The LSE Directory / Prop firms
Smart Prop Trader was a proprietary trading firm that ran funded trader evaluation challenges from 2022 until it ceased operations at the end of December 2024. The company was founded and led by CEO Blake Olson and operated out of Austin, Texas; a company launch announcement carried by Yahoo Finance and Benzinga, Blake Olson's Forbes Business Council profile, and multiple independent industry trackers all place its headquarters there. Traders paid a one time evaluation fee to hit a profit target under drawdown rules; those who passed were allocated a firm funded account and kept a share of the profits they generated going forward. The firm specialised in speed. Its own launch materials, publicised in January 2023, promised traders could reach a funded account with up to $400,000 in capital within days of starting, positioned against a slower industry norm for evaluation and payout cycles. It offered both one phase and two phase challenge formats, where most direct competitors ran two phase only, set no minimum number of trading days, and permitted expert advisors, hedging, weekend position holding, and trading through news releases, several of which many funded account providers restrict. Profit splits were reported by industry review sites at up to roughly 90 to 95 percent depending on tier and scaling milestones, among the higher end of the sector, with scaling plans reported to extend qualifying accounts up to about $2,500,000. Smart Prop Trader built a sizeable customer base by prop firm standards, carrying a 4.5 out of 5 Trustpilot score across roughly 2,578 reviews. It shut down as part of a broader 2024 contraction in the funded trading industry, in which trade press counted more than 50 firms ceasing operations that year following regulatory action against My Forex Funds and the subsequent closures of firms such as True Forex Funds and Surge Trader. Smart Prop Trader halted onboarding of new traders on November 27, 2024, continued servicing existing accounts and payouts through December 29, 2024, and offered refunds to break even or profitable account holders. Finance Magnates' coverage attributed the closure to industry conditions rather than to any scam allegation or regulatory sanction against the firm itself. The company teased a follow up product at the time of closure, saying it hoped to "redefine the greater trading industry," but no relaunch has been confirmed since. Its former domain, smartproptrader.com, no longer resolves to the firm; as of this research it redirects to an unrelated Costa Rica registered broker, FXnity, whose site contains no reference to Smart Prop Trader or Blake Olson.
