FundedTrading.com readers get 20% off all ThinkCapital challenges with code FT20. This applies to every challenge type — Lightning, Dual Step, Nexus, and Bolt.

With FT20 applied, a $25K Nexus account drops from $139 to $111.20. A $100K Lightning account drops from $499 to $399.20. The code works on all account sizes. ThinkCapital also refunds your challenge fee after your third successful payout, so if you pass and keep trading, the evaluation effectively costs nothing in the long run.

ThinkCapital launched in 2024 as the prop trading arm of ThinkMarkets. ThinkMarkets is a broker regulated by the FCA (UK), ASIC (Australia), and CySEC (Cyprus). ThinkCapital itself is registered in the UK as Think Capital Services UK Ltd (Company Number 11054653), with operations also run out of Ajman, UAE. The CEO is Faizan Anees, who co-founded ThinkMarkets.

The broker backing is the main selling point. Most prop firms run challenge accounts on white-label demo environments from unrelated brokers. ThinkCapital runs on ThinkMarkets infrastructure — the same execution engine, spreads, and liquidity as a live brokerage account. That matters most during news events and volatile sessions.

As of July 2026, ThinkCapital has paid out over $4 million to funded traders and holds a 4.3/5 score on Trustpilot from 620+ reviews. The firm accepts traders from most countries including the US, though Australia is on the restricted list.

ThinkCapital runs four challenge types. Three are evaluation-based. One is instant funding. Here is what each one looks like before applying the FT20 discount code.

Lightning — 1-Step Challenge

Pass one phase with a 10% profit target. Daily loss limit is 3% balance-based. Max drawdown is 6% trailing, but it locks to the initial balance once your equity grows by 6%. Leverage is 1:30 on MT5. News trading is blocked by default (4-minute window). EA use is blocked by default. Account sizes run from $5K to $100K.

Dual Step — 2-Step Challenge

Two phase types: Intraday and Swing. Both share the same profit targets (9% Phase 1, 5% Phase 2) and max drawdown (7% challenge, 8% funded), but differ on daily loss and news. Intraday uses equity-based daily loss and bans news and weekend holding. Swing uses balance-based daily loss and allows both. Leverage is dynamic up to 1:100. Account sizes from $5K to $100K.

Nexus — 3-Step Challenge

Three phases: 7%, 6%, 5% profit targets. Daily loss limit is 4% balance-based. Max drawdown is 8% fixed to initial balance. Leverage is 1:100. News trading is blocked by default. Weekend holding is allowed. The lowest entry price in the lineup at $39 for a $5K account.

Bolt — Instant Funding

No evaluation required. Trade immediately. Account sizes from $2,500 to $50,000. The specific drawdown rules for Bolt are detailed in their FAQ under the Bolt Plan section. Launched May 2026.

*Lightning trailing drawdown locks at the initial starting balance once equity grows by 6%. Prices shown before FT20 discount.

Scaling Plan

All funded accounts qualify for a 20% balance increase every three months if you generate a 10% return in that period. The maximum via MT5 is $1 million. Via ThinkTrader, you can scale to $1.5 million. Scaling is not automatic — you need to contact support to request it.

The rules that get traders breached most often are the news trading restriction and the Lightning trailing drawdown. Both are worth understanding in detail before you buy.

News Trading

On Lightning, Nexus, and Dual Step Intraday, any account activity within a 4-minute window around a red-folder news event is a breach. That includes stop loss and take profit fills, not just new orders. If a position is running and a stop loss triggers inside the window, the account is violated. The only accounts with news trading allowed by default are Dual Step Swing. All other challenge types require a paid news trading add-on to remove this restriction.

Lightning Trailing Drawdown

Lightning uses a 6% trailing drawdown, not a fixed one. The drawdown floor moves up as your equity grows. Once your equity grows by 6% above the starting balance, the drawdown floor locks to the initial balance and stops trailing. On a $25K account, that means the absolute floor is $23,500 once you are in profit. On the way up, the trailing drawdown can reduce your available buffer if you give back profits.

Dual Step and Nexus Drawdowns

Both use a fixed maximum drawdown pegged to the initial starting balance. On Dual Step, the max is 7% in challenge and 8% in funded. On Nexus it is 8% throughout. These do not trail, so once your balance grows you do not lose drawdown buffer.

