THE GRAVEYARD · 2020 – 2023

MyForexFunds

Shut down following US regulatory action

One of the largest forex evaluation firms of its era, MyForexFunds was shut down in September 2023 after the US CFTC filed a civil enforcement action. The case became the industry's defining lesson on the regulatory exposure of retail-funded evaluation models.

BACK TO THE GRAVEYARD

RIP
01

Timeline

what happened, when
  • 2020 Founded and grew rapidly into one of the biggest evaluation firms by volume.
  • 2022 Payout complaints and community friction grew as the firm scaled faster than its operations.
  • Aug 2023 Announced it was halting certain activities and reviewing operations; trading on the platform was suspended.
  • Sep 2023 US CFTC filed a civil enforcement action alleging unregistered commodity pool operation. The firm's website went offline.
  • 2024 Related legal proceedings continued; the founder was arrested in Australia on extradition-related charges in 2024.
02

Warning Signs

the signals, documented
  • Growth that outran operational capacity
  • A rising volume of payout complaints in the months before shutdown
  • Funded-account model structured around simulated trading with real money flowing in as fees
  • Sudden platform suspensions ahead of the regulatory action
03

Lessons

what it cost
  • Fees flowing in from retail traders while 'funded' accounts are simulated is the exact structure regulators scrutinise.
  • Popularity is not safety. The biggest firm in the niche can still be the biggest target.
  • Check a firm's legal entity, jurisdiction and any regulatory history before trusting volume as a signal.
04

Sources

the receipts

CFTC press release (Sept 2023) ↗ · CFTC v. MyForexFunds enforcement filing ↗