City Traders Imperium account sizes & per-size rules

The full City Traders Imperium size ladder

Prop pricing scales sub-linearly with account size — roughly the square root of the size ratio — so the biggest account is almost never the best value per dollar of usable buffer. Each line below shows the modelled list price, the first-phase profit target and the loss buffer expressed as a percentage of the account.

Read the buffer column first. On a static drawdown, the dollar buffer is the only number that limits your position size; the account label is marketing. A trader risking 1% per trade on the 200k account is taking the same dollar risk as one risking 20× that percentage on the smallest.

• 10k — $40, 10% target = $1k, 10% buffer = $1k of loss room
• 25k — $60, 10% target = $2.5k, 10% buffer = $2.5k of loss room
• 50k — $85, 10% target = $5k, 10% buffer = $5k of loss room
• 100k — $125, 10% target = $10k, 10% buffer = $10k of loss room
• 200k — $175, 10% target = $20k, 10% buffer = $20k of loss room

Which City Traders Imperium size is actually the best value

Cost per dollar of loss buffer is the honest comparison. 10k costs 0.040 per dollar of buffer; 25k costs 0.024 per dollar of buffer; 50k costs 0.017 per dollar of buffer; 100k costs 0.013 per dollar of buffer; 200k costs 0.009 per dollar of buffer. The cheapest ratio is where the firm is subsidising you the most, and it is usually a mid tier rather than the flagship.

The second filter is your own stop distance. Work out the worst-case dollar loss of a normal trade at your usual size, multiply by five consecutive losers, and buy the smallest account whose buffer absorbs that without breaching. Buying above that point is paying for headroom you will never trade into; buying below it guarantees a reset fee.

What the 25k and 50k tiers mean in practice

The small tiers are where most traders start and where most resets happen, because the dollar buffer is small enough that a single mis-sized position ends the account. On a forex account, one standard lot on EURUSD moves about $10 per pip — on a 25k account, a 40-pip stop on two lots is already a meaningful share of your buffer.

The larger tiers change the psychology more than the maths. Same rules, same percentage targets, bigger dollar swings — which is why traders who pass consistently on a small account often breach the first week on a large one. Scale the account only after you have taken at least two payouts at the size below.

• Balance-based drawdown calculation: CTI calculates its maximum loss relative to account balance rather than floating equity in some plan configurations — a mechanic independent reviewers flag as a common source of confusion versus the equity-trailing norm elsewhere. Confirm which calculation applies to your specific plan.
• Multiple funding paths: One-step, two-step and instant-funding routes are all available, each with its own pricing and rule profile. The right choice depends on whether you prioritise speed (instant, higher risk of stricter rules) or a lower price with more evaluation stages.
• Low minimum account size: Challenges starting at $2,500 let cautious traders test the firm's process at minimal financial exposure before committing to a larger evaluation.

Rules that stay the same at every size

Firms rarely vary the rulebook by account size — they vary the dollar limits. On City Traders Imperium the constants are the static drawdown, the 80% profit split, the bi-weekly payout window and the consistency position (none on the standard two-step).

• News trading: allowed — News trading permitted on the standard evaluation.
• EAs: allowed — EAs permitted with standard HFT exclusions.
• Weekend holding: allowed — Weekend holding allowed on the standard two-step.
• Time limit: none — No deadline on the evaluation.

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