out level is $95K ($100K − $5K). During the day, as you close positions in profit, your balance rises from $100K to $105K. At that moment, the trailing drawdown is applied to the new highest balance: your stop-out level moves up to $99,750 ($105K − $5K). If you subsequently close a losing trade and your balance falls to $102K, the stop-out level remains at $99,750, because the reference balance stays fixed at the highest value previously reached. If at any time your balance or equity reaches $99,750 or lower, the account is disqualified.
• Overnight Holding: allowed
• Weekend Holding: allowed
• News Trading: allowed (with no restrictions)
• Stop Loss Required: yes, must be set within 1 minute after trade opening
• Minimum Trading Days: equivalent to 3 trades with at least 0.5% profit each
• Consistency Score: 20%, soft rule and not enforced during the challenge phase
• Profit Target (Challenge): 8%
• Scaling Plan: On the Initial Balance +50% up to 100K, then +12.5% & +25% up to 200K Max
• Profit Split: ranges from 80% up to 100%
• Payout Conditions: You can request your 1st payout on Demand anytime once you have:
  – At least 7 Profitable Trading Days
  – A Minimum of 2% net profit or $100 (whichever is higher)
  After your 1st payout, you can request any subsequent payouts Monthly, during the last 5 days of each month

City Traders Imperium – 2 Step

• Single Trade Risk: around 1%, indicative and not a rigid rule. Enforcement remains discretionary
  Rule violation: generally results in a warning
• Daily Drawdown: maximum 5%
  Rule violation: account closure
• Drawdown Type: Calculated on the initial account balance and recalculated at the start of each trading day based on the start-of-day balance, not on equity. To simplify, it can be seen as a delayed form of trailing drawdown: instead of updating continuously after each new balance high, the drawdown limit is updated once per day using the balance at the beginning of the day.
  How it works: The drawdown amount is fixed as a percentage of the initial account balance (for example, 5%). At the start of each trading day, a new Daily Stop-Out Level is calculated by subtracting this fixed amount from the start-of-day balance. This level then remains unchanged for the entire day, regardless of intraday profits or losses. Because the reference is the start-of-day balance, the daily drawdown limit can increase or decrease from one day to the next:
  – it increases if the account closes the previous day in profit,
  – it decreases if the account closes the previous day in loss.
  Unlike a Max Trailing Drawdown, this drawdown does not follow intraday balance highs and does not tighten during the trading session. The limit only updates once per day, based solely on the balance, not on floating equity.
• Overnight Holding: allowed
• Weekend Holding: allowed
• News Trading: allowed (with no restrictions)
• Stop Loss Required: yes, must be set within 1 minute after trade opening
• Minimum Trading Days: equivalent to 3 trades with at least 0.5% profit each
• Consistency Score: 20%, soft rule but enforced during the funded phase
• Profit Target (Challenge): two phases, 10% in phase one and 5% in phase two (15% total)
• Scaling Plan: On the Initial Balance +50% up to 100K, then +12.5% & +25% up to 200K Max
• Profit Split: ranges from 80% up to 100%
• Payout Conditions: You can request your 1st payout on Demand anytime once you have:
  – At least 7 profitable trading days
  – A Minimum of 2% net profit or $100 (whichever is higher)
  After your 1st payout, you can request any subsequent payouts Monthly, during the last 5 days of each month.
  – After your first 10% you can request your payout bi-weekly.

City Traders Imperium – Instant & Instant Pro

• Single Trade Risk: around 1%, indicative and discretionary
  Rule violation: generally results in a warning
• Daily Drawdown: maximum static drawdown of 6%
  Rule violation: account closure
• Drawdown Type: static drawdown calculated on the initial balance
• Overnight Holding: allowed
• Weekend Holding: allowed
• News Trading: allowed (with no restrictions)
• Stop Loss Required: yes, must be set within 1 minute after trade opening
• Minimum Trading Days: –
• Consistency Score: –
• Profit Target: –
• Scaling Plan: account doubling after achieving 10% profit and a 20% consistency score
• Profit Split: starts at 50% (Level 1) and can reach up to 100%
• Payout Conditions: You can request the 50% profit share from Level 1 when the 10% profit target is achieved on Level 2.
  Instant Funding (Level 2 & Higher) & Instant Funding Pro (All Levels)
  You can request the 1st payout on Demand anytime once you have:
  – At least 5 profitable trading days
  – A Minimum of 2% net profit or $100 (whichever is higher)
  After the 1st payout, you can request any subsequent payouts bi-weekly, on the 14th/15th & the last 2 days of each month.

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Other Important Notes

• Rules may change over time; always consult the latest official CTI documentation to avoid unintended violations
• To quickly locate specific rules:
  • use the FAQ search bar (keywords such as single trade, risk, drawdown)
  • use the browser “Find” function inside the Terms & Conditions

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