Verdict. City Traders Imperium suits traders who value longevity and cash-flow design: the firm has paid continuously since 2018, and its evaluation accounts pay a fixed monthly salary — $12.50 to $500 depending on account size — before any profit split. It does not suit large-account hunters on a budget, because Instant Funding Pro runs to $4,799, nor anyone who wants platform choice: it is MT5 only. The biggest caveat: no aggregate payout total is published, so the eight-year record rests on continuity, not a ledger.
Key terms at a glance
- Account sizes: $2,500 to $100,000 on challenges, scaling to $2 million per account and $4 million total, per the firm’s published programmes
- Entry cost: 1-Step $29–$469; 2-Step $39–$549; Instant Funding $69–$1,499; Instant Funding Pro $299–$4,799, per TradingFinder’s 2026 breakdown
- Profit targets: 8% on the 1-Step; 10% then 5% on the 2-Step; 10% scaling targets on Instant programmes
- Drawdown: 5% maximum on the 1-Step (trailing), 10% total with a 5% daily limit on the 2-Step, 6% on Instant
- Profit split: from 80%, rising to 100% with VIP progression
- Monthly salary: $12.50 ($2,500 account) to $400–500 ($100,000 account) on evaluation-route funded accounts
- Payouts: weekly on challenge routes, bi-weekly on Instant; $100 minimum; first payout after 7 profitable trading days and 2% net profit; processing up to two business days
- Platform: MetaTrader 5 only
The salary is the differentiator — and it changes the maths
Every firm in this cluster sells the same basic contract: pay a fee, pass a test, split the profits. City Traders Imperium adds a second cash flow no direct competitor offers — a fixed monthly salary on funded evaluation accounts, scaled to account size: $50 a month on a $10,000 account, $200–250 at $50,000, $400–500 at $100,000. The sums are modest, but the design matters. A funded trader’s worst months are flat ones, where consistency rules elsewhere pay nothing; a salary converts survival itself into income and reduces the incentive to force trades to reach a payout threshold. Priced against the fees — a $100,000 2-Step costs $549 — the salary alone can return the entry cost within months of reaching funding, before any split.
“If you give traders real support and fair evaluation plans, they start treating trading like a career — not a gamble,” founder and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Martin has said of the firm’s design philosophy, per All Prop Trading Firms’ profile. The salary is that philosophy expressed as a payment schedule — and, in a cluster where every other operator pays only on performance, it remains the only fixed-income design this desk has reviewed.
Payouts: what eight years buys, and what is still unpublished
The strongest fact in CTI’s favour is duration. Founded in 2018 by Daniel Martin with co-founder Martin Najat, the firm has paid traders continuously for eight years across more than 178 countries — through the same 2024–2025 industry stress that produced abrupt closures elsewhere, most recently MyFundedFX’s shutdown on two days’ notice. In an industry where the modal firm is under three years old, surviving two full market cycles is itself payout evidence.
What is published beyond that is thinner than the best-in-class disclosures. Payout proofs are showcased as certificates on the firm’s Discord and funded-trader interviews on its YouTube channel; requests are processed within two business days, weekly on challenge routes. What could not be verified: an aggregate payout total, a pass rate, and any independently maintained payout ledger — CTI publishes none of the three, which puts it behind Instant Funding’s year-by-year payout accounting and E8’s third-party-tracked ledger on transparency, even as it beats both on operating history. Trustpilot sentiment runs at roughly 4.5 stars across a comparatively small base of some 1,150 reviews.
The rules that actually void accounts
The rulebook is permissive where most firms are strict: news trading, overnight and weekend holding are all allowed, and — unusually — Martingale-style sizing is tolerated on the 1-Step programme. The strictness is structural instead. The 1-Step’s 5% maximum drawdown trails, so the floor rises with the account’s high-water mark and a strong start can leave little room for a normal pullback. First payouts are gated by seven profitable trading days plus 2% net profit, which slows very fast passers. Prohibited outright: group hedging, latency arbitrage, news-bracketing and news-scalping bots, and third-party expert advisers unless source code is provided — a rare requirement that effectively bans rented EAs. Scaling is earned on a four-month cycle requiring 10% growth with at least two profitable months.
How City Traders Imperium compares
| Term | City Traders Imperium | Instant Funding | E8 Markets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 | 2023 payout records | 2021 |
| Base pay design | Salary $12.50–$500/month + 80–100% split | 80% split, 90% paid add-on | 80% split, 90–100% paid add-on |
| Drawdown | 5% trailing (1-Step); 10% static (2-Step) | Smart Drawdown: 10% floor locks to 5% at +5% | Configurable; E8 One trails 4% dynamic |
| First payout gate | 7 profitable days + 2% net profit | 14 days after first trade | Day 8; Signature capped at 2.5% early |
| Published payout data | None aggregate; 8 years continuous | $18.7m itemised by year | $74m+, third-party tracked |
| Platforms | MT5 only | Multiple | Multiple |
Regulatory posture
Despite the City-of-London branding, the operating entity is CTI FZCO, a company registered in the United Arab Emirates. It is unregulated — no financial-services licence attaches to the funded-account product, which is standard for the industry — and accounts are simulated, with the salary and profit share paid from the firm’s own revenue. Traders should weigh the practical meaning: contractual disputes sit under UAE free-zone company law rather than UK consumer jurisdiction, a distinction that matters more here than for UK-registered peers, and one the unsettled global rulebook — diverging between the CFTC and ESMA — does nothing to resolve.
FAQ
How does the CTI salary work? Funded traders on the 1-Step and 2-Step routes receive a fixed monthly payment scaled to account size — $12.50 at $2,500 up to $400–500 at $100,000 — independent of trading profits, alongside the 80–100% profit split. Instant Funding routes do not carry the salary.
Is City Traders Imperium regulated? No. The operating entity, CTI FZCO, is a UAE-registered company, not a licensed financial firm. Accounts are simulated and funded capital is the firm’s. The London branding does not place the product under UK regulation.
How fast is the first payout? After seven profitable trading days and 2% net profit on challenge routes (five profitable days on Instant), payouts run weekly with a $100 minimum and processing within two business days.
Can I use EAs or Martingale? Expert advisers are allowed only with source code supplied — rented third-party EAs are banned. Martingale sizing is tolerated on the 1-Step programme only. Latency arbitrage and news-scalping bots are prohibited everywhere.
What could not be verified? CTI publishes no aggregate payout total, no pass rate and no independent payout ledger. Its eight years of continuous operation since 2018 is the strongest verifiable signal, alongside dated payout certificates and funded-trader interviews on its own channels.
This review is independent editorial analysis and is not financial, investment, or trading advice, and is not an endorsement or solicitation. The Industry Spread has no affiliate or referral relationship with the firms covered. Proprietary trading challenges carry a fee that is generally non-refundable, most participants do not reach a funded account, and funded capital is the firm’s capital, not the trader’s. Terms change frequently — always verify current rules directly with the firm before paying any fee.
Abdelaziz Fathi
Abdelaziz Fathi covers the intersection of forex/CFD brokerage, regulation, liquidity, fintech, and digital assets. With a B.A. in Finance and hands-on industry exposure, Aziz blends analytical rigor with clear storytelling to make complex market structure understandable for traders, brokers, and fintech professionals.
