IC Funded vs IC Markets (2026): Prop Firm or Real Broker Account?

IC Funded and IC Markets are not two versions of the same product. They are two different products from two related but legally separate companies. IC Funded is a prop trading firm: you pay a one-time challenge fee (from $74), trade simulated capital of up to $500,000, and keep 80% of the profits, and the fee is the only money you can lose. IC Markets (the broker, which moved from icmarkets.com to ic.com in July 2026) is a real brokerage founded in 2007: you deposit your own money, trade live markets, and keep 100% of your profits, with your full deposit at risk. Pick IC Funded if capital is your constraint; pick IC Markets if freedom is. Last verified: July 17, 2026.

Affiliate disclosure: fundedverify.com is an independent affiliate site run by The FundedVerify team, a partner of both IC Funded and IC Markets since . If you sign up for either through our links, we earn a commission. We earn either way, so we have no reason to push one over the other. We are not IC Funded, IC Markets, or IC, and nothing on this page is financial advice. Trading involves risk, and no outcome is guaranteed.

What is IC Funded, what is IC Markets, and how are they related?

IC Funded is a prop firm operating “in partnership with IC Markets”: you pay a one-time evaluation fee, trade a simulated account with virtual funds, and keep 80% of the profits you generate, with the fee as your maximum possible loss. It soft-launched in beta in 2024, was paused, and relaunched on May 11, 2026 at icfunded.com under General Manager Petros Kalaitzis (ex-FunderPro Deputy CEO). It operates under Saint Lucia law and is explicitly not a broker: every account is a demo account funded with virtual money.

IC Markets (rebranded simply “IC”, with icmarkets.com becoming ic.com on July 11, 2026) is a real online broker founded in Sydney, Australia in 2007: you deposit your own capital, trade live markets with raw spreads from 0.0 pips, and keep 100% of what you make. Its group entities are regulated by ASIC in Australia (AFSL 335692), CySEC in Cyprus (license 362/18), the FSA Seychelles (SD018, the global entity Raw Trading Ltd), and the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SIA-F214).

The relationship is closer than a typical white-label deal but looser than one company. Kalaitzis told TradeInformer: “We have a Chinese wall between the firms, so it’s a different legal entity.” The icfunded.com site describes itself as operating “in partnership with IC Markets.” In the same interview, Kalaitzis described a graduation path: consistently successful IC Funded traders can be moved to the real IC Markets broker side with conditions as good as or better than what they had on the prop. So: shared brand DNA and infrastructure pedigree, separate legal entities, two very different products. (Full ownership analysis: is IC Funded legit?)

IC Funded vs IC Markets: head-to-head table

*IC Funded drawdowns: 1-Step is 3% daily / 6% max (static, on initial balance). 2-Step per the pricing and rules pages: Step 1 = 4% daily / 8% max; Step 2 and Funded = 5% daily / 10% max. Transparency note: IC Funded’s own FAQ gives a conflicting size-based version (below $100K = 10% max; $100K+ = 8%). The pricing/rules pages are the primary spec, but confirm with IC Funded support before betting an account on the difference. Full breakdown in our IC Funded review.

The cost math: $10,000 of buying power, two ways

Here is the real difference between an IC Markets funded account (which does not exist; funded accounts are IC Funded’s product) and a live account, in numbers.

Route 1, IC Funded 2-Step, $10K account: $125 one-time. You pay $125, hit +10% in Step 1 and +5% in Step 2 (no time limit, minimum 3 trading days per phase), and receive a simulated $10,000 funded account. A 5% winning month on that account is $500 of simulated profit, of which you keep 80% = $400 paid to you. Your maximum possible loss across the entire journey, including blowing the account, is $125. After your third payout, the $125 fee is refunded.

Route 2, IC Markets live account: deposit $10,000. The same 5% month is $500, and you keep 100% = $500 (minus spreads, commission, and any swaps). But the symmetry cuts both ways: a 5% losing month costs you $500 of real money, and your full $10,000 is exposed to your own worst decisions.

The honest framing: IC Markets pays you $100 more per winning month, in exchange for 80× more capital at risk. IC Funded’s $400 costs you rule-compliance instead: you must first pass two evaluation phases, and most challenge buyers industry-wide fail them; the fee is a sunk cost if you do. You also trade under drawdown limits, a mandatory Friday flatten, and (once funded) a 3-minute news cool-off, and the environment is simulated, so fills won’t perfectly mirror a live book. Neither route is free money, and nothing here guarantees you a profitable month at all.

Scale is where the prop model gets interesting: a $100K 2-Step challenge costs $689, buying power that would take $100,000 of savings to replicate at any broker.

Who should choose IC Funded?

• You have skill but not capital. $689 for a $100K simulated account vs. saving $100K is the entire pitch.
• You want strictly capped downside. Your worst case is the fee. For a full breakdown of fees and rules, see our IC Funded review.
• You are a disciplined rule-follower. Drawdown limits, Friday flatten, the 1-Step 45% consistency rule, and funded-stage news cool-offs reward process traders and punish improvisers.
• You live somewhere IC Funded serves, including Indonesia, which FTMO excludes, and India, which some rival props (though not FTMO) turn away. See how it stacks up in IC Funded vs FTMO.

