Jonathan Binther is originally from France but has lived his whole life in the Netherlands. He’s currently doing his master’s in Business Administration in Switzerland. He started in crypto – trading Bitcoin and Solana on a personal account – and recently moved to MT5 to trade XAU/USD, US30, and NAS100. After two years of self-taught grind he just became funded, took his first payout, and has now fully shifted from manual swing trading to running his own AI-powered Expert Advisors (EAs) on the 1-minute chart while finishing grad school.
Q Quick intro – who are you, how old are you, where are you from, and what do you trade?
A My name is Jonathan Binther. I’m originally from France, but I’ve lived all my life in the Netherlands. I’m currently doing my master’s in Business Administration in Switzerland. I used to trade Bitcoin and Solana on a personal account. I recently moved to MT5 and now trade XAU/USD, US30, and NAS100.
Q When did you become a funded trader? What changed for you at that point?
A I officially just became a funded trader – really new to the community. I’ve only received one payout so far. What changed is definitely my perspective on prop firms. I think it’s important for people to realize that prop firms are not made to guarantee you a monthly salary for the rest of your life. I treat my account as a spontaneous source of income that I use to fund my personal long-term account.
“Prop firms are not made to guarantee you a monthly salary for the rest of your life. I treat my funded account as a spontaneous source of income that funds my personal long-term account.”– Jonathan Binther
Q How did you feel when you became a funded trader for the first time?
A I felt like two years of work had just been rewarded with an official certificate – finally allowing me to be proud of myself for having mastered such a difficult skill.
Q How many times did you fail before getting funded? What kept you going?
A I failed repeatedly and lost money over months and years, but I’m a very stubborn person, and I was certain I could eventually do it if I gave it my all. I also aspire to travel the world with my girlfriend and live off long-term investments. I’m definitely not there yet, but I believe I have the right vision.
Officially Funded
Jonathan’s official Passed Verification certificate – the milestone that capped two years of self-taught grind.
Q What was your lowest point in trading? Did you ever consider quitting?
A I actually never considered quitting. I approached this world cautiously – I never lost tremendous amounts of money, and I always made sure it was money I could afford to lose. That mindset kept me out of the worst spirals.
Q Did trading ever affect you mentally or emotionally?
A The first few months of getting into trading were the worst in my life. “Stressed” is an understatement. I was trying so hard to learn the skill, and getting information from too many different people at once made it harder to progress. It drained me mentally – I was completely overthinking it. After realizing that nobody learns this skill or gets rich in a few days, I took my time, filtered the bad information out, and restarted from zero.
Q What does your trading style look like today?
A I swing trade different currencies on the 1H and 4H using a simple Fibonacci strategy alongside other confirmations – fair value gaps, order blocks, overall trend, etc. Lately I’ve been very interested in EAs (Expert Advisors). The rise of AI makes it possible for someone without a computer-science background to code a bot that trades automatically every workday and generates consistent gains using your own strategy. The EA trades on the 1-minute timeframe.
Q What’s a typical trading day for you? Walk us through your routine.
A Right now, I’ve let go of my manual trading and have fully shifted to automated trading. It saves me so much time and lets me fully focus on my master’s degree in Switzerland. I’m still actively optimizing the EA and researching deeper into it to improve it further.
Q Do people around you understand what you do? How do they react?
A My friends and family have no idea what I’m doing – but they see the results and believe in me. Some have given me money to invest. In essence, I take care of multiple personal accounts for a small friendly fee.
Q How has trading impacted your lifestyle?
A I aspire to travel and unlock geographic freedom with my girlfriend. As a recently profitable trader, I can only think long-term and envision my future. My lifestyle hasn’t drastically changed yet from being a funded trader – it’s the long-term vision that’s shifted.
Q What keeps you motivated to continue trading?
A Understanding the compound effect of small gains over time, and my initial goal of being financially free and able to travel around the world.
“Don’t stress it. Focus on the relevant information, filter out the dodgy stuff, and think long-term. Learn the basics over and over again until you master them.”– Jonathan Binther
Q What would you tell your younger self when you first started trading?
A Don’t stress it. Focus on the relevant information, filter out all the dodgy stuff, and think long-term. Learn the basics over and over again until you master them.
Q If I gave you a $1,000,000 funded account today, what would you do in the first 7 days?
A I’d study the conditions of the prop firm – the spread, the optimal execution speed – and back-test using similar market conditions over five years to collect quality data. Once that’s done, I’d apply my automated trading bot to the account, secure a few payouts, and move them directly into my personal account.
Connect with Jonathan
Follow his journey and connect with him on LinkedIn.
