Velotrade Launches Performance-Driven Crypto Proprietary Trading Platform
A new entrant is shaking up the crypto proprietary trading landscape. Velotrade, a Hong Kong-based firm founded by former institutional derivatives traders from JPMorgan and Dresdner Kleinwort, has officially launched its funded trading platform. The model provides traders with significant capital—without requiring personal funds at risk—and shares profits based directly on individual performance, the company announced on Friday.
Understanding the Crypto Prop Trading Model
Crypto proprietary trading, often called “prop trading,” is a structure where a firm provides traders with its own capital to trade digital assets. This contrasts with using personal funds. In most retail-focused prop firms, access to a funded account is gated by a mandatory evaluation process, commonly known as a “challenge.” Traders must demonstrate both profitability and strict risk discipline within defined parameters. Successfully passing this challenge grants access to a live, funded account, where the trader earns a predetermined percentage of the profits generated, contingent on adherence to the firm’s rules and risk limits.
A Radically Different Framework: Removing Traditional Frictions
Velotrade asserts its platform is built from the ground up specifically for crypto, deliberately eliminating several common restrictions found in other models. The company states there are no “consistency rules” (which often penalize volatile but profitable trading), no time limits on trading periods, and no bans on trading during major news events or on weekends. This design philosophy aims to allow traders to employ their strategies without artificial constraints.
The platform’s operational backbone uses institutional-grade liquidity bridges and AI-driven hedging systems. According to Velotrade, this technology mirrors trader positions in real-time, which is designed to hedge the firm’s own exposure. The critical implication is that the firm’s revenue is intrinsically linked to the trader’s success; it earns only when the trader generates profits.
This alignment is central to the company’s ethos, as stated by Gianluca Pizzituti, CEO and co-founder: “We are not here to collect challenge fees and hope people fail. 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.”
Decades of Combined Institutional Experience
Velotrade’s founding team brings substantial traditional finance pedigree. Executive Chairman Vittorio De Angelis traded equity derivatives at JP Morgan and Dresdner Kleinwort before becoming co-head of equity derivatives at Bank of America. CEO Pizzituti previously ran a proprietary high-frequency trading operation focused on foreign exchange and equity indices from Singapore. Their prior collaboration includes founding Velotrade Management Limited in 2016, a trade finance platform that has distributed over $2.5 billion to clients globally and remains operational.
Platform Specifics: Capital, Leverage, and Payouts
The platform grants access to proprietary accounts with capital allocations ranging from $5,000 to $200,000. Trading is exclusively focused on cryptocurrency assets, with leverage offered up to 6x on major pairs like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Profit payouts become available after an initial 14-day period, with subsequent weekly withdrawals processed upon request in stablecoins (USDC or USDT).
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
