Funded Trader Markets review 2026

1 Step Nitro

• Profit target: 10%, in a single evaluation phase.
• Evaluations have no maximum number of trading days.
• Daily drawdown: 4% of the initial balance, or 3% on the $300K size.
• At 5 PM EST, if positions are open, the daily limit is measured from the higher of balance and equity.
• Overall drawdown: 6% of the initial balance, trailing from the highest recorded balance; once the account reaches 6% profit, the limit is fixed at the initial balance.
• Consistency: in the challenge, no single day may exceed 50% of the profit target; on the funded account, no single day may exceed 45% of total profit. If it does, you keep trading until the rule is met.

1 Step Nitro X

• Profit target: 6%.
• Daily drawdown: 3% of the initial balance.
• Overall drawdown: 3% of the initial balance, trailing from the peak balance, then fixed at the initial balance once the account reaches 3% profit.
• Consistency: none in the challenge; on the funded account no single day may exceed 25% of total profit.
• You need at least 3% profit on the initial account size before requesting a reward.

2 Step Plus

• Profit targets: 8% in Phase 1 and 5% in Phase 2.
• Daily drawdown: 4% of the initial balance.
• Overall drawdown: 10%, fixed to the initial balance (static).
• Consistency: no consistency rule in either the evaluation or the funded phase.
• Shield Risk Protocol (funded accounts): floating loss on open positions is capped at 1% of the account balance. If it is exceeded, all positions close automatically and the profit split drops, step by step, to 50/50, 40/60, 30/70 and finally a permanent 20/80.

The 2-Step page is not consistent with itself: its plan card mentions keeping 80% and "3% daily and 8% overall" limits, while its benefits section says 4% daily and 10% static and its matrix shows a 70% split. We use the 2-Step Plus FAQ figures (4%, 10%, 70%), which match the matrix.

Instant Standard, Instant Pro and Instant Plus

• There is no profit target on Instant accounts.
• Instant Standard: 3% fixed daily drawdown and a 5% overall drawdown that trails from the peak balance.
• Instant Plus: 3% daily drawdown and a 6% overall drawdown that trails from the highest balance until the account reaches 6% profit, then is fixed at the initial balance.
• Instant Plus also carries the Shield Risk Protocol's 1% floating-loss limit.
• Consistency on Instant accounts: no single day may exceed 15% of total profit.
• A minimum of 5 trading days applies before a reward request.

Instant Pro: the Instant page's plan card says Instant Pro has no daily drawdown limit and a 3% overall cap, but the matrix on the same page shows a 3% daily limit. The help centre lists an article on the Instant Pro daily drawdown limit, but the Instant Pro FAQ did not load in our capture, so we cannot confirm which is correct.

The FAQs for Nitro, 2-Step Plus and Instant Standard say a drawdown breach closes the account.

The homepage lists news trading and weekend holding as allowed in every programme, and all accounts as swap-free. The help centre has articles on hedging, trading bots, martingale and layering, gap trading and minimum holding time, but the page with those answers did not load in our capture, so we cannot report those rules.

The Terms list prohibited trading that includes:

• exploiting errors or latency in prices or platforms;
• using non-public or insider information, and front-running trades placed elsewhere;
• using any third-party or off-the-shelf strategy, or one marketed to pass challenges;
• passing with one strategy and then using a different one on the funded account;
• arbitrage between a challenge account and another account at FTM or another company.

Prohibited trading can lead to termination and forfeiture of fees paid. The Terms also say any rule in the website FAQs counts as part of these prohibited practices. The firm may cut leverage to 1:10 if it judges a strategy too risky.

Other account rules

• The country of the IP address used at purchase must match the country of KYC.
• The Terms ban purchases or KYC through a VPN or VPS; the same page also says VPN use is allowed as long as no connection is detected from a prohibited country.
• Accounts with no activity for 30 consecutive calendar days may be terminated, though exceptions may be granted with advance notice.

Profit split by programme

• 1 Step Nitro: 90% of the first $10,000 of profit, then 80%.
• 1 Step Nitro X: a 100% lifetime split, but you must always keep 50% of total profit in the account as a risk buffer, and each reward request is capped at $5,000.
• 2 Step Plus: 70/30, kept only while you follow the Shield Risk Protocol.
• A 90/10 add-on for 2 Step Plus costs $0, but it applies the Shield Risk Protocol during the evaluation too, where a second violation fails the evaluation.
• Instant Standard: 50/50 on the first reward, 60/40 on the second, 70/30 on the third and 80/20 from the fourth.
• Instant Plus: 80/20, kept only while you follow the Shield Risk Protocol.
• Instant Pro: up to 80% in the matrix; we could not see its FAQ.

