Key Insights
- Funding Pips trading halted after developer MetaQuotes forces broker BlackBull to end services
- Action taken by MetaQuotes without notice due to U.S. clients; part of enforcement crackdown
- Funding Pips migrated trader account data and promises to honor positions and reimburse losses
DUBAI (MarketsXplora) – Dubai-based prop trading firm Funding Pips has been forced to halt operations and freeze thousands of trader accounts after provider MetaQuotes abruptly terminated services over U.S. clients allegedly holding accounts.
In a notice posted prominently on its website, Funding Pips said MetaQuotes acted without prior notice on Feb. 14 when it ordered partner brokerage BlackBull Markets to immediately sever ties with Funding Pips.
MetaQuotes, developer of the popular MT4 and MT5 retail trading platforms used by brokers and prop firms globally, has been tightening enforcement in recent months around use of its software.
The developer has focused on identifying unregulated firms illegally accessing its products. Earlier in February it forced out two other prop trading academies, Funded Engineer and True Forex Funds, for serving amateur traders.
Defiant Funding Pips CEO Ayesh slams industry
Funding Pips CEO Khaled Ayesh said in the notice that his firm had always acted transparently and protected trader interests since inception. But MetaQuotes’ actions had negatively impacted Funding Pips and the wider industry.
“Taking us down means taking the industry down, destroying faith in the industry,” Ayesh said in a string of tweets expressing defiance and pledging to compensate clients.
Funding Pips said that after the forced shutdown it successfully migrated all client account data to its own servers, and is working urgently to restore trading services.
In a follow-up tweet, Ayesh specified all profitable trades would be honored once Funding Pips was again operational. Losing positions were also set to be reimbursed.
He did not provide a timeline on when Funding Pips may be back online. MetaQuotes and BlackBull Markets did not immediately respond to MarketsXplora’s requests for comment and details.
The surprise service withdrawal has impacted thousands of retail investors participating in copy trading and funded accounts programs run by Funding Pips, the latest trading academy to be kneecapped.