As recently as July, Khaled Ayesh, the co-founder and CEO of Funding Pips, took to X to assure the firm’s community that the firm’s new Prime account “is and will remain optional.” Within weeks, the definition of “optional” underwent a liberal interpretation: for those who were directly invited by the firm’s Responsible Trading Team, the transition was mandatory. More importantly, not everyone understood that was the case, which has sparked an online firestorm: Traders claim that despite being billed as optional, the transition shifted successful ones to the “Prime” account instead of cash payouts.
According to the firm’s guidelines, communicated to Finance Magnates by a Funding Pips spokesperson, traders can also access the new account themselves.
The way it works is by essentially forfeiting their fourth cash payout in exchange for Prime, which is 12.5 times larger than transferred profit. This is provided they generated at least 2% profit on that cycle; they are also subject to a transfer cap of 10% of their Master Account size.
The exact number of traders who transitioned voluntarily remains uncertain, as does the count of those who found themselves transferred without an option to opt out.
Prime is and will remain optional
Announcement going out today
— Khaled (@Khldfx) June 5, 2026
Contents
Mixed Messaging
Trustpilot has seen an uptick in one-star reviews targeting the firm in recent weeks, with negative feedback comprising 8% of all reviews.
While these complaints frequently cite the confusion surrounding the mandatory Prime transition, they are bundled with grievances regarding withdrawal delays and account closures due to KYC issues, among others.
To be sure, the retail prop trading industry is no stranger to the dark arts of reputation damage. Research by Finance Magnates suggests that bulk orders (2,000 reviews could cost about US$7,500) can easily be procured from several websites.
One of several complaints on Trustpilot highlighting the mandatory transition as unfair.
Of course, in theory, that can also happen in reverse with firms bumping their scores by buying positive reviews.
Nonetheless, the specificity of the complaints regarding the Prime Account suggests that there is genuine frustration that cannot be dismissed as mere bot-driven noise.
Similarly, traders have taken to X to air their bewilderment at finding themselves on the Prime account without the option to opt out.
PRIME Update
I appreciate the invitation to PRIME, but honestly, I don’t want to be a PRIME trader.
That said, I’m curious about one thing: does PRIME apply to every eligible Master account under the same trader?
If that’s the case, 4 of my 6 accounts have already been moved… pic.twitter.com/iPhaBksH1C
— XAIN (@xainfx_) August 18, 2026
In part, the firm has invited this frustration by calling a mandatory transition an “invitation,” language that implies choice.
“We understand that changes to account structures can cause confusion, and we acknowledge the concerns raised regarding communication around the transition,” Funding Pips said to Finance Magnates.
Risk Management or Deeper Issues?
The prop firm model is precarious, partly because the primary revenue source is the continuous churn of evaluation fees. A sudden drop-off in sign-ups can expose a firm to significant risk.
At the same time, a sudden uptick in profitable clients – industry data suggest that 93% fail their evaluation challenges – will deplete the available liquidity of that stream.
This issue is compounded by a flood of copycat firms that are eroding margins on evaluation fees and sophisticated groups that use tactics, like hedging, to game the system.
Drew Niv, Chief Strategy Officer at ATFX, which recently halted its prop trading arm, noted on LinkedIn that while the prop firm market expanded rapidly because its value proposition far exceeds what retail brokers offer, that same proposition relies on unsustainable math across both qualification and payout stages.
Ultimately, that has caught up with the market and driven numerous prop firms out of business.
Against this background, Funding Pips’ unilateral transition of traders in lieu of profit can be seen as a way to stem cash flow. For a chunk of the firm’s community, any advertised benefits Prime offers seem overshadowed by the fact that, instead of a payout, they get a new account.
While Funding Pips did not comment on the “internal financial, liquidity, or strategic considerations behind account-model changes,” it went ahead to say that “the transition to the Prime account is based on the applicable terms and conditions communicated to affected traders. It should not be interpreted as a retroactive change intended to penalize successful traders.”
In a comparable event, FundingTicks, a futures prop trading firm created by the team behind FundingPips, saw significant social media outcry last year following reports that it retroactively altered its trading rules.
Its Trustpilot rating tanked from a solid 4.1 to a 3.2 in weeks. The major evaluation and review platform Prop Firm Match delisted the firm as a result.
Three weeks later, FundingTicks shut down.
However, Funding Pips operates on a bigger scale. The firm claims it has distributed US$250 million in rewards and has more than 3 million registered users. Even in an industry where people are hyper-sensitive to perceived shifts in the rules of the game, that market presence could be enough to weather this particular storm.
