FTMO Review
FTMO is an award-winning prop trading firm where you can take part in challenges to qualify to trade the company’s capital and receive up to $2 million in funds and keep 90% of profits. The company provide you with support along the way and will even cover the losses.
FTMO created a distinctive 2-step evaluation course specifically for traders. This evaluation process, which consists of the Verification and the FTMO Challenge, is designed exclusively to identify skilful traders who are looking for funded accounts. The company have paid out over $100 million to traders in over 180 counties, making them one of the top prop trading firms you can find.
Your placement in the FTMO Proprietary Trading firm, where you can remotely manage the FTMO Account with a balance of up to $400,000, is provided to you when you successfully complete the Evaluation Course. It may be a difficult trip to get there, but there is a performance coach, account analysis, and educational tools there to support you along the way.
Long-term business partnerships are what FTMO strive for. They will scale up your FTMO Account by 25% in accordance with the Scaling Plan every four months if you are able to maintain consistency and profitability.
FTMO Challenge
The evaluation process begins with the FTMO Challenge. To go to the Verification level, you must be successful here. Show off your trading prowess and self-control by adhering to the Trading Objectives.
The FTMO Challenge lasts for 30 calendar days, and the Verification lasts for 60. You do not have to wait for the remaining period days if you are able to complete the Trading Objectives sooner. For instance, there is no need to wait another 19 days if you complete all of the Trading Objectives of the FTMO Challenge in just 11 days. They will move as quickly as possible to forward you to the Verification.
Verification
The second and final step to becoming an FTMO Trader is the Verification. You will be given the opportunity to trade for this proprietary trading firm if you successfully complete the Verification step and have your results verified.
FTMO Trader
At this stage, you are joining the FTMO proprietary trading firm as a trader. You can get up to 90% of your profits by trading consistently and safely. If your FTMO Account continuously generates profits, you can scale your account in accordance with the FTMO scaling plan.
FTMO need to be certain that you can manage risk before they let you trade for them using a funded account. They have created Trading Objectives as a result. Meeting the Trading Objectives demonstrates your ability to trade with discipline and expertise.
They don’t impose any restrictions on the instruments or position sizes you can trade, so your trading strategy is completely up to you. This is great when you consider some prop firms have restrictions on automated trading, hedging, news trading and weekend trading. If you are looking to pass the FTMO challenge automatically, you can take a look at our best FTMO EA’s.
| Step 1. FTMO Challenge | Step 2. Verification | Step 3. FTMO Trader | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trading Period | 30 days + 14 days | 60 days | indefinite |
| Minimum Trading Days | 10 days | 10 days | x |
| Maximum Daily Loss | $500 | $500 | $500 |
| Maximum Loss | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| Profit Target | $1,000 | $500 | x |
| Free Repeat | Yes | Yes | x |
| Refundable Fee | €155 | free | refund |
Trading Period
The FTMO Challenge lasts for 30 calendar days, and the Verification lasts for 60. You do not have to wait for the remaining period days if you are able to complete the Trading Objectives sooner. For instance, there is no need to wait another 19 days if you complete all of the Trading Objectives of the FTMO Challenge in just 11 days. They will move as quickly as possible to forward you to the Verification.
Minimum Trading Days
You must trade within the current duration cycle for at least 10 days in order to achieve this goal. Each of these days must have at least one position available. A trading day is characterised as one in which at least one trade is completed. When a trade is held across several days, just the day on which it was actually performed is taken into account.
Maximum Daily Loss
This guideline is often known as “the trader’s daily stop-loss.” The policies state that this should be 5% (10% if the version is aggressive) of the starting account amount. The regulation states that the result of all closed positions added to the open floating P/Ls (profits/losses) at any given time during the day [CE(S)T = Central European (Summer) Time] must not exceed the set daily loss limit. The formula for counting:
Current daily loss = results of closed positions of this day + result of open positions.
For instance, the maximum daily loss is $10,000 in the FTMO Challenge scenario with a $200,000 starting account balance. Your account cannot decrease more than $2,000 on this day if you lose $8,000 on closed deals. Additionally, it cannot go below $2,000 in open floating losses. The cap includes swaps and commissions.
