Last week, Fundedlions disappeared from the rapidly changing prop trading industry, with CEO Noman Iqbal requesting users not to log into their accounts for a few days as the company transitions to the MetaTrader 5 platform.
Reasons Behind Prop Firm Fundedlions' Suspension of Operations
In a letter to clients, Iqbal stated that technology provider Dominion Markets allegedly was responsible for the company's issues. According to the CEO, this was not the first time Fundedlions had been "attacked and blackmailed" by its business partners.
An explanation posted on the company's official Discord showed that Dominion Markets recently quadrupled the cost of establishing accounts and added "unreasonable" additional fees.
Iqbal stated: "This week, they crossed the line by charging us again for active account fees that we had already paid, making it extremely difficult for us to continue operating on their platform."
Dominion Markets is a forex CFD broker with offices in Dubai, Cyprus, and India, whose products include the cTrader platform that prop firm clients may have been using until now.
Due to potential liquidity maintenance issues, Fundedlions decided to switch to a different platform in the coming days, which according to the CEO's message, will be MetaTrader 5.
Iqbal added: "We strongly advise our traders to temporarily cease trading on their accounts. Rest assured, we have saved all client data, and we expect to complete the migration within 7 working days."
This message was posted on September 6, giving Fundedlions until next Monday to fulfill its promise on time.
Is an Atmosphere of Acquisitions, Closures, and Strange Withdrawal Requests Spreading in the Prop Trading Industry?
The prop trading industry is undergoing dynamic changes, with some companies closing down and new ones emerging almost immediately to take their place.
A few weeks ago, UK's Indigo Trader Funding officially suspended operations because it "failed in this business attempt." The official announcement was released just one day after the company name was formally removed from the company register, with an application for cancellation filed on August 12.
A few days later, broker AXE acquired prop firm Forex Funder, which had 6,000 active clients and 600 funded accounts, in an acquisition valued at "millions" of dollars.
The acquisition of The Forex Funder is part of a continuing trend of acquiring troubled prop firms; Sway Funded acquired the now-closed Karma Prop Traders; Astra Capital also shocked the prop trading industry by revealing its "willingness to acquire every closed or suspended prop firm, taking over all traders" and bringing them onto its platform.
There has also been much discussion about Apex Traded Funding's latest ideas, which changed the rules for client withdrawals. Allegedly, the prop firm began demanding efforts from clients that might infringe on their strategic and personal privacy, with traders being asked to record all screens during investments and keep cameras continuously pointed at their faces.
Reference：Another Prop Firm Suspends Operations, Claims It Was “Attacked and Blackmailed”
