After dozens, if not hundreds, of complaints on social media, prop trading firm The Funded Trader has confirmed that it has suspended all payouts because of a “self-imposed internal audit.”

A Good Reason for Half Payouts?

“We will be ensuring all payouts are in line with our terms of service and do not violate the gambling policies we have in place. Due to the migration, in which mistakes were made, it has created a large backlog of tickets for us to resolve, payouts included,” the platform tweeted yesterday.

“We are working actively to resolve everything and will focus on attention to detail at this time to ensure our customers are getting the experience they deserve in the now and in the future.”

The company highlighted that it had distributed $150 million in payouts to date. However, that figure is self-claimed and was not audited externally.

We have enabled a self imposed internal audit of all payouts. We will be ensuring all payouts are in line with our terms of service, and do not violate the gambling policies we have in place. Due to the migration, in which mistakes were made, it has created a large backlog of…

— The Funded Trader (@thefundedtrader) March 13, 2024

A Troubled Prop Trading Platform

The Funded Trader is a part of Easton Consulting Technologies LLC, which operates a number of other prop trading platforms. It is headed by Angelo Ciaramello, the Chief Executive Officer. Ciaramello called the recent complaints a "propaganda" against the firm

Coordinated propaganda attack against @thefundedtrader ? Sounds about right.

New Judge Judy episode dropping soon 🧑‍⚖️

— Angelo Ciaramello (@savedbyfx) March 13, 2024

As Finance Magnates reported, Nicholas D’Arcangelo, the Co-Founder and former Chief Marketing Officer at The Funded Trader, sued his business partners, including Ciaramello, last year for forceful redistribution of his stakes in the company.

Similar to other prop trading platforms, The Funded Trader faced operational disruption with the alleged policy change of MetaQuotes against prop trading platforms. Ciaramello-led platform adopted DXtrade and cTrader as MetaTrader alternatives.

However, the customers of The Funded Trader recently took social media, primarily Trustpilot, to reveal the payout denials by the platform. Many have pointed out that the prop trading platform did not even cite a reason for the payout denial, and the customer support did not respond to messages, only with a scripted initial message.