Funded
Friends, a prop trading firm founded earlier this year, announced it will cease
operations and be acquired by competitor TradingFunds, according to a statement
from CEO Arjo Janssens.

Prop Firm Funded Friends Closes,
Pledges Full Refunds to Traders

From the
information posted last weekend on the official Discord and X (formerly
Twitter) by Funded Friends, it seems the company has no liquidity issues nor
problems with paying out customer funds. According to the CEO, the business
side of the prop firm has “lots of potential,” but Janssens himself
wants to focus on his core activities as a financial influencer.

Janssens,
who started Funded Friends in 2024, said the decision to close the company
stems from a desire to refocus his efforts on trading education rather than
running a prop trading business.

“I
have realized it’s not my passion, and it is not a business that I want to keep
pursuing,” Janssens stated. “The time and energy put into Funded
Friends are taken away from all the value I can bring to people through
education instead.”

This is
another prop trading firm that announced its closure this month. In
mid-September, Gold
Funded Trader made a similar move due to a lack of interest in its
offerings.

As part of
the closure, Funded Friends will provide full refunds to all active account
holders. Additionally, traders will receive vouchers equal to their account
values for use at TradingFunds. The firm also pledged to pay out profits to
funded accounts, even for those not meeting typical minimum trading
requirements.

I wanted everyone to hear this from me. Arjo here.

I recently started Funded Friends prop firm, which is not a white label, and no, we don’t have liquidity issues or issues paying out traders.

But in recent times, I have come to a conclusion: Funded Friends has lots of…

— Funded Friends (@FundedFriends) September 28, 2024

Janssens also
stated that all Funded Friends employees have been assured new positions as
part of the transition.

“This
decision is ultimately the best one I could make and allows me to spend more
time focusing again on my trading, MMT, free YouTube, and my family,”
Janssens said. “Whilst ethically leaving Funded Friends behind.”

TradingFunds
has been in the market for over a year and a half and offers one and two-step
evaluations for retail traders, with accounts up to $600,000. The financial
terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Increasing Consolidation
in the Prop Trading Market

Earlier
this year, Finance Magnates spoke
with Crystal Lok, the Head of Emerging Markets at OANDA, who suggested that
while there are currently many firms in the prop trading market, the industry
will begin to consolidate more strongly.

In her
view, issues such as access to MetaTrader from MetaQuotes, or problems with
payouts in the prop trading model for small firms, may lead to only the
strongest players remaining in the market.

“Potential
future regulatory scrutiny on the prop model might lead to consolidation among
larger players,” Lok commented.

We didn’t
have to wait long for examples of consolidation. In July, struggling prop firm MyFlashFunding
was acquired by Sway Funded, which was intended to save it from bankruptcy . A
month later, Sway Funded acquired another company with problems, this
time Karma Prop Traders.

At the same
time, Astra
Capital Group stated that it was “ready to acquire any prop firm that
shuts down.” This was meant to be a response to the turmoil in the prop
trading industry. Up to 20 trading firms may have closed due to MT4 and MT5
licensing issues.

Meanwhile,
AXE Securities, a contract for differences (CFDs) broker operating from the
Bahamas, has
become the latest to enter the fast-growing prop trading industry by
acquiring The Forex Funder (TFF) from financial influencer Tommy Cobain.