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City Traders Imperium review

CFD prop firm operating since 2018, built around a balance-based, non-equity drawdown model

CEO
Martin Najat
Headquarters
United Arab Emirates
Founded
2018
In business
8 years
Trustpilot
4.2(1.6K)
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C

Our grade

Average

6.3 / 10 · #7 of 22

4.2

Trustpilot

1.6K reviews

  • 5★83%
  • 4★9%
  • 3★2%
  • 2★1%
  • 1★6%
Pass rate10%
Hidden riskHigh
Payouts5.9/10
Max allocation$4M
Cheapest $100K$449
Programs4

City Traders Imperium rules & hidden risks

The fine print that costs traders accounts

Hidden Risk score

4.6/10

Hidden risk 4.6 out of 10, High

High risk

Average: 5.5

CTI pairs an unusually detailed, numbered rulebook with marketing claims that contradict several of those same rules.

Hidden rules to know before you buy

  1. highdiscretion

    'One-sided bets' and 'gambling behaviour' are judged by CTI against published but broad thresholds

    A trade is flagged as a one-sided bet once a heavily one-directional bias on one symbol generates more than 1% profit of the starting balance; gambling behaviour is defined as letting the margin level on a single trade idea fall to 150% or below. Both are reviewed and decided by CTI's own risk team.

    Source
  2. highstrategy

    EA traders must hand over source code on every program except the 1-Step

    On the 2-Step, Instant Funding and Direct Funding, CTI requires traders to own their EA outright and submit the full source code on request so its risk team can inspect it; refusing, often to protect proprietary strategy code, can mean losing the account. This is one of the most common complaint subjects in the Trustpilot sample.

    Source
  3. mediumother

    Mandatory 1-minute stop-loss or auto-close

    A trade left open for more than 1 minute without a stop-loss is closed automatically by CTI's system, and any profit earned without a stop-loss doesn't count toward the profit target. Several Trustpilot reviewers describe trades closing unexpectedly under this rule.

    Source

The rulebook

Drawdown & Evaluation5 rules
  • 2-Step max loss is a static 10% of the starting balance; the 5% daily limit is recalculated each day from that day's starting (closed-trade) balance, not floating equity.
  • 1-Step max loss is a trailing 5% based on the trader's highest closed balance, with no separate daily limit.
  • Instant and Direct Funding cap loss at a fixed 6% of the real starting balance (half the nominal account size on Instant Funding, which only reaches 100% after a 5% profit-to-scale target).
  • No time limit on any evaluation phase, but 1-Step and 2-Step evaluations require at least 3 separate days with a minimum 0.5% profit each.
  • A trade left open for more than 1 minute without a stop-loss is closed automatically, and profit earned without one doesn't count toward the target.
Prohibited Strategies5 rules
  • Martingale is banned on the 2-Step, Instant Funding and Direct Funding; it is allowed only on the 1-Step, capped at 2% total risk per trade idea.
  • Grid trading is banned on every program.
  • Hedging is banned on every program, including across a trader's own multiple accounts and correlated-instrument hedges.
  • High-frequency trading, tick/micro-scalping, and latency, reverse or hedge arbitrage bots are banned on every program; manual scalping is not.
  • A trade is flagged as a 'one-sided bet' once a heavily one-directional bias on one symbol produces more than 1% profit of the starting balance; 'gambling behaviour' is defined as letting the margin level on one trade idea fall to 150% or below.
Expert Advisors & Copy Trading2 rules
  • On the 2-Step, Instant Funding and Direct Funding, a trader must own their EA outright and hand over the full source code to CTI on request; the 1-Step allows any third-party EA, but a widely distributed one risks a 'coordinated trading' flag.
  • Copying trades out of a CTI account (to a personal broker, another prop firm, or another CTI account acting as master) is allowed; copying into a CTI account from an external source, signal service or challenge-pass service is not.
News, Weekend & Timing2 rules
  • News trading is marketed as unrestricted on every program, but the Terms separately ban opening trades timed to profit from a news-driven price gap, judged at CTI's discretion.
  • Weekend and overnight holding are allowed on every program.
Devices, IP & Consistency3 rules
  • Accounts are capped at two devices (one computer, one mobile) for the life of a challenge; switching devices between phases needs approval.
  • VPNs, proxies and IP-masking tools are banned outright; a VPS is allowed only to run an approved EA or copy trader and needs pre-approval.
  • Instant Funding and Direct Funding accounts need a Consistency Score of 20% or under (best single day's P&L divided by the sum of every day's absolute P&L) to qualify for scaling, despite CTI's FAQ saying there are 'no hidden consistency rules.'
Account, Fees & Payout5 rules
  • Challenge and funded-account fees are non-refundable once the first simulated trade is opened, including on a failed or breached account.
  • A new funded account starts at an 80% profit split on the 2-Step/1-Step or 70% on Instant/Direct Funding; 100% is unlocked only at the Silver rank of the CTI VIP Program.
  • First payout needs at least 7 profitable trading days on the 1-Step/2-Step or 5 on Instant/Direct Funding (each day at least 0.5% profit); later payouts default to a monthly or bi-weekly window unless cumulative profit reaches 10%, which unlocks on-demand requests.
  • 30 days without a trade suspends the account; KYC (ID, proof of address, a live selfie check) is required before the first payout.
  • CTI's own FAQ names 5 restricted countries, but its published rules on Prop Firm Match cite a longer list including Belarus, Libya, Sudan, Venezuela, Yemen and several Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions.

What City Traders Imperium allows

  • RestrictedEAs / botsRestricted

    Any third-party EA is allowed on the 1-Step, though a widely shared one risks a 'coordinated trading' flag. The 2-Step, Instant Funding and Direct Funding require EA ownership and the full source code on request. HFT, tick/micro-scalping and arbitrage bots are banned on every program.

  • RestrictedNews tradingRestricted

    Marketed as allowed with no time-window restrictions on every program, but the Terms ban opening trades timed to profit from a news-driven price gap, judged at CTI's discretion, and EA rules separately ban 'news scalping bots.'

  • AllowedWeekend holdingAllowed
  • AllowedOvernight holdingAllowed
  • RestrictedCopy tradingRestricted

    Copying trades out of a CTI account (to a personal broker, another prop firm, or another CTI account acting as the master) is allowed. Copying into a CTI account from an external signal source, another trader, or a challenge-pass service is banned.

  • Not allowedHedgingNot allowed

    Banned on every program, including offsetting trades across a trader's own multiple CTI accounts and hedges built from correlated instruments such as EURUSD vs DXY or US30 vs SPX500.

  • AllowedScalpingAllowed

    Manual scalping is allowed and even featured in CTI's own trader case studies; automated high-frequency or tick/micro-scalping bots are banned.