Think Capital Promo Code MADTRADES applies a 20% discount to ThinkCapital's evaluation challenges, cutting the entry fee on any programme and account size the firm offers. The mechanics are simple, but the place where most people lose the discount is the checkout page itself — a code typed into the wrong box, a page refreshed at the wrong moment, or an order confirmed before the total has actually recalculated. This walkthrough covers the redemption in order: what to decide before you reach checkout, where the field sits, what a correctly applied discount looks like on screen, and how to work through it when nothing happens.
Decide the Product Before You Touch the Code
A promo code is applied to a specific order, so the order has to be correct first. ThinkCapital runs four programmes and they are not interchangeable. Lightning is a one-step evaluation with a 10% profit target. Dual Step is the conventional two-phase model, with roughly a 9% target in phase one and 5% in phase two. Nexus is a three-phase evaluation with descending targets in the region of 7%, 6% and 5%. Bolt is instant funding with no evaluation at all, at a higher up-front cost.
Rules differ between the four, which makes it easy to buy the wrong one. Across the range, daily loss limits sit in the 3–4% band and maximum loss limits in the 6–8% band, varying by programme. Account sizes run from around $2,500 up to $600,000, and entry prices on the smallest accounts start in the region of $39–$59 depending on the programme. Trading is available through TradingView and ThinkTrader.
Settle the programme, the account size and any add-ons before you get to the payment page. Changing the product after a code is applied usually means the basket recalculates, and on many checkout systems the code has to be re-entered when that happens.
The Redemption, Step by Step
Open the official ThinkCapital site and go to the challenge selection page.
Choose your programme: Lightning, Dual Step, Nexus or Bolt.
Select an account size, and add any add-ons you have decided you want.
Proceed to checkout and look for the field labelled promo code or coupon.
Type MADTRADES into that field and apply it.
Check that the 20% reduction appears in the order total before you pay.
Only then complete payment.
Step six is the one that matters. Entering a code and pressing apply is not the same as the discount landing. Until the order total on screen is lower than it was a moment ago, nothing has happened.
Where the Field Usually Sits
Checkout layouts vary, but the promo code box almost always lives with the order summary rather than with your personal details. On desktop that is normally the right-hand column, next to the running subtotal. On mobile the summary is often collapsed behind a line that says something like "order summary" or "show details", and the code field only appears once that section is expanded — which is why people on phones frequently conclude there is no code field at all.
Some checkouts hide the box behind a small text link rather than showing an open input. Look for wording such as "have a promo code?" or "add coupon" before assuming the option is missing. If you have already reached a card-entry or payment-provider screen, you have gone one step too far; the code is applied on the order page that precedes payment, not on the payment gateway.
What a Correct Confirmation Looks Like
A properly applied code produces visible evidence in the order summary, not just a message. Look for all of the following:
The code MADTRADES shown as a line item in the summary, usually with a remove or delete option beside it.
A separate discount line with a negative amount, rather than just a changed headline number.
A final payable total that is 20% below the pre-discount figure — worth checking with rough mental arithmetic rather than trusting the label.
No leftover reference to the original price as the amount due.
The 20% is a percentage, so the absolute saving grows with the account size selected. On the smallest accounts, where entry prices start in the region of $39–$59, the reduction is modest in cash terms; on a large account it is substantially bigger. If the discount line shows a flat amount that does not scale with the account you chose, re-read the summary before paying.
Keep the order confirmation email or receipt. It should reflect the same discounted total. If it shows the full price, that is worth raising with the firm's support before you start trading rather than after.
When the Code Does Not Apply
Work through the plain causes first, because most failures are mechanical rather than eligibility-related.
Check the spelling. Enter MADTRADES exactly, with no spaces before or after. Copy-pasting from a web page commonly drags in a trailing space that the field will not strip.
Retype rather than paste. If pasting failed, typing the code manually removes any hidden characters.
Confirm you are on the official ThinkCapital site. Codes are tied to the provider's own checkout and will not work on a lookalike page or a third-party listing.
Re-apply after any basket change. Switching programme, account size or add-ons can reset the discount.
Clear the field and try once more. A single failed attempt sometimes leaves the box in an error state until it is emptied.
Check for a competing promotion. A code normally cannot be combined with another promotion in the same purchase, so an automatically applied offer already sitting in the basket can block it.
Try a different browser or disable extensions. Ad-blockers and privacy tools occasionally interfere with checkout scripts so that the apply button appears to do nothing.
Contact the provider's support if the total still will not move, and do so before paying rather than afterwards.
One case is not a fault at all: the discount reduces the challenge fee paid at checkout and nothing else. It does not cover a retry or reset if you breach a rule, unless the firm's terms say otherwise. If you are buying a reset rather than a new evaluation, the code may simply not be applicable to that transaction.
What the Discount Does Not Change
It is worth being precise about scope, because a cheaper entry price does not soften the evaluation. Profit targets, daily loss limits, maximum loss limits and profit splits are unaffected by the code. It applies across programmes and account sizes rather than to one product, which means there is no cost advantage to buying a larger evaluation than you need in order to "maximise" the saving.
The profit split deserves attention at the same moment you are choosing add-ons, since that decision is made on the same page. The headline figure is "up to 90%", and the default split for most traders is 80%. Reaching 90%, and the fastest payout frequency, generally requires paying for an add-on at purchase. A discounted challenge plus a paid upgrade can end up costing more than a competitor whose 90% split is standard, so do that comparison before you add anything to the basket rather than after the code has made the total look attractive.
Before You Confirm Payment
A short pause at the final screen is cheap. Evaluation fees are generally non-refundable, so the checkout page is the last practical point at which a mistake costs nothing to fix.
Confirm the programme name on the order matches the one you researched, given that rules differ between the four.
Confirm the account size is the one you intended, and consider starting small — the discount applies at every size, so there is no saving advantage in going large before you have been through the firm's full cycle, including a withdrawal, at least once.
Read the payout terms rather than the payout marketing: how a withdrawal is reviewed, what can delay or reduce it, and what counts as a prohibited strategy.
Check the payout cycle length, the minimum withdrawal amount and the withdrawal methods available, since some methods carry their own fees. Payouts run on a cycle measured in weeks rather than on demand.
Understand the prohibited-strategy list covering news trading, hedging across accounts, copy trading and latency arbitrage. These rules are enforced at the payout stage rather than at the point of trading.
Who You Are Buying From
ThinkCapital is a proprietary trading firm that allocates simulated capital to traders who pass an evaluation. It launched in 2024 and runs on the infrastructure of ThinkMarkets, a broker regulated by the FCA in the UK, ASIC in Australia, CySEC in Cyprus and the FSCA in South Africa. That backing is a genuine differentiator in a sector where many firms have no visible institution behind them.
It should be read accurately, though. Prop firms are not themselves brokers and generally are not regulated as financial institutions. What you buy is access to a simulated account and a contractual promise to pay a share of simulated profits. The regulatory protection attaches to ThinkMarkets' brokerage clients, not to prop-firm participants. The firm does not take deposits and the accounts are simulated. Treat the fee as at-risk money, and treat MADTRADES for what it is: a 20% reduction on a cost you had already decided to pay.
Trading carries a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. Evaluation fees are generally non-refundable unless the provider's terms state otherwise. Nothing here is financial advice.
Promotional terms, eligibility and values are set by the provider and can change at any time. Always confirm the current terms on the official site before signing up or completing a purchase.