Checklist before you buy a prop firm challenge

Germany's BaFin lists missing information as a warning sign and asks first: who is your contracting party^[4]? With prop firms that is not always obvious:

• FTMO's imprint names FTMO s.r.o. with business ID, Prague address and commercial register entry at the Municipal Court in Prague^[5].
• Goat Funded Trader's terms name Wishes Tower International Limited in Hong Kong as the company; the simulated trading services come from Goat Funded LTD in Saint Lucia^[6].
• FundedNext names, among others, operators in Ajman (UAE) and the Comoros, and payment agents in Hong Kong and Limassol (Cyprus)^[36].

Check the governing law and where disputes go. At The5ers it is Israeli law and the courts in Tel Aviv^[7]; at Tradeify, Florida law and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association^[8]. MyFundedFutures writes that by signing up, traders waive chargebacks and court actions^[9]. BaFin warns that claims abroad can be very hard to enforce^[4].

Warning sign: no company name, address or registration number, or terms and imprint naming different companies without explaining their roles. PropCrab profiles list the companies under "Companies & supervision".

How freely a firm may change its rules is in the terms:

• Tradeify may change the terms, plans and payout requirements at any time, effective when posted; continued use counts as acceptance^[8].
• Goat Funded Trader may amend its terms at any time; continued use counts as agreement^[6].
• At The5ers, trading rules and prohibited conduct may change at any time, with or without notice. Changes to fees and programme parameters, however, do not affect services already bought^[7].

In practice: FTMO replaced the Best Day Rule on the 1-Step with a consistency rule, but only for orders from 12 October 2026. Older accounts keep the old rule, even after passing and a reward withdrawal^[10]. Goat Funded Trader cut the daily loss on its 1 Step from 4% to 3% for accounts bought from 1 August 2026^[11].

Check: do the terms say whether changes reach running accounts? Save the rules as a PDF on the day you buy. PropCrab profiles list documented rule changes under "Events & changes"; the guides on drawdown types and consistency rules explain the rules themselves.

Identity verification (KYC) comes at different points:

• FTMO: after all evaluation objectives are met (1-Step, 2-Step), on the Instant Account at the first reward request^[37].
• Topstep: after the first purchase, required before the second purchase^[38].
• Goat Funded Trader: only at the first payout request, not at purchase^[39].

The later the check, the more you have paid before you know whether you pass. The5ers writes that even if you provide all the information it asks for, you may still not pass; the reasons may include legal restrictions or commercial considerations, and the firm may refuse to continue the check^[7]. At FundedNext the KYC must be approved before any reward is paid; you get 3 attempts (5 for Iraq and Nigeria). Per the same page, the mandatory renewal every 90 days is currently paused^[12]. E8 Markets pays only through partners: WorkMarket, Rise and, for US clients only, Aeropay. If you cannot complete the WorkMarket and Rise KYC, there is no payout^[13].

Sometimes a firm's pages contradict each other. Audacity Capital's knowledge centre requires KYC only for a profit withdrawal^[14], its AML policy before you join any programme, proof of address included^[15]. If so, ask in writing before you buy.

Check: timing, documents (ID, proof of address, selfie), number of attempts, and whether the payout provider runs its own check.

PropCrab's profiles record each firm's own statement for Switzerland, Germany and Austria:

Allowed does not mean allowed at every stage. Per Topstep, German residents can pass the Trading Combine and take up to USD 200,000 in total payouts through "Express Funded Accounts", but get no "Live Funded Account"^[16]. Tradeify writes that some jurisdictions can buy an evaluation but stay on a simulated account for the whole contract, with the list kept in its help centre^[8]. PropCrab did not find that list there.

Your passport can matter too. Topstep looks at citizenship and residence, and even briefly trading from an ineligible country may trigger a review^[16]. FTMO excludes nationals and residents of Iran, Syria, Myanmar and North Korea, with narrow exceptions for some of them living in the EEA^[17]. At The5ers, bypassing geographical restrictions, for example by VPN, is a fundamental breach: no fee refund, and accrued profits are forfeited^[7].

Check: the country list for the purchase and the payout stage, for your residence and your citizenship. Where PropCrab could not confirm the status, the profile shows "– not documented".

• FTMO pays by bank wire, Visa Direct or Mastercard Send (up to USD 20,000), Skrill (up to USD 3,000) or crypto^[18].
• Blue Guardian pays by crypto or Rise; crypto is capped at USD 1,000 per request, anything above goes through Rise^[19].
• City Traders Imperium pays crypto only as USDT on the TRC20 network, with a 5% fee and at most USD 1,000 a month. Per its own page, the firm is not responsible for funds lost to a wrong address^[20].
• E8 Markets has no direct crypto payout^[13].

Why it matters: the US consumer agency FTC says crypto payments typically cannot be reversed and, unlike credit and debit cards, typically come with no such legal protections^[21]. And at purchase: E8 Markets and MyFundedFutures never refund a challenge paid in crypto^[22][9].

Check: is there a method without crypto for your country? Which limits and fees apply per payout?

Often the first trade ends the claim, as at E8 Markets and MyFundedFutures^[22][9]. The Trading Pit names a statutory 14-day right of withdrawal for consumers that ends with the first demo trade; business customers do not have it^[23]. At E8 Markets an account is disabled after 60 days without trading, with no claim to a refund^[22].

A chargeback through your bank can have consequences. E8 Markets lists as possible actions account termination, cancellation of all active payouts and a permanent ban^[22]. At Tradeify pending payouts are forfeited automatically^[8]. For reversals of charges for services received, Topstep may review, suspend or close accounts and recover costs^[24].

Italy's Consob writes that, per the reports it received, paying participants then got no economic benefit from the prop firms^[3]. Per the FSMA, the firm alone sets the conditions, so consumers can hardly tell whether anything is owed, or how much^[2].

The firms' own texts:

• Tradeify may strike profits from certain breaches, even retroactively and on accounts that already received a payout^[8].
• The5ers may close accounts and forfeit accrued profits if you publicly disparage the firm or publish internal support messages^[7].
• E8 Markets and MyFundedFutures name the forfeiture of payouts or funds for breaches of their terms^[22][9].

These texts do not show whether or how often a firm applies such clauses, only where to read.

Check: search the terms for "forfeit", "void", "sole discretion" and "prohibited", and read the list of prohibited strategies in full.

Search every name: brand, website and every company in the terms and imprint, payment agents included.

Cyprus matters when a firm names a company there, as FundedNext does on its own website^[36]. NFA registration is covered in futures vs forex.

No entry does not mean "checked and fine": FINMA, BaFin and the FSMA say their lists are not complete^[25][4][32]. And per FINMA, an entry does not automatically mean the activity is unlawful^[25].

1. 1Contracting party with name, address and registration number; terms and imprint match.
2. 2Governing law and place for disputes noted.
3. 3Amendment clause read, rules saved on the day of purchase.
4. 4KYC: timing, documents, attempts, payout provider's check.
5. 5Country allowed for purchase and payout stage, citizenship included.
6. 6A payout method without crypto, limits and fees known.
7. 7Refund deadline and conditions noted, a refundable payment method chosen.
8. 8Forfeiture clauses and prohibited strategies read.
9. 9Every name searched in the warning lists.
10. 10Total cost worked out in the challenge cost calculator, repeat attempts in the attempt budget.