The State of Prop Trading:
Q1 2026 Census Report

Here's the big picture. I tracked 178 prop trading firms — every one I could verify through websites, Trustpilot, regulatory databases, community feedback, and in many cases my own trading accounts. Of those, 145 are currently active and 36 have shut down since the modern prop firm boom started around 2020-2021.

The growth curve is insane. Before 2022, you could count serious prop firms on two hands — Topstep, FTMO, Earn2Trade, The5ers, a handful of others. Then 20 new firms launched in 2022. Another 45 in 2023. And 55 in 2024 alone — that single year produced more firms than the entire industry had in total just two years prior. 2025 added 21 more — including Japan's first homegrown prop firm, broker-backed entries from VT Markets and TrioMarkets, and an ex-Citigroup MD launching with $350K salary offers. The pace slowed from a gold rush to deliberate expansion.

The money is real. We estimate the industry disbursed between $800M and $1.2B in trader payouts in 2025. Multiple firms have verifiably paid out hundreds of millions each. The single largest confirmed payout to one trader: $2.55M — via bank wire, not even visible on any blockchain tracker. But here's the number that should shape how every trader reads this report: only 7% of funded traders ever receive a single withdrawal. Of those, the average payout is just 4% of the funded account size. Only 1–3% sustain payouts long-term.

Geographically, the United States (44 firms, 31%) and United Kingdom (40 firms, 28%) control about 59% of the industry. But the UAE is the fastest-growing hub with 15+ active firms, and Japan, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Bulgaria all got their first prop firms in 2025. The industry is going truly global, spread across 24 countries.

The technology landscape got a complete overhaul. The MetaQuotes crackdown of February 2024 halved MetaTrader's market share from 48% to 24% and killed an estimated 80 firms overnight. MatchTrader became the default for new entrants, and the average firm now supports 2.6 trading platforms — up from 1.8 just a year ago. Multi-platform strategy went from luxury to survival requirement.

Business model-wise, 83% of firms are independent challenge-based operations — running on evaluation fees with no broker backing. Only 16 firms (11%) are broker-backed, but that number is growing fast. Instant funding (skip the challenge, pay a higher fee) exploded from a niche offering to 40+ firms offering it. And the FTMO–OANDA $250M acquisition in January 2025 signaled the future may be broker convergence.

One final stat: the average active firm is just 2.8 years old. Almost half didn't exist before 2024. I trade prop firms every single day. But picking the right firm starts with understanding what you're actually walking into — and these numbers are the most honest snapshot I can give you.