Other Rules — Quick Reference

The base profit split is 80%. You can upgrade to 90% by purchasing the profit split add-on at checkout, or by hitting the scaling milestone — a 10% return in any three-month period. The 90% split does not apply retroactively to payouts already processed.

Payouts are bi-weekly by default, measured from your first trade date. A weekly payout add-on is available at extra cost. ThinkCapital does not have a minimum profitable days requirement between payouts once you are funded.

Payout Methods

Fee Refund

ThinkCapital refunds your original challenge fee after your third successful payout. No separate request is needed — it is processed automatically. If you have not placed any trades and are within 14 days of purchase, you can get a full refund.

ThinkCapital runs on two platforms: ThinkTrader and MetaTrader 5. ThinkTrader has native TradingView chart integration, which lets you open and manage trades directly from TradingView charts. Almost no other prop firm does this — if you live in TradingView, it removes the need to flip between platforms.

MT5 is available for most countries but not for US traders. US traders use ThinkTrader only. Both platforms share the same execution engine and liquidity from ThinkMarkets.

Leverage by Platform and Challenge

Dynamic leverage on ThinkTrader scales down as trade size increases. Smaller positions get higher leverage. Larger positions get lower leverage automatically.

Tradable Instruments

ThinkCapital covers forex majors, minors, and some exotics, plus indices (S&P 500, NASDAQ, DAX, FTSE), commodities including gold and oil, and crypto. The full instrument list is available in your platform once credentials are issued. Commission is approximately $4 per lot on standard accounts.

ThinkCapital is a legitimate prop firm. ThinkMarkets’ backing is real and verifiable — the FCA, ASIC, and CySEC licenses are active and public. ThinkCapital is registered in England and Wales as Think Capital Services UK Ltd (Company Number 11054653).

Over $4 million in payouts have been processed and publicized. Trustpilot shows 4.3 out of 5 from 620+ reviews as of July 2026. The majority of positive reviews highlight reliable payouts, tight spreads, and responsive Discord support. The negative reviews fall into a few recurring categories: the 4-minute news breach catching traders off guard, jurisdiction shutoffs (Pakistan traders reported accounts closed when TC withdrew from their region), and group hedging or gambling accusations where traders say they received no specific evidence.

ThinkCapital is listed on PropFirmMatch and TheTrustedProp, both of which show positive trader feedback. There are no active scam warnings from either directory.

In June 2026, ThinkMarkets launched ChelseaAI, an MCP integration that connects your ThinkTrader account directly to an AI assistant. You talk to Claude (or another MCP-compatible AI), Claude talks to your account, and trades happen. No switching apps. No second login.

This matters for ThinkCapital traders because ThinkCapital runs on ThinkMarkets infrastructure. The same ThinkTrader platform you use for your funded challenge is what ChelseaAI plugs into. No other prop firm in the industry has anything close to this right now.

What ChelseaAI Can Do

The integration covers 26 tools across four areas: market data, position management, order execution, and account information. You can place market and pending orders, close positions in full or in part, set or adjust stop loss and take profit, cancel pending orders, check your balance, equity, margin, open and closed positions, current prices, instrument details, and historical price data.

Example: type “Close half my UK100” and ChelseaAI executes the partial close and confirms the fill. Type “What’s my margin level and open P&L?” and it pulls the data and returns it in one line. Type “Buy limit on EUR/USD at 1.0820, expires Friday” and the pending order is placed and confirmed.

Which AI Assistants Work

ChelseaAI works with any MCP-compatible assistant: Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, and Copilot. ThinkMarkets recommends Claude specifically because a free Claude account is enough for full trading access. Other platforms require a paid tier for the same functionality.

Permissions and Safety

Setup

Three steps. Under two minutes. No code required. Open ThinkTrader, go to Settings, click Connect MCP Client, enter your password and generate your connection string. Open Claude, paste the connection into MCP settings and save. Then start talking to Claude about your positions.

FTMO is the most common comparison traders make when researching ThinkCapital. Both pay. Both have clear rulesets. The differences come down to drawdown type, price, and platform.

FTMO’s main advantage is a 10-year track record and a large community. ThinkCapital’s advantages are the broker backing, TradingView execution, lower pricing on 3-step accounts, and US trader access. If you trade news events, neither firm lets you do that by default — but FTMO restricts news on the funded phase while ThinkCapital bans it from challenge day one unless you buy the add-on.

For more comparisons, see our best prop firms guide and the full discount code list for current offers across all firms we track.