Kane Simons (TraderKane) is the founder of Prop Firm Compare and a futures trader with 10+ years’ experience. Having earned $3.5M in prop firm payouts, he provides unbiased reviews, comparisons, and insights based on real trading experience.
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Sep 25September 25, 202610 min10 min read
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Vest Markets is two things at once. It's a perpetual futures exchange, and through Vest Capital, it's also a perps prop firm. You pay a one-time fee for an Evaluation or Instant account, then trade perps on ES, NQ, stocks, crypto, commodities and FX on Vest's own exchange. Splits run from 80% to 95%, and you can claim profit whenever you like. Both sides are run by Vest Exchange Inc., a Panama company, and its Prop Terms say every account is simulated. Kane's own account is covered further down.
In short:
What it is: a crypto exchange with its own perps prop firm built in, paying out in USDC.
What it costs: from 9.50one-time(500 Instant, 5% off with code LAB). 2-Step evaluations start at $15 before the code.
The main caution: the Prop Terms call every account simulated, and any breach closes the account for good.
What Is Vest Markets?
Vest Markets is a perpetual futures exchange with hundreds of markets, from ES and NQ to stocks, crypto, commodities and FX, all margined in USDC. Anyone can trade it with their own money. It posts on X as @vestexchange, so "vest exchange" and "vestmarkets" are the same company.
Vest Capital is the prop firm side: you buy an account instead of depositing capital, and trade on the same exchange. Perps are futures that never expire. Our Perpetual Futures vs Futures guide explains more.
How Does Vest Capital Work?
You pick one of two routes. An Evaluation account has a profit target to hit first. An Instant account skips that and can claim profit from day one. Either way, profits go to your Vest Primary Account and you withdraw them in USDC.
Up to 10 Instant and up to 100 Evaluation accounts at once, one profile per person
Vest Prop Terms of Service
20 Oct 2026
Refunds
Within 3 days of purchase if no trade has been placed
Vest refund policy
20 Oct 2026
*Discounted prices require code LAB at checkout. Live pricing pages are Vest's source of record: next.vestmarkets.com/vest-capital/evaluation and /instant.
Evaluations are cheaper and give more room. Instant costs more with a tighter floor, but skips the target and pays 95%. See also Best Instant Funding Futures Prop Firms.
Oddly, a 20% target costs less than a 10% target with the same settings. Full sizes and prices are on the Vest Markets challenges page.
The Vest Markets rules come down to a static floor and, if you chose one, a daily loss limit. Both are checked against equity, so open losses count.
The static floor is set from your starting balance and never moves, even when you make money. Dip below it for a moment and the account closes. Most futures firms trail instead, as our EOD vs Intraday Drawdown and Trailing Drawdown guides explain.
The daily loss limit resets at 8:00 PM ET, at 3% or 4% below that evening's balance, ignoring open profit. Withdrawals lower it by the same amount.
Breaking either limit ends the account with no warning. The order form shows a "fail price" where you'd breach, so check it before every trade.
Other Vest Capital rules:
Funded accounts get up to 75x leverage depending on the market: 75x on ES, 50x on NQ, RTY and YM, and 5x on most stocks, FX and gold.
XRP and HYPE can't be traded, and there's no API trading on funded accounts.
Index and commodity perps lock from Friday 5:00 PM to Sunday 6:00 PM ET, and stocks from Friday 8:00 PM to Sunday 8:00 PM ET. Crypto trades all weekend. Positions held into a lock can't be changed until it lifts.
Funding is paid hourly between longs and shorts.
Rule example: on Vest's own $25,000 Platinum example with a 4% daily loss limit, the static floor is $23,500. At a $25,000 reset balance, the daily floor is $24,000, and an open $2,000 profit doesn't move it. At a $27,000 reset, it becomes $25,920, and a $500 withdrawal drops it to $25,420. The $23,500 floor never moves.
