The futures trading community is witnessing fresh turbulence as a lawsuit has emerged between Topstep, a prominent proprietary trading firm, and content creator Pat Wieland. The legal action follows a series of public statements and social media posts made by Wieland, including remarks about Topstep founder Michael Patak and his personal life.
According to a post shared by Wieland, he is being sued for referring to Patak as a “cuck” and referencing a period during which Patak’s now-wife appeared on The Bachelor. Wieland stated that the two were on a break at the time and have since married and started a family. While acknowledging the personal nature of the content, Wieland criticized the lawsuit as an attack on free speech and voiced concerns about the broader implications for content creators in the prop trading space.
The legal dispute comes amid escalating tensions between Topstep and Tradeovate. Tradeovate released a statement criticizing Topstep for discontinuing support for new combines on its platform starting June 19. Existing combine users have until July 31 to reset plans before losing access to Tradeovate through Topstep. The platform urged traders to “keep trading on Tradeovate” by joining any of 21 alternative prop firms supporting it.
Industry observers speculate that Topstep is moving toward prioritizing its proprietary trading platform, SnitchX. The move has raised concerns among some traders who object to the platform’s data-sharing practices. Wieland, in particular, expressed strong opposition, citing privacy concerns and criticizing what he sees as efforts by Topstep to silence critical voices through legal and financial pressure.
Beyond the controversy, the trading influencer announced several new developments and community initiatives. In partnership with Savvias, a European prop firm specializing in futures, an exclusive promotion was launched featuring 41% off all accounts, a free fast-pay add-on, and a buy-five-get-one-free deal. Savvias will also allow traders to move their highest-balance account—up to $25,000—into a live trading environment after three successful payouts.
Savvias accounts offer generous trailing drawdowns, 100% profit splits on live sim, micro scalping capabilities, and a wide range of tradable instruments. The company does not allow bots but supports VPNs and copy trading. Multiple members in Wieland’s community have reported successful payouts from the firm.
Other promotional updates include:
- Lucid: 45% off evaluations and straight-to-funded accounts, with a buy-three-get-one-free reset offer.
- The Futures Desk: 60% off with no activation fee.
- Funded Futures Network: 50% off with a buy-one-get-one-free offer, no activation fee.
- TradeDay: Now allows up to six accounts (three live sim, one live, two reserve) with no setup fee.
- Prop Shop Trader: Continuing 90% off evaluations and launching a six-day promotion of buy-five-get-five-free instant funding accounts.
In addition to promotional updates, Wieland shared a newly released custom indicator for NinjaTrader, based on a tool created by Trader Oracle, a well-known figure in the trading community who is currently battling terminal cancer. The indicator, named VIP, identifies volume imbalances—or “bar gaps”—on various charts, which can be used for predicting swing targets and pullback zones. Wieland paid a developer to adapt it for NinjaTrader and is distributing it for free via Google Drive.
The tool is based on 15-minute chart gaps and is designed to highlight long and short trading opportunities using color-coded signals. According to Wieland, it provides useful insights for managing entry points and avoiding premature trades. Additional customization options allow users to alter timeframes, gap visibility, and bar coloring. A preset template is also available for download.
A community giveaway tied to the launch includes free Savvias accounts—a 150K and a 125K straight-to-funded account—to be awarded on July 6 via a live Discord event.
Trader Oracle’s contributions to the community continue through his Patreon, where he offers affordable resources and custom-coded tools despite his health condition.
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