Velotrade Unveils Crypto‑Focused Funded‑Trading Platform, Emphasizing Trader‑First Economics
A consortium of former derivatives desk veterans from JP Morgan, Dresdner Kleinwort and Bank of America has introduced a crypto‑centric funded‑trading platform under the Velotrade brand. The service lets traders access proprietary capital ranging from $5,000 to $200,000 without risking personal funds, and promises “considerable” profit splits, according to the launch announcement.
The initiative arrives at a time when the broader prop‑trading market is still dominated by firms that originated in the foreign‑exchange arena and have only retro‑fitted crypto products. Velotrade’s leadership argues that this legacy approach has produced rules and fee structures ill‑suited to the 24/7, high‑volatility nature of digital assets.
Founders’ pedigree and the company’s lineage
The operational core of the new platform is Velotrade Re Limited, a Hong Kong‑registered entity incorporated in November 2025. Its founders bring a combined decades‑long résumé in capital markets, risk management and fintech. Prior to this venture, they built Velotrade Management Limited, a trade‑finance fintech that has disbursed more than $2.5 billion since its 2016 inception and has been cited by Bloomberg, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and Nasdaq.
Gianluca Pizzituti, the chief executive, spent time on the derivatives desk at Dresdner Kleinwort in London before founding a high‑frequency trading shop in Singapore. Vittorio De Angelis, serving as executive chairman, accumulated over three decades of experience, including a stint as Co‑Head of Equity Derivatives at Bank of America and later as head of brokerage at a global Hong Kong broker.
Why a crypto‑only model matters
“We looked at the crypto prop market and found firms run by people with little experience in trading, in risk management, or in running a financial services company,” Pizzituti told reporters. “That shows. It shows in the rules, in the structure, in the fine print. We thought: there is an opportunity to build something the industry actually needs.”
Traditional prop firms typically transplant forex‑derived evaluation frameworks onto crypto. Those frameworks often impose trailing drawdowns calibrated for pip‑range volatility, weekend holding bans, and restricted news‑trading windows—constraints that clash with the perpetual trading cycles and liquidity patterns of digital assets. Velotrade’s decision to focus exclusively on crypto allows it to design evaluation metrics that reflect the asset class’s unique risk profile.
Business model: profit‑share replaces challenge fees
Most prop‑trading outfits generate the bulk of their revenue from challenge fees, effectively betting on trader failure. Velotrade flips this premise. The firm employs institutional‑grade liquidity bridges and AI‑driven hedging to mirror a funded trader’s positions in the underlying market. When a trader earns a profit, Velotrade captures a share of that upside; when a trader loses, the firm absorbs the loss.
“We are not here to collect challenge fees and hope people fail,” Pizzituti added. “Our revenue model is tied to trader performance. That changes everything about how you design rules, and how you treat the people trading your capital.”
This alignment creates an incentive structure where the platform’s risk management and product design directly support trader success, rather than encouraging churn through restrictive evaluation stages.
Evaluation framework built for digital assets
Velotrade’s rule set is publicly available on its website and is framed in “institutional grade clarity.” The company emphasizes three departures from typical forex‑derived prop‑trading criteria:
- No consistency rule – Traders are not penalized for a single large winning day or for varying position sizes based on conviction.
- No time limit – Evaluation periods have no hard cap, allowing participants to progress at a pace that matches their strategy.
- News‑trading permitted – There are no blackout windows around market events, reflecting the fact that crypto markets remain active around the clock.
The platform also lifts the traditional weekend‑holding ban, permitting positions to remain open across weekends for all account tiers.
Two challenge pathways, distinct risk parameters
| Path | Overall Drawdown | Daily Drawdown |
|---|---|---|
| Two‑step | 10 % | 5 % |
| One‑step | 7 % | 4 % |
Both pathways run on the DXtrade execution platform, a widely used solution for multi‑asset brokerage that offers low‑latency order routing and built‑in risk controls.
Product specifics: leverage, assets and payouts
The offering is crypto‑only; no forex, indices or equities are available. Traders can access a broad basket of digital currencies with leverage up to 6× on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). This leverage ceiling reflects a balance between providing meaningful exposure and containing the heightened volatility inherent in the top‑tier crypto markets.
Payouts are processed in stablecoins—USDC or USDT—and become requestable after a 14‑day holding period. Subsequent withdrawals can be made weekly, with the firm promising settlement within 24 hours of request.
Compliance and risk‑management considerations
Operating a crypto‑focused prop‑trading service from Hong Kong places Velotrade under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), which has been tightening oversight of digital‑asset activities. By employing AI‑driven hedging and institutional liquidity bridges, Velotrade demonstrates a proactive stance on market‑risk mitigation, a factor that regulators typically scrutinize.
The absence of a consistency rule and the removal of time caps could raise questions about operational risk—specifically, the potential for prolonged exposure to adverse market moves. However, the platform’s profit‑share model means that any extended drawdown directly impacts Velotrade’s balance sheet, providing a natural check against overly lax risk parameters.
Competitive positioning and market impact
Velotrade’s entry adds a differentiated option to a prop‑trading landscape that has, until now, been dominated by firms such as FTMO, Topstep and The5%ers—all of which originated in the forex space and later added crypto as an afterthought. By building a crypto‑first evaluation system, Velotrade positions itself as a specialist rather than a generalist, potentially attracting traders who have been frustrated by “one‑size‑fits‑all” rules.
The revenue‑share model also aligns with a broader fintech trend toward outcome‑based pricing, seen in embedded finance platforms that charge only when merchants generate revenue. If Velotrade can sustain profitability while scaling its trader base, it may prompt incumbents to revisit their own fee structures.
Industry context: AI, liquidity and the future of funded trading
The adoption of AI‑driven hedging reflects a growing appetite for algorithmic risk mitigation across fintech. By dynamically offsetting trader positions in the spot market, Velotrade reduces its net exposure and can maintain tighter risk tolerances without sacrificing trader flexibility.
Additionally, the use of institutional liquidity bridges—direct connections to deep order books on major exchanges—addresses a common pain point for prop firms that rely on aggregated retail liquidity, which can be thin during periods of market stress. This infrastructure choice may improve fill rates and reduce slippage, further enhancing the trader experience.
Analyst view: Opportunities and challenges
From an analyst’s perspective, Velotrade’s model offers a compelling case study in aligning platform economics with user success. The shift away from challenge fees reduces a primary barrier to entry for skilled traders who lack capital but possess proven strategies.
However, the company faces several hurdles:
- Regulatory clarity – Hong Kong’s evolving stance on crypto could impose licensing or capital‑adequacy requirements that affect profitability.
- Capital allocation – Scaling funded accounts while maintaining the AI‑hedged risk overlay will demand robust capital management, especially if a large cohort of traders simultaneously achieves profitability.
- Market perception – Convincing the broader trading community that a profit‑share model can be sustainable may require transparent reporting of performance metrics, something the firm has not yet disclosed publicly.
If Velotrade navigates these challenges, its approach could set a new benchmark for funded‑trading platforms operating in the digital‑asset space.
Bottom line
Velotrade’s launch marks a purposeful departure from the legacy prop‑trading playbook, offering a crypto‑only, profit‑share‑driven platform built by seasoned institutional traders. By discarding consistency rules, time caps and weekend bans, and by leveraging AI‑based hedging and deep liquidity connections, the firm aims to create a more trader‑centric environment. The true test will be whether this model can attract a sustainable pool of high‑skill traders while meeting the regulatory and risk‑management expectations of a rapidly maturing crypto market.
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