A Message from Apex Trader Funding

Hi,

The prop trading landscape has experienced rapid change in recent months. Firms have come and gone, and many have updated or completely revised their rules—some multiple times in just the last few weeks.

Across the industry, firms are grappling with mounting challenges that threaten long-term sustainability: tightening risk management, evolving program requirements, and refining payout structures. These are all part of normal operations, but as the industry has grown, so too has a more concerning issue, the rise of bad actors exploiting the simulated trading environment.

As prop firm rules have matured, so too have the tactics used to game them. All firms, including Apex—have seen a sharp increase in exploitative behavior, often from coordinated groups. These abuses span a range of strategies, including hedging schemes, extreme DCA, automated bots, high-risk gambling approaches, and particularly, copy-trade signal services.

The financial toll is significant. These activities have cost Apex millions of dollars each month—and the impact continues to escalate.

To counter these threats, many firms have begun adjusting rules and policies, especially around payouts. In fact, the problem has grown so widespread that discussions have emerged about firms joining forces to combat abuse through data sharing and joint enforcement. One such concept is the formation of a Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO), a collective of prop firms agreeing to shared standards and collaborating to identify and penalize bad actors.

While this may sound like an attractive solution for collective protection, Apex will not be joining this SRO.

We've received many inquiries about our stance. To be clear: Apex supports the idea of industry regulation and believes that compliance frameworks are necessary. However, we believe this oversight should come from formal regulatory bodies—not from private, self-governed consortiums.

While we champion transparency and internal accountability, we are not comfortable participating in any group that involves cross-firm data sharing without explicit regulatory structure and safeguards.

Even if these groups attempt to protect sensitive data, the lack of concrete, enforceable guidelines make participation too risky. Our commitment to safeguarding customer privacy is firm. We are not willing to compromise our traders' rights—even in exchange for access to shared intelligence that could help identify bad actors more quickly.

Instead, Apex has chosen to invest heavily in our own tools and infrastructure. We've analyzed years of account and trading data to build a sophisticated monitoring system that proactively flags abusive patterns and suspicious behavior. This system will continue to evolve with further data, but several key types of misconduct have already been identified and are actively tracked.

Depending on the severity of an infraction, responses may range from warnings or account notes to probationary measures, verification checks, or—in extreme cases—account termination, forfeiture of gains, and permanent bans from the platform.

Some of the key abuse types we are monitoring include:

• Hedging within Apex accounts• Hedging between Apex and external platforms

• Cycling/churning simulated accounts

• Violations of risk management or scaling rules

• Use of automated "set-and-forget" bots•

Holding trades over the market close or through weekends• Participation in trade-following or signal services

One particularly abusive behavior involves exploiting Apex’s 8-day payout requirement, where five of those days must include $50+ in profit. For example, some traders intentionally break scaling and risk rules on new PA accounts—going all-in with max contracts, risking the full balance—often blowing several accounts before hitting a lucky windfall. Once successful, they meet the $50 trading day requirement, request a maximum payout, and repeat the cycle. These traders expect their first request to be denied and treat it as part of the strategy.

This violates the spirit and the letter of the Apex PA Contract, which clearly states that trading must be based on real strategies with defined entries, stops, and targets. Gambling and windfall-seeking are not allowed.

To address this, Apex may place offending accounts under probation, including:

• Temporary limitations on contract usage (e.g., 50% cap)

• Payouts restricted to profit earned since the last request• Disqualification of previously accrued “windfall” profits for withdrawal over the next two payout cycles

For example, if a trader under probation requests $2,000, they must show $2,000 in profits earned since the previous request, regardless of whether that request was approved. Traders cannot draw from old windfall balances to meet payout thresholds.

Continued abuse of these systems may result in permanent account closure.

While these behaviors occur in only a small percentage of Apex accounts, their impact is substantial. As we roll out stricter enforcement, those most affected may become vocal on social media or in community channels. That’s to be expected. Apex remains focused on protecting the integrity of the platform, our honest traders, and the sustainability of our business.

To reiterate: Apex will not join any SRO or participate in data-sharing agreements with other firms. While we understand the appeal of collective action, we believe internal controls and responsible oversight offer a more secure path forward.

Looking ahead, we are working to reduce extended activity in simulated trading and to help traders transition toward live trading environments. Every prop firm must ultimately focus on this goal—supporting traders in becoming fully funded, real-market participants.

We’re excited about what’s coming. Over the next few weeks and months, we’ll be rolling out new programs, products, features, and tools—plus expanded pathways into live prop trading. The best is yet to come.

Sincerely,Apex Trader Funding

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