FTMO is the gold standard of prop trading — and in 2026, it remains the most trusted name in the industry. But the challenge is also one of the toughest to pass. Before you spend $549 (or more) on an FTMO challenge, here's everything you need to know about the rules, the targets, and the strategies that actually work.

FTMO Challenge Structure Overview

Detail Phase 1 Phase 2 Funded Account
Profit Target 10% 5% No target (just withdraw profits)
Time Limit 30 calendar days 60 calendar days No limit
Max Drawdown 10% 10% 10%
Daily Drawdown 5% 5% 5%
Profit Split — — 90/10 (you get 90%)
Minimum Trading Days 10 days 10 days —
📊 FTMO at a Glance: Two-phase challenge. Phase 1 is the harder of the two — 10% in 30 days. Phase 2 is easier (5% in 60 days). Once funded, you earn the best profit split in the industry at 90/10.

Phase 1: Profit Target and Time Limit

You need to make 10% profit within 30 calendar days. This sounds harder than it is — because 30 calendar days include weekends. You really have about 20-22 trading days, which means you need roughly 0.5% per trading day.

Daily target breakdown: 0.5% on a $100K account = $500/day. In 20 trading days, that's $10,000 = 10%. Achievable with 2-3 good trades per day at 1:2 risk-reward.

FTMO Phase 1 Strategy: Break 10% into 10 equal increments of 1%. Each 1% is just 2 winning trades at 0.5% risk with 1:2 RR. Focus on hitting one increment at a time. By day 10, you should be at 5%. By day 20, at 10%. This leaves you 10 days of buffer.

Phase 2: The Easier Half

Phase 2 only requires 5% profit in 60 calendar days. That's roughly 0.25% per trading day — extremely achievable. Most traders who pass Phase 1 breeze through Phase 2 if they don't get complacent.

Common Phase 2 mistake: Traders get overconfident after passing Phase 1 and start taking larger risks. Remember: the same drawdown rules apply. A 5% daily drawdown breach ends Phase 2 just as fast as Phase 1.

Pro Tip: In Phase 2, trade even smaller than Phase 1. You only need 5% in 60 days — that's 0.2% per day. Use 0.25% risk per trade and take 0.5% profit per day. You'll pass in 10-15 trading days with no stress.

Drawdown Rules

FTMO uses a static max drawdown — meaning it's calculated from your starting balance, not from your peak. This is actually more forgiving than trailing drawdown models.

Maximum Drawdown (10%)

On a $100K account, your equity can never fall below $90,000 during the challenge. If your equity hits $89,999.99, the challenge is terminated. This is calculated from your starting balance and does not trail upward.

Daily Drawdown (5%)

Your equity cannot drop more than 5% from your daily starting balance. Example: You start day 5 at $96,000. Your daily drawdown floor is $91,200 ($96,000 - $4,800). If you drop below that at any point during the day, the challenge ends immediately.

Account Size Max Drawdown (10%) Daily Drawdown (5%) 0.5% Risk Per Trade
$10,000 $9,000 floor $500 daily limit $50/trade
$25,000 $22,500 floor $1,250 daily limit $125/trade
$50,000 $45,000 floor $2,500 daily limit $250/trade
$100,000 $90,000 floor $5,000 daily limit $500/trade
$200,000 $180,000 floor $10,000 daily limit $1,000/trade

Consistency Rule

FTMO requires that no single day accounts for more than 30% of your total profit during the challenge. This prevents traders from making one lucky trade and coasting.

Example of a violation: You make $9,000 on Day 1 (9% of $100K), then $1,000 spread over 9 more days. Your total profit is $10,000 (10%), but Day 1 was 90% of that. FTMO flags this and your challenge is not considered passed.

How to avoid it: Keep your daily gains relatively even. If you have a big day, don't trade the rest of the challenge until you've hit the minimum 10 trading days and no single day exceeds 30%.

📌 Consistency Rule Math: If you hit 5% on Day 1, you need at least 12.5% total profit to make Day 1 = 40% of total (still over 30%). In practice, keep your best day under 3% and you'll never have to think about it again.

Verification Process

After you pass both phases, FTMO requires:

The verification process typically takes 1-3 business days. Once complete, you receive your funded account credentials and can start trading immediately.

Payout Terms

FTMO Scaling Plan

FTMO offers one of the best scaling plans in the industry. Starting from your initial funded account, you can scale up based on performance:

Rules for News Trading

FTMO allows news trading but with restrictions during the challenge phase:

Strategy Tips Specific to FTMO

💬 FTMO is tough — but I can pass it for you.

Free test available. I'll pass one challenge at no cost so you can verify I'm real. Then I handle the rest while you get funded.

📲 Message @Voraspas on Telegram
← Risk Management Rules FTMO Challenge Passing Service →