As recently as July, Khaled Ayesh, the co-founder and CEO of Funding Pips, took to X to assure the firm’s community that the firm’s new Prime account “is and will remain optional.” Within weeks, the definition of “optional” underwent a liberal interpretation: for those who were directly invited by the firm’s Responsible Trading Team, the transition was mandatory. More importantly, not everyone understood that was the case, which has sparked an online firestorm: Traders claim that despite being billed as optional, the transition shifted successful ones to the “Prime” account instead of cash payouts.
According to the firm’s guidelines, communicated to Finance Magnates by a Funding Pips spokesperson, traders can also access the new account themselves.
The way it works is by essentially forfeiting their fourth cash payout in exchange for Prime, which is 12.5 times larger than transferred profit. This is provided they generated at least 2% profit on that cycle; they are also subject to a transfer cap of 10% of their Master Account size.
The exact number of traders who transitioned voluntarily remains uncertain, as does the count of those who found themselves transferred without an option to opt out.
Prime is and will remain optional
Announcement going out today
— Khaled (@Khldfx) June 5, 2026
Mixed Messaging
Trustpilot has seen an uptick in one-star reviews targeting the firm in recent weeks, with negative feedback comprising 8% of all reviews.
While these complaints frequently cite the confusion surrounding the mandatory Prime transition, they are bundled with grievances regarding withdrawal delays and account closures due to KYC issues, among others.
To be sure, the retail prop trading industry is no stranger to the dark arts of reputation damage. Research by Finance Magnates suggests that bulk orders (2,000 reviews could cost about US$7,500) can easily be procured from several websites.
One of several complaints on Trustpilot highlighting the mandatory transition as unfair.
Of course, in theory, that can also happen in reverse with firms bumping their scores by buying positive reviews.
Nonetheless, the specificity of the complaints regarding the Prime Account suggests that there is genuine frustration that cannot be dismissed as mere bot-driven noise.
Similarly, traders have taken to X to air their bewilderment at finding themselves on the Prime account without the option to opt out.
PRIME Update
I appreciate the invitation to PRIME, but honestly, I don’t want to be a PRIME trader.
That said, I’m curious about one thing: does PRIME apply to every eligible Master account under the same trader?
If that’s the case, 4 of my 6 accounts have already been moved… pic.twitter.com/iPhaBksH1C
— XAIN (@xainfx_) August 18, 2026
In part, the firm has invited this frustration by calling a mandatory transition an “invitation,” language that implies choice.
“We understand that changes to account structures can cause confusion, and we acknowledge the concerns raised regarding communication around the transition,” Funding Pips said to Finance Magnates.
Risk Management or Deeper Issues?
The prop firm model is precarious, partly because the primary revenue source is the continuous churn of evaluation fees. A sudden drop-off in sign-ups can expose a firm to significant risk.
At the same time, a sudden uptick in profitable clients – industry data suggest that 93% fail their evaluation challenges – will deplete the available liquidity of that stream.
This issue is compounded by a flood of copycat firms that are eroding margins on evaluation fees and sophisticated groups that use tactics, like hedging, to game the system.
Drew Niv, Chief Strategy Officer at ATFX, which recently halted its prop trading arm, noted on LinkedIn that while the prop firm market expanded rapidly because its value proposition far exceeds what retail brokers offer, that same proposition relies on unsustainable math across both qualification and payout stages.
Ultimately, that has caught up with the market and driven numerous prop firms out of business.
Against this background, Funding Pips’ unilateral transition of traders in lieu of profit can be seen as a way to stem cash flow. For a chunk of the firm’s community, any advertised benefits Prime offers seem overshadowed by the fact that, instead of a payout, they get a new account.
While Funding Pips did not comment on the “internal financial, liquidity, or strategic considerations behind account-model changes,” it went ahead to say that “the transition to the Prime account is based on the applicable terms and conditions communicated to affected traders. It should not be interpreted as a retroactive change intended to penalize successful traders.”
In a comparable event, FundingTicks, a futures prop trading firm created by the team behind FundingPips, saw significant social media outcry last year following reports that it retroactively altered its trading rules.
Its Trustpilot rating tanked from a solid 4.1 to a 3.2 in weeks. The major evaluation and review platform Prop Firm Match delisted the firm as a result.
Three weeks later, FundingTicks shut down.
However, Funding Pips operates on a bigger scale. The firm claims it has distributed US$250 million in rewards and has more than 3 million registered users. Even in an industry where people are hyper-sensitive to perceived shifts in the rules of the game, that market presence could be enough to weather this particular storm.
SOURCE LINK : Funding Pips Pushes Traders to New Account, Causing Online Grievance
