Review

City Traders Imperium review: crypto challenge from $29

Crypto is tradable but narrow here: six pairs at 1:2 inside a forex-first challenge. What it does have is a five-year operating history and fast payouts.

Every figure below comes from City Traders Imperium's own published terms, linked at the foot of this page. We have not traded this account and this is not a rating out of five.

The four numbers

Cheapest challenge$29 for a 2,500 account$7.96 per $1,000 at the $25k size
Profit split80%, up to 100% via VIP$249 of profit to clear the fee
PayoutsWithin 24 hours, roughly 8 hours averageBank transfer / Crypto wallet / Dashboard wallet
Drawdown and rules10% static, 5% daily (2-Step Challenge)$2,500 of room on a $25k balance

Every figure in this panel comes from City Traders Imperium's own pages, linked in the sections below. Where a firm publishes nothing, this says so rather than filling the gap.

Key terms

City Traders Imperium terms at a glance
Challenge formats	1-step / 2-step / instant
Price for a $25k account	$199 (2-Step Challenge; its 1-Step Challenge costs $159)
Profit split	80%, up to 100% via VIP
Drawdown	5% to 10% of room, depending on the plan. Each plan's own limit is in the table below.
Profit target	8% (1-Step Challenge) / 10% / 5% (2-Step Challenge) - both set a pass mark. Per-plan table
Leverage	Crypto 1:2, FX 1:30
Maximum allocation	$400,000 on challenges, up to $4M on instant and direct
KYC	Before activation
Payout methods	Bank transfer / Crypto wallet / Dashboard wallet
Payout speed	Within 24 hours, roughly 8 hours average
Instruments	53 symbols including six crypto pairs quoted in USD
Platforms	MT5, Match-Trader
Restricted countries	North Korea, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Russia
Instant plan	Instant Funding
Instant split at first payout	50% at Level 1, 80% from Level 3, 100% at VIP Silver
Instant drawdown	6% static
First instant payout	After 10% profit and five profitable days

All challenge prices

Published challenge prices for City Traders Imperium, by format and account size.
Account size	Format	Fee
$2,500	1-Step Challenge	$29
$5,000	1-Step Challenge	$49
$10,000	1-Step Challenge	$79
$25,000	1-Step Challenge	$159
$50,000	1-Step Challenge	$299
$100,000	1-Step Challenge	$449
$2,500	2-Step Challenge	$39
$5,000	2-Step Challenge	$59
$10,000	2-Step Challenge	$99
$25,000	2-Step Challenge	$199
$50,000	2-Step Challenge	$329
$100,000	2-Step Challenge	$549
$2,500	Instant Funding	$79
$5,000	Direct Funding	$229

Price ladder read from the firm's own pricing page.

Visit City Traders Imperium

Some links on this page are affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change the fee you pay or the terms described above.

Every plan, its own rules

City Traders Imperium sells four models and the rules are not interchangeable. The same menu holds a 5% limit beside a 10% one.

City Traders Imperium: target, drawdown, daily limit and split, plan by plan
Plan	Profit target	Max drawdown	Daily loss	Split	Entry fee
1-Step Challenge	8%	5% trailing drawdown of the starting balance	None	80% to 100%	$29 at $2,500
2-Step Challenge	10% / 5%	10% static of the initial balance	5% from each day's starting balance	80% to 100%	$39 at $2,500
Instant Funding	No pass mark; 10% profit to scale	6% static from the initial balance	None	50% rising to 100%	$79 at $2,500
Direct Funding	No pass mark; 10% profit to scale	6% static from the initial balance	None	70% rising to 100%	$229 at $5,000

One of the four states a daily loss limit of its own, and the other three state there is none.

Entry fee is the cheapest size each plan is sold at, the same rows the ladder above prices. Every figure is the firm's own wording, read from the plan pages linked under Sources.

The rules that decide whether you pass

City Traders Imperium sells 1-step / 2-step / instant challenges; on its $25k account, hit 10% then 5% (2-Step Challenge) before breaching 10% static, 5% daily (2-Step Challenge). Leverage is Crypto 1:2, FX 1:30 and the account is traded on MT5, Match-Trader. 53 symbols including six crypto pairs quoted in USD are available, so the instrument set is broad enough that position sizing matters more than the rules do.

Corroborated by the firm's AML policy: full verification must be completed before any profit withdrawal or capital allocation, and failing it means you cannot proceed to the funded stage.

