Apex Trader Funding: rules, terms and fine print

Where the money is real, and where it is not

• The challenge account is simulated. The firm describes the challenge account as simulated, not as trading with the firm's capital.
• Your fee is real money, and it is spent. The evaluation fee (plus any reset, renewal or activation fee) leaves your bank account. If you fail, it is normally not refunded.
• A payout is real money, but it is a promise. Profits earned on the simulated account are paid from the firm's own funds, and every firm reserves discretion over payouts and account closure in its terms.
• Nobody independent verifies payouts. For most firms we found no certified third-party record of what was actually paid. Only the firm's own pages and trackers of unknown method.

What you are buying

Official EOD PA page: "The End-of-Day (EOD) Performance Account is a Simulated Funded (Sim Funded) account". Restricted-countries page: "Apex accounts, both Evaluation and Performance Accounts (PAs) are simulated rather than live trading accounts". Homepage: selected traders may later be invited to a Live program (discretionary; Live FAQ: US users only).

Entity: Apex Trader Funding Inc. source

Regulation: About page: Apex 'is not a broker-dealer, futures commission merchant, or financial advisor'; no registration or licence number given. Terms of Use: 'All accounts operate in a simulated environment using virtual funds'. No regulator registration found; no regulator action found in searches (CFTC/lawsuit).

Targets and limits as published

Percentages are of the starting balance. "n/v" = not verified. List prices are in the next section.

List prices read on 9 Oct 2026

List prices before promotions, read from the firm's own pages. Promotions change them often. Refund and reset rules differ by firm: see the fine print below.

How rewards are paid

• First payout: n/v
• Minimum: 500
• Frequency: EOD and Intraday PA: requests available weekly once 5 qualifying days reached; max 6 payouts per PA
• Independent proof: none found (no certified aggregator read). Firm press release 19 Jun 2024 (PRNewswire, tagged advertorial) claims 'a little over $200 million' paid to traders overall, no independent verification named.

Searches ('Apex Trader Funding' lawsuit OR CFTC OR complaint OR class action, 2025-2026) returned no CFTC or other regulator action against Apex Trader Funding Inc. One federal civil suit by an individual (McCrudden, M.D. Fla., filed Apr 2026) is pending. Results about Apex Clearing concern a different company and are excluded. No certified payout aggregator figure read; payout totals are the firm's own claims ($200M+ as of Jun 2024 press release).

