FTMO is the firm that defined the modern two-step evaluation: pass the Challenge, confirm it in Verification, and trade a funded account with a profit split. The rules are public, fixed, and unforgiving — most traders who fail an FTMO Challenge don't fail because of their strategy. They fail because they breach the maximum loss or the daily loss limit on a day they weren't tracking their numbers.
TradingSFX ships with built-in FTMO presets ($25K, $50K, and $100K Challenge accounts). Attach one to a trading session and your dashboard turns into a live challenge monitor: current drawdown against the 10% maximum, today's P&L against the 5% daily limit, and progress toward the 10% profit target — recalculated on every trade you log.
FTMO challenge rules at a glance
Based on publicly available information — always verify current rules with FTMO before trading.
Maximum loss
10% of initial balanceStatic drawdown measured against your starting balance. On a $100K Challenge your equity must never close below $90,000 — including floating P&L on open positions.
Maximum daily loss
5% of initial balanceOn a $100K account that is $5,000 in a single day, calculated from your balance at the start of the trading day. This is the rule that ends most FTMO attempts.
Profit target
10% (Challenge) / 5% (Verification)You need +10% in the Challenge phase. Verification halves the target to 5% — same loss rules, lower pressure.
Minimum trading days
4 daysAt least 4 active trading days per phase. A trading day counts when you open at least one position.
Consistency rule
NoneFTMO does not enforce a consistency rule on evaluation accounts — but a P&L curve carried by one lucky day is still a curve that won't survive a funded account.
Account sizes from $10K to $200K follow the same percentage rules. TradingSFX presets cover the $25K, $50K, and $100K Challenges; any other size takes 30 seconds to set up with custom rules.
Why traders fail the FTMO Challenge
The daily loss limit, not the max loss
Losing 5% in one day takes two oversized losers and one revenge trade. Most breaches happen within 30 minutes of a losing streak — when nobody is doing drawdown math in their head. A journal that shows today's P&L against the limit before you take the next trade is the difference.
Position sizing drift
Traders start the Challenge at 0.5% risk and quietly drift to 2% when they fall behind the target. Logging every trade with planned vs. actual risk makes the drift visible before it breaks the account.
Passing the Challenge, failing Verification
The traders who scrape through phase one on aggression usually give it back in phase two. The 5% Verification target rewards exactly the consistency your journal data shows you — or shows you that you don't have yet.
How TradingSFX tracks your FTMO account
Live drawdown monitor
The Challenge Status Card shows your current equity against FTMO's $90K floor (on a $100K account) after every logged trade — with the exact dollar headroom you have left.
Daily loss guardrail
Today's realized P&L is tracked against the 5% daily limit. When you're one average loser away from a breach, you see it before you click buy.
Profit target progress
A progress bar from 0 to +10% (or +5% in Verification), so you know whether you're forcing trades you don't need.
AI coach that knows FTMO math
The AI Coach reads your actual trade data and flags overtrading after losses, risk-size escalation, and drawdown-zone behavior — the three patterns that end FTMO Challenges.
FTMO journaling — frequently asked questions
Yes. Built-in presets for the FTMO $25K, $50K, and $100K Challenges, with the 10% max drawdown, 5% daily loss limit, 10% profit target, and 4 minimum trading days pre-configured. Other account sizes can be set up with custom rules in seconds.
Start tracking your FTMO challenge today
Free plan, no credit card. Attach the FTMO preset to a session and your next trade is already tracked against every rule.
TradingSFX is an independent trading journal and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by FTMO. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Rules referenced on this page are based on publicly available information and may change — always verify current rules with the firm.