Who should choose IC Markets?

• You already have trading capital and want to keep 100% of what it earns.
• You want zero prop-style rules: no drawdown breaches, no consistency rules, weekend and long-term position holding, news trading without cool-offs, any legal strategy including EAs bought off the shelf.
• You want real market execution: live liquidity, MT4 and TradingView included, raw spreads from 0.0 pips with $3.50/lot/side commission.
• You want a regulated counterparty holding your funds: ASIC, CySEC, FSA Seychelles, and SCB entities, versus IC Funded’s unregulated simulated model.
• You’re Australian: IC Markets was founded there and serves it; IC Funded does not accept Australian traders at all.

The hybrid path: start funded, graduate to live

These two products are sequential, not mutually exclusive. The capital-efficient route in 2026 looks like this:

1. Prove yourself on IC Funded for a two-figure to three-figure fee, with downside capped at that fee.
2. Bank 80% payouts bi-weekly via RISE; your fee comes back after the third payout.
3. Build a real capital base from payouts, then deposit it at IC Markets, where profits are 100% yours and no prop rules apply.

IC’s own leadership has effectively endorsed this route: Kalaitzis has said publicly (TradeInformer, 2026) that traders who perform on IC Funded can graduate to the IC Markets broker side with the same or better trading conditions. A standalone prop has no 2007-founded, multi-regulated broker in its ecosystem to graduate into, and that pipeline is the strongest structural argument for the IC pairing over standalone props.

Ready to start?

• Try IC Funded with code Myx (35% off): https://checkout.icfunded.com/products?aff=myx (current verified codes are always on our IC Funded promo code page).
• Open an IC Markets account: https://ic.com/?camp=56886 (free demo accounts available if you want to test the live-market side first).

Is IC Funded owned by IC Markets?

Not exactly. They are separate legal entities. IC Funded operates “in partnership with IC Markets” (its own wording), and GM Petros Kalaitzis describes “a Chinese wall between the firms… a different legal entity.” Trade press treats IC Funded as the prop arm of the IC group, but your challenge agreement is with IC Funded under Saint Lucia law, not with any regulated IC Markets entity. Full corporate analysis: is IC Funded legit?

Can I use both IC Funded and IC Markets at the same time?

Yes, if your country is accepted by both. They are independent products with separate accounts, dashboards, and terms. One caution: IC Funded prohibits hedging your funded account against positions at another firm (cross-firm hedging), so don’t run offsetting positions between your IC Funded account and a live IC Markets account.

Is IC Funded regulated like IC Markets?

No. IC Markets’ entities hold real brokerage licenses (ASIC 335692, CySEC 362/18, FSA Seychelles SD018, SCB SIA-F214) because they custody client money and execute live trades. IC Funded custodies no deposits and runs a fully simulated environment with virtual funds, so it is not regulated as a broker. That is standard for the entire prop industry, not an IC Funded quirk. The practical difference: at IC Funded your exposure is a one-time fee; at a broker it’s your deposited capital under a regulator’s rules.

Which is better for beginners: IC Funded or IC Markets?

A free IC Markets demo account is the cheapest classroom: it costs nothing and expires only after 30 days of inactivity. Once you’re consistently profitable on demo, an IC Funded challenge (from $74) is a cheaper first step than depositing meaningful real money, because your maximum loss is the fee. Going live at IC Markets with real capital makes sense only after you’ve proven consistency somewhere that doesn’t bankrupt you. No path removes the risk of losing, including the fee.

Does IC Markets have funded accounts?

No. IC Markets is a broker: every account is a live account funded with your own money, and there is no “IC Markets funded account” product. Funded accounts, where you trade the firm’s simulated capital for an 80% profit split, exist only at IC Funded. If you searched for “IC Markets prop firm,” IC Funded is the product you’re looking for.

Can Australians use IC Funded?

No. Australia is on IC Funded’s restricted list, alongside the USA, Canada, Belgium, and roughly 35 other jurisdictions. Australians can, however, trade with IC Markets itself: it’s the broker’s home market, served by the ASIC-regulated entity since 2007. The reverse asymmetry also exists: IC Funded accepts India and Indonesia (markets some rival props turn away, with FTMO, for example, excluding Indonesia), while IC Markets accepts neither US residents nor sanctioned jurisdictions.

Did icmarkets.com become ic.com?

Yes. On July 11, 2026, IC Markets rebranded to “IC” and moved its main website from icmarkets.com to ic.com (announced on its official blog, alongside a Haas F1 sponsorship). Same company, same entities and licenses, new name and domain. IC Funded’s site remains icfunded.com. If a review you’re reading references icmarkets.com, it predates the rebrand.

Changelog

• 2026-07-17: Page published. All IC Funded figures verified against icfunded.com (pricing, rules, FAQ); all IC Markets figures verified against ic.com (post-rebrand) and 2026-dated sources. Noted IC Funded’s internal drawdown-spec discrepancy and IC’s July 11, 2026 domain change.

Last verified: July 17, 2026. We re-check prices, splits, and rules on every update; if you spot a change we missed, tell us and we’ll re-verify against the primary sources.