👀 Topstep joins the prop firm gamification trend

Hi everyone, another week is upon us and the markets are open, so let’s get into it.

Topstep launched Undead and Slasher last week, two products that require traders to complete a Challenge Round followed by a Payout Round. Successful traders receive a fixed $3,000 payout before the account closes, rather than progressing to a traditional funded account.

It is the latest sign that prop firm products are becoming increasingly gamified. Tradeify recently launched ‘Level Up’, a ten stage ladder where traders face increasingly difficult profit targets and unlock payouts at selected stages. The firm has also joined MyFundedFutures and Lucid in introducing wider rewards systems built around points, gems, missions and card packs. When several of the largest futures firms start moving in the same direction, it becomes an interesting development for the whole industry. It will be fascinating to see where they take the gamification of prop trading from here.

📢  Firm Announcements

• FTMO launched its Instant Account, offering immediate access to a simulated funded account without an evaluation. It includes a 10% maximum loss, 1:100 leverage and a 90% reward split, with separate global and US versions.

• MyFundedFutures launched Studio 003 for a one time fee of $75. The $5K account has a $500 profit target, a $250 static maximum loss and no minimum trading days, buffer or payout waiting period. Multiple payouts can be achieved on the same day.

• Tradeify added the ability to sell unopened reward packs back to its Rewards Center for 60% of their original Gem cost.

• Goat Funded Trader launched its internal trade copier across MT5, cTrader, Match Trader and TradeLocker. It supports automatic position sizing, partial closes and copied stop losses and take profits, with no VPS required.

• The5ers added stock trading to its Pro Growth and Bootcamp programmes. Traders can now access 57 major US stocks, including Nvidia, Alphabet and Apple.

• FundedNext released another limited FundedNext Labs account. The $25K two step challenge offers a 12% static maximum loss, 4% daily loss, three day payouts and an 85% reward share, with a maximum of five purchases per trader.

From Payout Junction, here are the firms that paid out the most over the last 7 days 🏆️.

🕜 Red Folder News

Sparse calendar this week! On the geopolitical front, Egypt is considering military support for Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks intensify, while renewed threats to oil facilities and shipping routes are keeping energy markets on edge.

📈 Markets

Nasdaq bloodbath

A very interesting week finished with a Friday flush, leaving the Nasdaq 100 down 5.5%. The tech index is now sitting on a long term trendline, making this week an important inflection point.

The AI trade is starting to crack

Morgan Stanley’s AI beneficiaries basket just plunged 16% in a week, while the broader S&P 500 only fell around 2%. The AI trade is cracking, but the wider market is holding up remarkably well. Rotation or the beginning of something bigger?

Tech flows are reversing

Positioning is beginning to unwind but remains at highly elevated levels. A proper reset could take much longer and, if it gathers momentum, who knows how low the Nasdaq could go.,

Well, that was fast

Market sentiment went from Neutral to Extreme Fear in a week. The risk on, risk off paradigm is back. Buying equity indices when sentiment reaches Extreme Fear has historically been profitable, but it is easier said than done when facing big red candles like Friday’s. Let’s see how this week plays out.

Gonna be an interesting one!

London Prop Trading Expo

The London Prop Trading Expo returns on 23 and 24 October at Old Billingsgate, with more than 64 speakers, 39 exhibitors and up to 4,000 traders expected across the two days.

There’ll be live trading, trader education, industry panels and plenty of prop firms in attendance. If you’re heading along, use code PAYOUT for 50% off tickets.

Find out more here

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