Velotrade review: the 20x payout cap and what it forfeits
All 60 of Velotrade's published payout hashes check out on Arbitrum - totalling $38,643.
Abdelaziz Fathi
Senior Reporter, Brokers and Prop Firms
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.
August 2026
EU carbon to €90 by year-end 2026: the surplus-floor case
EU carbon allowances closed at €82.87/t. The Market Stability Reserve intake from September 1 draws the ETS surplus to exactly 833 million — and to €90/t.
Maverick Trading review: the bond its own site never names
Maverick Trading puts traders on real firm capital after an interview, not a paid challenge.
Vanta Trading review: the 100% split is not in the contract
Vanta Trading publishes the cleanest one-step rule set in the market: 10% target, two 5% drawdown limits, 100% split, scaling to $2.5m.
Swiss Firmup review: a drafting note left in the disclaimer
Swiss Firmup's published disclaimer ends with a remark about its own wording — and the firm sells exactly what that wording is built to avoid suggesting.
PineX Capital review: 90% flat became 80% plus a paid add-on
PineX Capital advertises an “up to 100%” split and payouts every 14 days.
ULSD to $4.40 by year-end 2026: the EIA forecast-gap case
US distillate stocks sit 9.5% below last year and exports run 28.5% higher, yet the EIA forecasts a Q4 build. The case for ULSD at $4.40 by year-end 2026.
Zenit Funding review: the payout guarantee its terms undo
Zenit Funding advertises “the security of guaranteed payouts”.
Direct Funded Trader review: the 100% split means monthly payouts
Direct Funded Trader prices its profit split by payout cadence: 100% monthly, 80% biweekly, 70% weekly.
USD/ZAR to 15.50 by year-end 2026: the 3% target case
USD/ZAR to 15.50 by year-end 2026: SARB 3% target keeps the repo at 7% as CPI falls to 4.3%, widening the real rate while gold tops $4,500 and DXY sits below 100.
OANDA Prop Trader review: closed 31 March 2026, traders moved to FTMO
OANDA Prop Trader stopped operating after 31 March 2026 and its portal closed on 30 April.
iFunds review: the entry fee equals the entire drawdown
iFunds offers instant funding with no evaluation, no daily drawdown, no consistency rule and no time limit.
Next Level Funded review: 21 “verified” payouts, one number
The homepage lists 21 differently-named traders under Recent Verified Rewards.
OAT–Bund to 105bp by end-Q1 2027: the rating-crossover case
France's 10-year OAT yields more than Italy's BTP despite a far stronger rating. The OAT–Bund spread widens from 85.7bp to 105bp by end-Q1 2027.
Shark Futures review: the 90% split drops to 80% when it’s real
Shark Futures advertises a flat 90% profit split on every pricing card.
EUR/JPY to 179 by year-end: the vanishing carry case
EUR/JPY is at 185.70 after fully retracing the joint US-Japan yen intervention. The euro-Japan policy spread has been frozen since December 2025.
Smart Prop Trader review: closed in 2024, domain now a CFD broker
Smart Prop Trader closed in December 2024.
Also filing this week: Rick Steves and Karthik Subramanian.