In contrast, if you make $5,000 in a single day, you can afford to lose up to $15,000 of that total, but not more. Remember that your open trades are included in your Maximum Daily Loss as well. For instance, if you cancelled trades with losses of $6,000 in a single day and then opened a new trade with a floating loss of about -$5,700 but a final profit, it is sadly already too late. Your daily loss on the equity was -$11,700 in a single instant, exceeding the $10,000 allowable loss.
At 12:00 a.m. CE(S)T, the Maximum Daily Loss resets. Let’s imagine that one day you made $4,000 in profit. You own an open position with a loss that is currently floating at $13,000 on the same day. The maximum daily loss is not exceeded on this day. The daily loss right now is $10,000. ($4,000 in profits realised – $13,000 in open positions). The daily loss cap will be broken if you continue to hold this position after midnight with an open loss of $13,000, though. This is the case since your prior day’s profit does not carry over to the current day and the open loss of $13,000 is greater than the maximum daily loss allowed of $10,000.
The magnitude of the Maximum Daily Loss ensures a clearly defined daily risk for the investor and provides the trader with ample room for trading. This regulation benefits both the trader and the investor because it prevents the account value from falling below the limit. The Maximum Daily Loss cap also takes your potential floating losses into account.
Maximum Loss
This regulation is also known as an “account stop-loss.” No time during the account’s lifetime may the trading account’s equity fall below 90% of the opening balance. The lowest possible account equity for the FTMO Challenge with a balance of $100,000 is $90,000. Once more, the total above includes both closed and open positions (account equity, not balance). The computation follows the same principles as the Maximum Daily Loss; the only distinction is that it takes into account the full testing period rather than just one day. The cap includes swaps and commissions. The trader has enough room—10% of the initial account balance—to demonstrate that his or her account is appropriate for the investment. It serves as a cushion that should enable the trader to continue playing even after some initial losses. The investor is guaranteed that under no circumstances will the trader’s account fall below 90% (or 80% in the case of the aggressive version).
Profit Target
The profit target for the FTMO Challenge is 10% (20% in the Aggressive level) of the starting amount, while for the Verification it is set at 5% (10% in the Aggressive level). Profit aim is the achievement of a profit in the total of closed positions on the designated trading account at any moment during the FTMO Challenge’s 30-day time frame or during the Verification’s 60-day time frame. Also, all positions must be closed at the conclusion of the trading session.
As an illustration, if you trade the FTMO Challenge with a balance of $100,000, your profit target is $10,000 in the FTMO Challenge and $5,000 in the Verification. The Profit Target is the only Trading Objective that will not be met when you complete all Trading Objectives, regardless of whether it is the FTMO Challenge or Verification. Your account profit must be positive at the conclusion of the time period with all positions closed in order to qualify for the new FTMO Challenge.
Free Repeat
You can retake your FTMO Challenge for free if you succeed in all Trading Objectives other than the Profit Target (during the FTMO Challenge or Verification), but you manage to stay profitable and finish above the starting balance with all positions closed. Therefore, you can have an endless number of chances to pass if you practise appropriate risk management.
Refund Fee
When you sign up to be an FTMO Trader, the fee is returned to you with the first Profit Split.
Payout System
The default payout ratio for all FTMO Traders is 80:20, but the potential profit share does not end at 80%. Your FTMO Account balance will be increased by 25% if you satisfy the requirements of the scaling plan, and the payout ratio will immediately change to an astounding 90:10 as well!
Any FTMO Trader may request a payout at any time. Although you can set your own Profit Split Day and change it up to three times, the payout can be finalised after just 14 days. Finally, they make sure that you always get your withdrawal on the day that works best for you.
Swing Account
Select the FTMO Account that best fits your needs and trading style. There are no limitations on maintaining positions over the weekend or trading during macroeconomic releases for the FTMO Accounts.
Scaling Plan
The FTMO Account has four-month cycles for capital increases. For a capital increase, the trader must produce at least 10% of net profit (or 20% for an aggressive account type) over the course of four consecutive monthly cycles (or, for a normal account type, an average of at least 2.5% net profit per month or 5% net profit per month for an aggressive account type). The trader must process at least 2 payouts concurrently over the course of the four-month term. At the time of scale-up, the trader’s account balance must be more than the original account amount (in profit).
With each Profit Split, the eligibility is automatically assessed, and FTMO Traders are provided with an explanation of the requirements and progress. If you meet the conditions, all you need to do is let them know during the payout processing that you want your account scaled up, and they will provide you a scaled-up FTMO Account for the next trading period.
Additionally, the rationale for calculating loss limits will adjust in line with this adjustment, although the actual calculation of loss limits (which remains 5% Max Daily Loss/10% Max Loss of the Initial Account Balance after Scale-Up) does not change. The trader will become eligible for a further increase of the demo capital by 25% of the original account balance of the FTMO Account after another 4 months, provided that they meet the conditions for account growth and the processing of the 2 payouts. Demo capital increases are limited to $2 million per trader ($1 million for aggressive accounts).
The profit split ratio for FTMO traders on the scale-up plan has been improved to 90/10. Increased Profit Split benefits newly scaled-up accounts only; it does not apply to newly merged accounts into scaled-up accounts. The Profit Split ratio will become 80/20 if you want to merge a scaled-up account with a non-scaled-up account.
In the event that the trader successfully completes the evaluation process with an initial account balance of $400k USD and meets the requirements for capital increases, the following table shows a hypothetical scenario of the account balance and risk parameters development on the FTMO Account:
| Elapsed Time | Initial Balance | Maximum Daily Loss | Maximum Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 months | $400,000 | $20,000 | $40,000 |
| 4 months | $500,000 | $25,000 | $50,000 |
| 8 months | $600,000 | $30,000 | $60,000 |
| 12 months | $700,000 | $35,000 | $70,000 |
| 16 months | $800,000 | $40,000 | $80,000 |
As you can see in the table above, in the best-case scenario, the trader will have at his or her FTMO Account twice as much money and twice as many loss limits by the end of the second year and a third (this applies to any starting balance). This scaling plan, in our opinion, will motivate traders to engage in constant trading while avoiding unwarranted risks and treating the FTMO Account with longevity in mind. Please be aware that trading is generally a dangerous endeavour and that high returns are not guaranteed.
Free Trial
If you’re still unsure, you can give the procedure a full trial run absolutely free. The FTMO Challenge is condensed into the Free Trial account with identical trading terms.
Platforms
With MT4, MT5, and cTrader accounts, which are all powered by data feeds directly from a pool of premier liquidity providers, FTMO give the greatest trading conditions to all of their clients. With extremely cheap commissions, no mark-up, and super-raw spreads on all demo trading accounts, they try their best to replicate the actual market conditions.
Instruments
FTMO have a nice variety of trading instruments for you to choose from with tight spreads and low commission fees including forex currency pairs, indices, stocks, bonds, cryptos and commodities.
Leverage
With no restrictions on position sizing, you can take advantage of the leverage used by experienced traders, capped at 1:100.
Fees
There are no membership fees, recurring fees, or other hidden costs. Additionally, the first Profit Split immediately reimburses you for the charge.
Custom Apps
For traders, FTMO have created a number of apps. Some of them will aid you in developing discipline, while others will help you keep a journal or analyse the stock market. The apps include Account MetriX, Account Analysis, Statistical App, Trading Journal, Mentor App and Equity Simulator.
Account Evaluations
When they made the decision to launch the FTMO project, they were aware that they had to give traders a fair assessment of their trading performance. Why? No matter how experienced the trader is, obtaining a second perspective is always beneficial. For many traders, trading is a solitary hobby in which even your closest friends and family frequently fail to comprehend what you sit at your computer doing for so long. Account evaluations gives you good constructive feedback that can help you identify areas in which you need to improve and become a better trader.
Customer Support
A prop trading firms ability to communicate with traders is crucial. FTMO work hard to help people both during and after the process of becoming FTMO Traders. You can reach their knowledgeable Customer Support specialists at any time by phone, email, or live chat. They interact in 17 different languages around the world, and have some of the greatest customer support in the business.
Trading Academy
FTMO have created tutorials for new traders to assist you get started with platforms and the fundamentals of trading. Additionally, they collaborate with well-known traders and mentors and host educational webinars on cutting-edge trading issues.
Performance Coach
Finding the source of undesirable behaviour is crucial for suppressing harmful habits and unwanted behaviour, but this isn’t always simple. FTMO have qualified Performance coaches on their staff as a result of this. These performance coaches will provide some specific questions tailored to each individual and work to help you comprehend the issues. Mutual cooperation should lead to a long-term fix, get rid of undesired behaviours, and improve trading outcomes.
| Maximum capital | $2,000,000 |
| Profit split | Up to 90% |
| Scaling | Yes |
| News trading | Yes |
| Weekend trading | Yes |
| Automated trading | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes |
| Maximum leverage | 1:100 |
Overall, FTMO are by far one of the best prop trading firms and most respected in the industry to date. You can eliminate your concern about losing your savings by trading on a funded account with their money. Their interest is served by your discipline and good performance.
Trading requires unquestionable discipline. FTMO have risk management guidelines to promote the trader’s discipline by establishing distinct Trading Objectives. Having a larger account size to manage also gives you a convenient area for sophisticated trade management and psychological respite from trading with a smaller account size.
They assist traders’ success by offering exclusive analytical tools and tailored feedback in the form of an in-depth analysis of each trading account. FTMO can satisfy the needs of both conservative and more aggressive traders with numerous types of accounts. You can select your own preferred accounts from aggressive, swing, and normal.
Is FTMO Legit?
Does FTMO offer discounts or promo codes?
What trading platforms does FTMO use?
Can anyone join FTMO? Can Americans join FTMO?
What is the FTMO Challenge?
How do you pass the FTMO Challenge?
Additionally, FTMO wants its traders to show that they can reduce risk. The maximum daily loss for traders, which includes both closed and open trades, is 5% (10% for aggressive accounts). For instance, you will forfeit the Challenge if your account is already down 3% at the start of the day and your open positions decline by more than 2%.
Additionally, you are not permitted to ever go below the 10% maximum loss restriction. The maximum loss cap assesses your account as a whole. In essence, if you are vying for a $100,000 account, neither of your open or closed positions can ever go below $90,000.
The fact that FTMO does not employ relative drawdowns is good news. If you first succeed and increase your equity with other prop businesses like Fidelcrest that do employ relative drawdowns, your maximum loss limit also increases. Consequently, if you increase your account to $110,000, your floor increases as well, and if you dropped below 10% of your high, or $108,900, you would forfeit your evaluation. Drawdown is not computed in this manner by FTMO. Your floor remains $90,000 even if you increase your account to $110,000. That is undoubtedly far more trader-friendly and emphasises the significance of initiating profitable trades as soon as possible to provide oneself a bigger cushion.
Additionally, there is power in numbers. The FTMO Challenge has been taken up by so many traders that there are hundreds of videos, Facebook postings, and personal blogs from traders sharing their success stories and how-tos. With over 21,000 members, the “FTMO Challenge Support Page” Facebook group provides a variety of advice on how to complete the Challenge.
What can I trade with FTMO?
What types of accounts does FTMO offer?
The aggressive FTMO account allows you to take on more risk because it has greater loss limitations, but it also has higher profit requirements in order to meet the Challenge.
Additionally, FTMO gives swing traders the choice to convert any of the aforementioned trading accounts into a swing account, enabling traders to maintain positions throughout the course of the weekend and overnight. Additionally, you can ask for a Swap-Free account.
Does FTMO offer Swap-Free accounts?
Is FTMO Regulated?
How do I withdraw my FTMO profits?
After the invoice has been confirmed, the payouts are completed within 1-2 business days. Regular bank wire transfers, Skrill, or digital currencies are all options for receiving your winnings. For withdrawals, we don’t charge any commissions.
For a profit split of up to 90%, there is no required minimum profit. Whatever profit you make, FTMO divide it by 80/20 (90/10 on the Scale-up plan) and give you the money.
Your FTMO Account’s balance will be increased by 25% if you satisfy the requirements of their scaling plan, and the payout ratio will immediately change to an astounding 90/10 as well!
You have the option of continuing to expand your profit split and correspondingly increasing your balance and drawdown cushion.
