The futures trading market is witnessing a significant event. ProjectX, a digital trading platform provider trusted by many exchanges, is preparing to make a major shift in its business model.
ProjectX plans to terminate all service contracts with “third-party” platforms by the end of February 2026, according to a brokerage firm confirmed via a Discord announcement. The announcement creates a specific timeframe for existing brokerage firms to migrate data and seek new technology solutions. Instead of exiting the market, ProjectX’s trading platform will move into a new form of operation: becoming the exclusive tool of TopStep. TopStep is not only a leading and influential futures trading platform in the US market.
The news comes less than a month after Plus500 took over as TopStep’s trading technology provider. ProjectX also confirmed on its official website that Plus500 is now its key exchange partner.
ProjectX discontinues support for third-party platforms
The ProjectX trading platform is being widely used by many prominent futures trading firms, including One Top Futures, Trading Lucid, Tradify, Blue Guardian Futures, and Tick Tok Trader. One Top Futures has recently confirmed that it has received the official notice.
ProjectX’s announcement only mentioned the shutdown of third-party brokers. Notably, in this direct communication, ProjectX avoided naming TopStep, even though TopStep is said to be the sole user of the platform going forward, suggesting a difference in communication strategy.
In a notice sent to Top One Futures, which was later posted publicly on Discord, ProjectX wrote: “After careful evaluation, we have been forced to discontinue providing services to third-party entities.” The company explained that new changes to its operating mechanism and compliance reporting obligations, along with upcoming monitoring and auditing standards, made continued support unsustainable.
ProjectX’s decision to discontinue its services came as a complete surprise to “everyone in the industry” trading futures, Top One Futures said, but stressed that despite the backlash, having a long deadline to terminate the service (expected to end February 2026) was a big advantage.
This provides Top One Futures with “sufficient time and resources” to plan and manage the transition to another platform, ensuring seamless and uninterrupted customer trading.
Lucid Trading, another brokerage firm, provided further confirmation via its CEO on Discord. According to the CEO, ProjectX took the initiative to arrange a private meeting with the company to officially “announce its intention to discontinue support” for all current third-party partners. More importantly, the CEO of Lucid Trading also revealed that the powerful trading platform “will be transitioning to TopStep,” solidifying the information about the upcoming transfer of exclusivity and removing any doubts about the future of ProjectX.
Tradify, one of the futures brokers using ProjectX, has confirmed that it is “in active contact” with the platform’s development team. The focus of the discussions is on how to handle the possibility of losing access to the trading platform in the future. Tradify said it is focused on finding a contingency plan and has pledged to provide a detailed and formal update on the transition to its clients in the coming weeks.
The FuturesElite CEO was unable to deny the “rumors circulating about ProjectX” and instead pledged stability, assuring that their platform would operate without any issues this year and into the first months of 2026. This makes his statement suspiciously consistent with confirmation from other sources that ProjectX will cease operations for third parties shortly thereafter, specifically by the end of February next year.
Tech tensions rise again in the Prop Firm space
In proprietary trading, it is not unusual for technology platforms to stop working with brokerage firms, and ProjectX’s move appears to be a planned strategic move, while the trading industry is still recovering from a major event.
It was the stringent controls implemented by MetaQuotes in early 2024, specifically targeting proprietary trading firms that allow US traders to use the MetaTrader platform, that proved that technological stability is a constant challenge.
Following the crackdown by MetaQuotes, which forced a number of brokers to suspend their services in the US market, there was a major restructuring. Many companies returned to the US market but had to develop alternative solutions that no longer relied on the MetaTrader platform.
In this difficult environment, FTMO is the only exception that still offers MetaTrader 5 (MT5) in the United States. This is possible thanks to a special partnership with OANDA, a legally registered forex broker in the United States.
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