Rules and clauses that decide outcomes

• Governing law and arbitration (Terms of Use). Texas law; disputes to 'binding arbitration held in Travis County, Texas' under AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules. No class-action waiver text seen. Effective date 22 Oct 2025. source
• Payout and trading privileges discretionary (Terms of Use). 'Trading privileges may be revoked at any time based on performance or rule violations'; payout 'at the sole discretion of Apex'. source
• US-intended service (Terms of Use). Services 'intended for United States users' and 'may not be available in all jurisdictions'; About page also says evaluations 'Available globally where allowed by law'. source
• Limitation of liability (Terms of Use). No liability for equipment failures, third-party platform problems, force majeure; excludes indirect damages incl. 'LOST PROFITS OR TRADING LOSSES'. source
• Refund policy. 'We do not offer refunds, whether in whole or in part, for any purchases made through our website'; applies to wrong plan, technology issues, missed promo codes, PA activation and data fees. source
• Intraday Trail PA payouts. 5 qualifying days (min daily profit 25K $100 / 50K $200 / 100K $250 / 150K $300); safety net drawdown+$100 for life of account; min payout $500; 50% consistency; 100% split; 6 payouts max then PA closed; per-request caps 25K $1,000; 150K $2,500 to $5,000; request auto-denied if balance drops below minimum. source
• Intraday Trail PA breach and inactivity. Balance incl. unrealized PnL touching the trailing threshold liquidates and permanently closes the PA; hedging or rule circumvention = immediate closure; inactivity closure if fewer than two $50 net-profit days in 30 consecutive days; up to 20 PAs active. source
• EOD evaluation parameters (primary). Target 1,500/3,000/6,000/9,000; EOD drawdown 1,000/2,000/3,000/4,000; daily loss limit 500/1,000/1,500/2,000; max contracts 4/6/8/12; 30-day access; no consistency or scaling in evaluation; no minimum days. Percentages in the program row are derived (6%/2%/4% of size). source
• Drawdown touch fails evaluation. Account "may never touch the EOD Threshold level itself"; touching it liquidates positions and fails the evaluation; new purchase needed. source
• PA activation window. After passing, 7 calendar days to activate the PA. Pricing picker states 'Standard | No Activation Fee'. source
• Consistency on EOD PA payouts (50%). No single profitable day may account for 50% or more of profit since last approved payout; otherwise payout option unavailable. source
• Payout eligibility, safety net, cap. 5 trading days each with min daily profit (25K $100, 50K $250, 100K $300, 150K $350); safety net = drawdown + $100; min payout $500; max 6 payouts per PA, then PA closed. Per-payout caps e.g. 50K: $1,500/1,500/2,000/2,500/2,500/3,000. source
• PA drawdown breach. Balance incl. unrealized PnL may never touch the EOD threshold; touching liquidates and permanently closes the PA. PA max contracts 2/4/6/10; inactivity rule applies. source
• No hedging. "No Hedging of Any Kind - Directional Trading only." Long and short at once on same or correlated instrument prohibited. source
• Automation prohibited. "No Automation or Algorithm Usage allowed". source
• News trading. Normal-strategy trading during news allowed; strategies that "chase the market" or place orders both sides on news are not allowed. source
• Stop loss and risk standards. All trades need pending or mental stop loss; high-risk small-target/large-stop strategies, using the full threshold as stop loss, and 'unsustainable strategies' prohibited. Interpretation left to Apex. source
• Open positions through market close. Holding open positions through the market close is listed as prohibited; violators "will forfeit their accounts and all associated balances." source
• Sharing, copying, VPN, multiple user accounts. Trade copying and sharing of MAC/IP/computers/cards prohibited; VPNs/proxies/cloud servers to disguise identity or location prohibited; multiple user accounts bannable; stockpiling evaluations prohibited; HFT and non-directional bracket trading prohibited. source
• Audit and probation discretion. "Apex reserves the right to audit accounts further if there is a suspicion of non-compliance"; failure may lead to Trader Probation. Home page claims 'No Payout Denials'; the prohibited-activities page still lists forfeiture of accounts. source
• Legacy vs new accounts. Homepage: legacy accounts (before 1 March 2026) keep legacy rules; new accounts use new rules. Older support-center article rules (30% consistency, safety-net examples, $3,000 payout language) apply to legacy PAs and are not the new EOD rules; kept below as legacy, not re-verified on current pages. source
• Payouts discretionary. "Reward payouts are discretionary and subject to eligibility, compliance, and applicable tax laws." source
• Live account selection. Discretionary; declining live invitation deactivates member account and forfeits Bonus Vault and simulated balances (a $3,000 final reward payment is stated for declining). Bonus Vault is "not real money". source
• Session hours / overnight. Live-account FAQ: close all trades by 4:50 PM ET, no overnight holding. VPNs/proxies prohibited; multiple accounts bannable. source
• Payout video-proof requirement (reported). Finance Magnates (29 Aug 2024) reported clients had to submit video of two trading days after payout requests; Apex did not comment; CEO said new fraud detection was being finalised. source
• [Legacy, support-center article, not re-verified] Consistency (30% rule) on PA. No single day may exceed 30% of total profit balance at payout request; resets after each payout; stops after sixth payout or transfer to Live. Source page describes the PA payout framework generally; may differ by PA type. source
• [Legacy, support-center article, not re-verified] Payout eligibility and safety net. Min $50 profit on 5 days in 8-day period; balance must exceed drawdown plus safety net (example $52,600) before payout; safety net applies to first three payouts. source
• [Legacy, support-center article, not re-verified] 30% negative PnL limit. Live unrealized open negative PnL cannot exceed 30% of profit balance (up to 50% after doubling safety net). source
• [Legacy, support-center article, not re-verified] Automation prohibited. "the use of automation is strictly prohibited on PA and Live accounts." source
• [Legacy, support-center article, not re-verified] Hedging / directional only. "All Apex accounts must be traded directionally only." source
• [Legacy, support-center article, not re-verified] Other prohibited conduct. No trading without stop losses; no exceeding max contracts (incl. correlated instruments); no stockpiling evaluation accounts; no account/device/IP sharing or trade copying; no oversized all-in entries early in PA. source
• [Legacy, support-center article, not re-verified] Discretion to deny payouts / close. "Violating these rules can result in denied payouts and even account closure." "Apex reserves the right to audit accounts further if there is a suspicion of non-compliance." Violators "will forfeit their accounts and all associated balances." source