Sizing example for futures traders: on Vest, 1 NQ unit is worth $1 a point. So 1 MNQ is about 2 units and 1 full NQ contract is about 20. On ES, 1 MES is about 5 units and 1 ES is about 50. On a Platinum account, the $1,500 cushion is 750 NQ points if you trade 2 units, but only 75 points at 20 units, before fees and funding.
Vest's pages don't always agree on leverage, and the "up to 100x" on its about page is for regular exchange accounts. We've used the funded figures from Vest's table.
How Do Vest Capital Payouts Work?
Getting paid takes two steps. First you claim profit from your funded account to your Vest Primary Account. Then you withdraw USDC from there to your own wallet.
Claims are credited within 24 hours, according to Vest, and can't be reversed. There's no limit on how often or how much you claim. Evaluation profit isn't paid.
Withdrawals are in USDC, with a 1 USDC minimum and a 24-hour processing period. Email and Google sign-ups withdraw on Base or Arbitrum One.
Per the Prop Terms, Vest can hold a payout while it reviews your eligibility, and you'll need to complete any KYC it asks for.
Vest isn't like the other firms I review. It's an exchange first, with a prop firm bolted on, so you're trading perps on Vest's own venue instead of CME futures, and you get paid in USDC. I bought a $25,000 Platinum evaluation with my own money, not a gifted or sponsored account. I passed it and I'm now trading the funded account, but I haven't taken a payout yet. What I like most is how cheap it is to get in. What I watch most is how small the floor is.
What I Liked
The floor doesn't trail, so making money never tightens it
ES and NQ perps follow the CME contracts, so the charts felt familiar straight away
Cheap to start, and I could pick my own settings at checkout
The account was ready to trade the moment I paid
Support starts with an AI agent for quick questions, and a real person takes over when you need one
What to Watch
The Prop Terms say every account is simulated, even though some of Vest's marketing talks about real capital
One breach and the account is gone, with no warning
Index perps lock over the weekend, so you can't close a held position until Sunday evening
It's a young firm, launched in 2025, and your contract is with a Panama company
Vest has had platform problems, including a pricing issue on 15 April 2026 that wrongly liquidated about 10% of active accounts, according to Vest
My Experience With Vest Capital
I went with the Platinum 1-Step: 10% target, 3% daily loss limit, 80% split. That meant making $2,500 without dropping $1,500, so my floor sat at $23,500 from the first trade. I used code LAB at checkout and the account was live straight away.
Everything happens on Vest's own web platform, so there was nothing else to install or connect. When I had questions, the AI agent sorted the easy ones on the spot, and a person picked up anything it couldn't.
You can pass the evaluation in under an hour if the trade goes your way, because there's no minimum number of days. That cuts both ways, though. $1,500 is a lot less room than a CME futures evaluation gives you, and with the leverage on ES and NQ, one bad position can eat it fast. The floor is checked on equity, so a trade that's underwater counts before you close it. I sized down and checked where my floor was before every trade.
My Payout Experience
I haven't taken a payout from Vest yet. I'm trading the funded account and working towards my first claim, and I'll update this once I've been paid. That is my own experience, not a promise of what anyone else will see.
Which Account Would I Choose?
Kane's Pick: Vest Capital Platinum $25,000, 1-Step. It's the one I bought and passed, and you get the most room for what you pay.
It's 210beforecodeLAB(199.50 with it). The Instant account at the same size is $1,000 and only gives you a $1,000 floor, against $1,500 on the evaluation. The 2-Step is cheaper still, but you have to pass twice. Instant makes sense if you want 95% and no target, and you're fine with a floor that's only 2% to 4% of the account. I haven't traded the 2-Step or Instant myself, so that's based on Vest's rules. Compare them on the challenges page.
Who I Would Recommend Vest Markets To
I'd point ES, NQ and multi-asset perps traders here, as long as they're comfortable with a fixed floor and getting paid in USDC. If you want a CME futures platform, bank payouts or a regulated firm, look elsewhere. The Vest Markets profile and our comparisons are a good place to start. So far, the low price and the lack of a consistency rule are what stand out. I'll give a firmer verdict once I've been paid.
Is Vest Markets Legit?
Vest Exchange Inc., registered in Panama, runs both the exchange and Vest Capital under Panama law. Here's what to weigh.
Simulated accounts. The Prop Terms, last updated 14 October 2026, say every account is simulated, Instant included, and that Vest can trade on your ideas. Some marketing pages mention real capital, but the terms are what you agree to.
Regulation. Vest's docs show no financial regulator licence. Its OtterSec audit covers smart contracts, not regulation. See Are Futures Prop Firms Regulated?
Where you can sign up. The Prop Terms exclude Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Russia, Syria and the Philippines. The exchange terms also exclude the US and UK. Check before you pay.
Track record. Vest launched in 2025, publishes incident reports and names Coinbase and Jane Street among its backers.
See our methodology. No firm can pay to appear here or to rank higher.
How Does Vest Capital Compare With Other Crypto Prop Firms?
Most crypto prop firms run on someone else's exchange. Vest Capital is a crypto prop firm and perps prop firm on its own venue, with smaller, cheaper accounts. Whether you want an instant funding crypto prop firm or a crypto futures prop firm, lists of the best crypto prop firms change often, so check each firm's terms.
Firm
Markets / platform
Max size
Split
Payouts
Official source
Last checked
Vest Capital
Multi-asset perps on Vest Markets
$50,000 per account; up to 10 Instant (from $9.50 with code LAB*)
Vest Markets is an exchange and a perps prop firm in one. Vest Capital starts at $9.50 for a $500 Instant account with code LAB, with a floor that never trails and profit claims on demand.
The trade-offs: every account is simulated under the Prop Terms, one breach ends it, the company is in Panama, it launched in 2025, and Vest's pages don't always agree.
It suits perps traders who want a cheap way in and are happy with USDC. For CME futures or bank payouts, a futures prop firm fits better. See Kane's section and our trader reviews.
Vest Markets and Vest Capital are run by Vest Exchange Inc., a Panama company. Vest's docs show no financial regulator licence, and its Prop Terms, last updated 14 October 2026, say all accounts are simulated. Check you're eligible before signing up.
Which Vest Capital account does Kane recommend?
The Platinum $25,000 1-Step evaluation, which Kane bought and passed. It's $210 before code LAB, a fraction of the $1,000 Instant account at the same size, and it gives you a bigger floor. Instant suits traders who want 95% and no profit target.
Is Vest Capital good for beginners?
It's cheap to start, from $9.50 for a $500 Instant account with code LAB, with no consistency rule or time limit. But open losses count against the floor, one breach closes the account for good, and payouts come in USDC, so you'll need a crypto wallet.
What should I watch out for with Vest Capital?
The floor is checked on equity, so losing trades count before you close them, and any breach ends the account with no warning. Index perps lock over the weekend, payouts are in USDC, and refunds are only possible within 3 days and before your first trade.
Does Vest Markets have a discount code?
Yes. Code LAB applies 5% off all Vest Capital plans and accounts, bringing the $500 Instant account down to $9.50 one-time and the Platinum 1-Step to $199.50.
Is Vest Capital funded with real money?
Vest's Prop Terms, last updated 14 October 2026, say every Vest Capital account is simulated, Instant accounts included, and that your fee buys access to the programme. Some marketing pages mention real capital, but the terms are what you agree to. Last checked 20 October 2026.
How does Vest Capital compare with other crypto prop firms?
Vest Capital trades perps across indices, stocks, crypto, commodities and FX on its own exchange, with accounts up to $50,000 and splits up to 95%. Firms like Propr and HyroTrader run on outside exchanges and offer bigger accounts, with splits of 80% to 90%.