“CTI is legally required to verify your identity. That means you’ll need to complete a quick KYC verification after passing Phase 1 of the 1-Step Challenge.”

Source: the firm's own page, read 2026-11-08. Our classification: Before activation.

Drawdown by product
Product	Type	Rule in the firm's terms
1-Step Challenge	Trailing	5% trailing on a balance basis, no daily limit.
2-Step Challenge	Static	10% static; 5% daily.
Instant Funding	Static	6% static.
Direct Funding	Static	6% static.

Two practical warnings for this structure. A 10% static, 5% daily drawdown (2-Step Challenge) sounds generous until you measure it against the volatility of the coins you trade: a 3% overnight move on a large position is normal in crypto and can take most of that in one candle. And the profit split of 80%, up to 100% via VIP applies to profit you withdraw, not to the account balance, so plan the first payout before you start rather than after you pass.

Payouts and verification

How it pays

Rails: Bank transfer / Crypto wallet / Dashboard wallet

Timing: Within 24 hours, roughly 8 hours average

First payout after seven profitable days on the challenge products, five on instant funding.

Before you request

Verification: Before activation - Corroborated by the firm's AML policy: full verification must be completed before any profit withdrawal or capital allocation, and failing it means you cannot proceed to the funded stage.

Restricted: North Korea, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Russia

Support: what this firm publishes about its own support - channels, stated hours, any response-time claim in its own words.

Confirm which coin and which network the payout arrives on, and the minimum payout, on the firm's dashboard before you trade to the target; this firm publishes the rail only as crypto, so those two settings, not the split, are what turn a payout into a delay.

Strengths and trade-offs

What it does well

Trading since 2027, the longest-operating firm on this list
Balance-based drawdown, so open profit does not shrink the buffer
Payouts inside 24 hours with commission-free crypto

What costs you

Crypto leverage of 1:2 and only six pairs
Instant and direct funding start at 50-70% split, not 80%
Identity checks only at payout, so funded status comes before verification

Who it suits, and who it does not

Suits: FX-led traders who want a cheap two-step and an occasional crypto position.

Does not suit: Crypto-first traders wanting leverage, altcoin breadth or six-figure accounts.

How it compares with the rest of the list

At the $25k size City Traders Imperium sits at $199 for its 2-Step Challenge account with a split of 80%, up to 100% via VIP and a 10% static, 5% daily drawdown (2-Step Challenge). The firms that undercut it charge less for the challenge but usually ask for a tighter drawdown or a one-step target, and the firms that publish wider room to trade ask more up front. If the deciding factor for you is the split rather than the fee, read the side-by-side comparison before choosing.

Sources

Copied from the firm's own pages. If a term has changed since, tell us at research@cryptopropfirms.com and we will re-check it against the firm's own wording.

Head to head

The rules that end accounts

Every firm here publishes a fee and a split. These are the terms that decide whether the account survives a bad week, taken from City Traders Imperium's own rules page and quoted verbatim under the table.

City Traders Imperium: risk and payout rules
Maximum drawdown type	Depends on the plan
Daily loss limit	5% 5% on 2-Step Challenge; none on 1-Step Challenge, Instant Funding and Direct Funding
Consistency rule	No
Minimum trading days	3 days
News trading	Allowed
Weekend holding	Allowed
Cap on a single payout	No cap published max $200,000 per account

2-Step Challenge = 10% of Initial Balance ... your drawdown limit never moves, no matter how much profit you make. On drawdown, from https://helpcenter.citytradersimperium.com/en/articles/12878081-max-absolute-drawdown-mad

Where a firm runs several plans with different rules, the field says so rather than picking the flattering one. "Not published" means the page we read does not say.

Position and per-trade limits

Largest position	Not published
Risk per trade	Not published
Open positions	Not published
Hedging	Hedging across accounts, or opposite positions on correlated symbols, sits outside the rules.
Bots and EAs	Third-party EAs allowed on the 1-Step; personal EAs only on 2-Step, Instant and Direct.
Other limits	A stop-loss on every trade, set before entry or within 60 seconds.

Read from https://citytradersimperium.com/terms-conditions-of-service/. Where a firm publishes nothing, this says so rather than assuming a limit.

Other firms

Crypto Fund Trader review - Two-step, no time limit
Bitfunded review - Coins first, 100+ of them, plus 20 TradFi pairs