Lucid Trading CEO AJ Campnella

When AJ Campanella launched Lucid Trading in early 2025, he wasn't trying to reinvent prop firm trading. He was trying to fix it.

As a futures trading veteran who'd seen the industry from the inside, AJ knew exactly where the cracks were — activation fees that added up to nothing, payout delays that felt like punishment, support teams that ghosted you when things went wrong, and rule sets so complex you needed a law degree to understand them.

So he built something different. Not flashier. Not louder. Just better.

From Trader to Founder

AJ Campanella isn't some fintech entrepreneur who stumbled into prop trading because it looked profitable. He's a futures trader who trades ES and NQ, understands exhaustion patterns, and knows what it feels like to get liquidated on a bad news event. His Twitter account (@ajtradinglucid), active since June 2020, shows a trader who actually lives in the markets he's funding others to trade.

Before launching Lucid Trading, AJ spent years in the futures space, developing the kind of pattern recognition and risk management discipline that only comes from real screen time. He wasn't building a prop firm from a business school playbook. He was building it from a trader's wishlist.

The company operates under Lucid Prop Ltd., registered in the United States, with AJ serving as CEO and the primary voice of the brand. Unlike most prop firm executives who hide behind marketing teams and generic corporate statements, AJ is hands-on. He responds to traders directly on Discord, runs regular town hall meetings to explain company decisions, and doesn't shy away from difficult conversations.

The Problem AJ Saw (and Fixed)

By late 2024, the futures prop firm space had become a mess. Firms were competing on account sizes and profit splits while ignoring the actual trader experience. Payouts took days or weeks. Activation fees ranged from $85 to $149. Support was slow or nonexistent. And if you had a legitimate question about rules, good luck getting a straight answer.

AJ identified the core issues:

Speed matters. Traders don't want to wait 14 days for a payout. They want access to their profits now — or at least within a reasonable window that doesn't feel punitive.

Fees are friction. Every dollar you charge beyond the evaluation cost is a barrier. Activation fees don't add value. They just make traders hesitate.

Clarity builds trust. Complex rule sets with hidden consistency requirements and vague drawdown language create anxiety. Traders perform better when they know exactly what's expected.

Support should be human. Automated ticket systems that take 72 hours to respond don't work in a business where market conditions change by the minute.

Lucid Trading launched with solutions to all four problems. No activation fees. 15-minute average payout processing. Clear, simple rules with no hidden traps. And 24/7 support through Discord, live chat, and email with actual human beings responding.

Building in Public

What sets AJ apart from other prop firm founders is his willingness to operate transparently. When Lucid had to make its first retroactive rule change in August 2025 to address traders exploiting loopholes, AJ didn't hide it. He addressed it publicly on Twitter with humor and honesty, acknowledging the frustration while explaining why the change was necessary.

When traders asked for NinjaTrader and Tradovate support (Lucid initially launched with only ProjectX and Quantower), AJ delivered it within months. On October 1, 2025, Lucid rolled out full support for both platforms, plus Rithmic integration, making it one of the most platform-flexible firms in the space.

He listens to feedback, implements changes quickly, and communicates why decisions are made. This kind of responsiveness is rare in an industry where most firms feel like black boxes.

The Lucid Philosophy

AJ's approach to running Lucid Trading comes down to a simple principle: treat traders the way you'd want to be treated if you were trading someone else's capital.

That means:

• 100% profit split on the first $10,000 you earn, then 90/10 after that
• Daily payout requests for funded traders (processed in 15 minutes on average)
• One-time fees with no monthly subscriptions after you pass
• 5-30 minute activation for passed evaluations, not days or weeks
• Transparent escrow system for live account transitions

The firm's Trustpilot rating speaks for itself — 4.8 out of 5 stars from over 800 reviews, with traders consistently praising the payout speed, rule clarity, and AJ's direct involvement.

What's Next for Lucid

Since launching in early 2025, Lucid Trading has grown fast. The firm has distributed millions in payouts to traders worldwide and continues to innovate with new account types like LucidFlex (launched in late 2025) and ongoing platform integrations.

AJ's focus remains on iteration, not expansion for expansion's sake. He's not trying to be the biggest prop firm. He's trying to be the one traders trust most — the one that actually delivers on its promises without the runaround.

For futures traders tired of prop firms that feel like obstacles instead of partners, AJ Campanella built Lucid Trading to be exactly what the industry needed: fast, fair, and run by someone who actually gets it.

Because AJ doesn't just fund traders. He is one.