Legal, regulatory and closure events

• 2026-04-30. McCrudden v. Apex Trader Funding, Inc. et al., U.S. District Court M.D. Florida, 3:26-cv-01073-WWB-LLL; pro se plaintiff Vincent McCrudden; nature of suit 'Securities/Commodities', cause listed 42 U.S.C. 1983; defendants include Apex Trader Funding Inc. and CEO Darrell Martin (court docket via Justia). Outcome: Pending as of last docket entry read (26 Jun 2026): second amended complaint accepted, no merits ruling.. source
• 2025-01 to 2025-03 (forum discussion). NexusFi forum thread references a CourtListener docket 'riot-v-apex-trader-funding-inc' described by posters as a trademark/software-licence dispute; court and case details not read in a primary docket. Outcome: Not verified; forum commentary only.. source
• 2024-08-29. Finance Magnates reported a video-proof requirement for payout requests. Outcome: No final outcome reported in the article.. source
• 2024-2026 (various, undated in part). A competitor-affiliated advocacy site (ImanTrading, author promotes other firms) alleges mass bans, payout denials and a Discord shutdown (June 2024), and cites an unnamed court filing. Allegations not independently verified. Outcome: Case name and court not identified; not verified.. source

Search done on 9 Oct 2026. An empty list means nothing found in that search.

Apex Trader Funding: common questions

Is Apex Trader Funding a real-money account?

Official EOD PA page: "The End-of-Day (EOD) Performance Account is a Simulated Funded (Sim Funded) account". Restricted-countries page: "Apex accounts, both Evaluation and Performance Accounts (PAs) are simulated rather than live trading accounts". Homepage: selected traders may later be invited to a Live program (discretionary; Live FAQ: US users only).

Is Apex Trader Funding regulated?

About page: Apex 'is not a broker-dealer, futures commission merchant, or financial advisor'; no registration or licence number given. Terms of Use: 'All accounts operate in a simulated environment using virtual funds'. No regulator registration found; no regulator action found in searches (CFTC/lawsuit).

Is Apex Trader Funding available in Italy?

Italy is not listed on the restricted list we read. Official page (primary, read in browser 2026-10-09): ~100 countries restricted for new/additional accounts; Italy not listed; Cyprus and Latvia (EU) are listed. Payment methods issued from a restricted country are grounds for termination. Residents of restricted countries cannot buy, trade or request payouts. Live program intended for US users only (Live FAQ, older source).

What we read, and what is missing

• Evaluation rules (EOD evaluations) open
• EOD Performance Accounts (PA) open
• Performance Account (PA) and Live Account Rules open
• Apex Live Prop Trading Program FAQ open
• Restricted countries open
• All Apex Trading Account Rules open
• Finance Magnates: payout video requirement open
• ImanTrading: Apex problems (third-party, competitor-promoting) open
• TradersPost pricing guide (third-party, not used for fields) open
• Apex homepage pricing picker (EOD Trail 25K, 150K; Intraday 25K) open
• Apex EOD Payouts open
• Apex Prohibited Activities open
• Apex Terms of Use (effective 22 Oct 2025) open
• Apex About Us (founded 2021, CEO) open
• Apex Refund Policy open
• Intraday Trailing Drawdown Evaluations open
• Intraday Trailing Drawdown PA open
• Intraday Trailing Drawdown Payouts open
• Justia docket: McCrudden v. Apex Trader Funding (M.D. Fla. 3:26-cv-01073) open
• Press release 19 Jun 2024 (PRNewswire via St. Louis American, advertorial): $200M payouts claim open
• NexusFi thread referencing a CourtListener docket (forum, unverified) open
• Apex pricing picker, Intraday Trail all sizes (browser) open

Not verified: Primary-sourced 2026-10-09 (browser + fetch): all four list prices for EOD Trail and Intraday Trail (official picker), Intraday evaluation/PA/payout rules (help center), Terms of Use (Texas law, AAA arbitration in Travis County, discretionary payouts, US-intended service, effective 22 Oct 2025), refund policy (no refunds), About page (founded 2021, CEO Darrell Martin, not a broker-dealer/FCM). Court docket McCrudden v. Apex (M.D. Fla., Apr 2026) read via Justia; pending. Still open: payout processing time and methods (only on the logged-in dashboard, not opened); PA activation fee amount for non-Standard options (only 'Standard | No Activation Fee' read); Live program current terms (older FAQ kept as legacy); independent certified payout data (none found; $200M figure is a firm press release); the 'Riot v. Apex' docket mentioned on a forum not read in a primary source. Prices 'with coupon code' are promotional displays; list price used. Percent fields derived from USD figures. Crypto 'no' inferred from the official instrument list, not an explicit statement.

Rules change. Confirm on the firm's site before you pay. Education only, not investment advice. How we check · