# City Traders Imperium

A firm running since 2018 with balance-based drawdowns and direct funding up to $80K.

Source page: https://trust.chartnaut.com/firms/city-traders-imperium  
Website: https://citytradersimperium.com  
Founded: 2018  
Based in: San José, Costa Rica  
Markets: Forex, Indices, Commodities, Crypto  
Platforms: MetaTrader 5, Match-Trader  
Payout methods: Bank transfer, Crypto, PayPal

## Overview

City Traders Imperium, usually called CTI, has been funding traders since 2018. It started in London and now operates from Costa Rica. You trade forex, indices, commodities and crypto CFDs on MT5 or Match-Trader. It suits traders who dislike equity-based drawdowns, since every CTI program measures loss limits from balance.

### How the evaluation works

- **1-Step Challenge:** one 8% target, no daily limit, and a 5% maximum loss that trails your highest closed balance. Three profitable days, no time limit.
- **2-Step Challenge:** 10% then 5%, a 5% daily limit taken from each day's starting balance, and a 10% static maximum. Three profitable days per phase, no time limit.
- **Instant Funding:** no evaluation. You start on half the account size with a 6% static limit and earn 50% until you hit a 10% milestone.
- **Direct Funding:** no evaluation and the full balance from day one, with a 6% static limit, no daily limit and a 70% split.

Challenges run from $2.5K to $100K and can scale to $200K per account.

### Rules worth knowing

News trading, weekend holds and overnight holds are allowed on every program. Only the 1-Step accepts third-party EAs and Martingale. Everywhere else you're limited to EAs you built yourself, and Martingale is banned. There's no consistency rule on the challenges. A failed account can be reset at a discount.

### Getting paid

Funded challenge accounts start at 80% and can reach 100% through the VIP ladder, where Bronze pays 90% with weekly payouts and Silver pays 100% on demand. The first withdrawal is available after seven days, then standard accounts pay twice a month. Direct Funding pays on demand from day five. CTI pays by bank transfer, PayPal or crypto, and says bank transfers carry no fee.

## Good

- Drawdown measured on balance, not floating equity
- News, weekend and overnight holding allowed
- First payout possible after 7 days on the challenges
- No time limit on either challenge

## Watch for

- Third-party EAs and Martingale banned outside the 1-Step
- 1-Step drawdown trails your highest balance
- Higher splits depend on reaching VIP tiers

## Challenges

| Program | Steps | Account | Price | Profit targets | Daily loss | Max loss | Drawdown | Split | Min days | Payouts |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1-Step Challenge | 1-step | USD 2,500 | USD 29 | 8% | — | 5% | Trailing | 80% | 3 | 14 days |
| 1-Step Challenge | 1-step | USD 50,000 | USD 299 | 8% | — | 5% | Trailing | 80% | 3 | 14 days |
| 1-Step Challenge | 1-step | USD 100,000 | USD 449 | 8% | — | 5% | Trailing | 80% | 3 | 14 days |
| 2-Step Challenge | 2-step | USD 2,500 | USD 39 | 10% / 5% | 5% | 10% | Static | 80% | 3 | 14 days |
| 2-Step Challenge | 2-step | USD 50,000 | USD 329 | 10% / 5% | 5% | 10% | Static | 80% | 3 | 14 days |
| 2-Step Challenge | 2-step | USD 100,000 | USD 549 | 10% / 5% | 5% | 10% | Static | 80% | 3 | 14 days |
| Direct Funding | Instant | USD 5,000 | USD 229 | None | — | 6% | Static | 70% | — | On demand |
| Direct Funding | Instant | USD 80,000 | USD 3,999 | None | — | 6% | Static | 70% | — | On demand |

## Trading rules

- News trading: Allowed
- Expert advisors / bots: Restricted
- Copy trading: not checked
- Weekend holding: Allowed
- Overnight holding: Allowed
- Hedging: not checked

## What traders say

Checked 2026-10-06.

- Trustpilot: 4.2 / 5 from 1,627 reviews (https://www.trustpilot.com/review/citytradersimperium.com)
- Prop Firm Match: 4.3 / 5 from 57 reviews (https://propfirmmatch.com/prop-firms/city-traders-imperium/reviews)
- Forex Peace Army: no score (https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/forex-reviews/15454/citytradersimperium-forex-training)
- Reviews.io: 1.6 / 5 from 29 reviews (https://www.reviews.io/company-reviews/store/www.citytradersimperium.com)
- Reddit: no score (https://www.reddit.com/r/PropfirmsForum/comments/1nq08iw/is_city_traders_imperium_a_scam/)

City Traders Imperium is one of the older CFD prop firms, running since 2018, and its reviews are mostly positive. It scores 4.2 on Trustpilot from about 1,600 reviews and 4.3 on Prop Firm Match from 57 verified reviews. The one outlier is Reviews.io, where a small pool of 29 reviews averages 1.6. The low reviews tend to be about accounts flagged for risky trading behaviour rather than about payouts going missing.

### What traders like

- **Support.** Trustpilot's own summary says customers keep praising helpful, quick and professional support staff, and many individual reviews say the same.
- **Straightforward challenges.** Reviewers on Trustpilot and Prop Firm Match describe the rules as clear and the fees as fair, and like that evaluations have no time limit.
- **Payouts that arrive.** Several reviewers report quick payouts, some within hours of approval.
- **Track record.** Its age comes up often as a reason to trust it.

### Common complaints

- **Accounts flagged for gambling behaviour.** Several low reviews come from traders whose accounts were closed or payouts held over one-sided trading, martingale or excess risk. The firm usually replies publicly with its side of the case.
- **Changes they say weren't announced.** One Trustpilot reviewer says a contract size change raised margin use and caused a rule breach without warning.
- **Mixed payout experiences.** Trustpilot's summary calls payment experiences ambiguous, and a Reddit thread mentions strict consistency rules and delays.
- **Price.** A few Prop Firm Match reviewers find the challenges expensive.

### Recently

- **July to September 2026:** the firm marked eight years in business in July, and an August review called it a viable option while warning that payout eligibility involves judgement calls on risky exposure, not only fixed limits.

### Where this comes from

- [Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/citytradersimperium.com): the main review page and the largest pool of reviews.
- [Prop Firm Match](https://propfirmmatch.com/prop-firms/city-traders-imperium/reviews): verified-trader reviews on a comparison site.
- [Forex Peace Army](https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/forex-reviews/15454/citytradersimperium-forex-training): older trader write-ups.
- [Reviews.io](https://www.reviews.io/company-reviews/store/www.citytradersimperium.com): a small, mostly negative set of reviews.
- [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/PropfirmsForum/comments/1nq08iw/is_city_traders_imperium_a_scam/): a thread on rules and payout delays.

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Information gathered from public sources (company websites, regulator registers, third-party review sites). Ratings are quoted from those sources and are not the opinion of Chartnaut.com. Not financial advice. Trading carries a high risk of loss. Questions or corrections: help@chartnaut.com. Methodology: https://trust.chartnaut.com/methodology