The Terms add that the 90% rate applies to the first $10,000 across all of a trader's evaluation funded accounts combined on one registered email. The 1-Step page says "You keep 100% of your first $10,000 in profits", and the homepage shows both "Up to 100%" and "Up to 90%". The Promo Terms explain that a 100% lifetime split on 1-Step Nitro applies only to an account bought with a promotional code that includes it, and only up to $10,000 of profit on $200,000–$300,000 allocations. We use the Nitro FAQ figures (90% then 80%) for a standard purchase.

Requesting a reward

• Eligibility: the consistency rule, minimum trading days, and a minimum profit of 1% of the initial balance before split.
• All trades must be closed before you request a reward.
• On 1 Step Nitro, once profit exceeds $30,000, a partial request must be at least 80% of eligible profit.
• On Instant Standard, partial withdrawals are not allowed; a full withdrawal resets the overall drawdown to its initial level.

Timing and methods

The payments FAQ says rewards are approved, processed and sent within 24 business hours. If that is missed, the firm says it doubles the reward and issues a free account of the same size, but this guarantee covers only rewards up to $1,000, and it is void if the firm asks you to change payment method within the 24 hours and you do not respond. Business hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET, Monday to Friday. The homepage's process section says "Rewards reach you within 24 hours", while its FAQ section says "typically within 24 business hours". If the firm contacts you about a request and you do not respond within 36 hours, the reward is rejected automatically.

Rewards are paid in USDT (TRC20) or through Rise, which offers crypto or bank transfer. A 5% processing fee applies to all crypto reward requests and comes out of the trader's share. The firm's rewards page says it has paid $8.79M+ across 5,968 rewards, with an average time to pay of 22 min 44 sec. We have not verified these figures.

Fee refunds and the performance bonus

The payments FAQ says the account fee is not refunded, but a performance bonus equal to 100% of the purchase fee (or more, depending on the promotion used) is paid with the third reward. This bonus does not apply to Instant Funding or 1-Step Nitro X accounts. See Company and Terms for the separate Refund Policy.

FTM offers cTrader, TradeLocker, Match-Trader and MetaTrader 5; you choose the platform before purchase. Platform switches are limited: Instant Plus and 1-Step funded accounts must be completely untraded, and cannot be switched after a reward. The site footer says its cTrader and MT5 services are not intended for US residents.

The instruments page lists 76 instruments across forex, metals, indices, commodities and crypto. Commission is $7 per lot round turn on forex and commodities, with none on indices and crypto. All accounts are swap-free at no extra charge.

Leverage on evaluation accounts is 1:100 on forex, 1:30 on commodities, 1:5 on BTC and ETH and 1:2 on other crypto.

The site footer names three companies: FTM Funded Trader Markets LTD (Cyprus, HE462185), described as a payment agent; Formed Technologies INT FZCO (UAE, reg. 36580), named as the contracting entity for all clients; and Funded Trader Markets LTD (Saint Lucia, 2025-00239), which it says holds the group's MetaTrader 5 licence. Its Terms & Conditions, however, say that buyers enter a binding agreement with FTM Funded Trader Markets LTD, and that the Saint Lucia company provides the simulated trading services. The rewards page dates the firm's launch to 9 August 2024.

One programme card says Instant accounts let you "start trading with real capital"; the Terms say all accounts, Instant Funded included, are simulated.

Who cannot sign up

Traders must be at least 18. The General FAQ and the Terms list 12 restricted countries: Cuba, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, North Korea, Cyprus, Myanmar, Belarus, Vietnam and Russia. The site footer lists only nine of these, leaving out Myanmar, Belarus and Vietnam; we use the longer list. Services are also unavailable to people with criminal records or who were previously banned for breaking the terms.

KYC

Funded accounts stay read-only until KYC is complete. If KYC is not done within 2 weeks of passing, the firm may refuse the upgrade to a funded account. It may ask for an interview and may deny a funded account or reward if the interview is unsatisfactory.

Refunds

The Refund Policy offers a 14-day money-back guarantee, but not once trading has started on the evaluation account or if the terms are breached. The Terms say "All sales are final" and that no refunds are issued, and the payments FAQ says there is no refund of the account fee. We treat the Refund Policy, the more specific document, as the stated policy; confirm with the firm before relying on it.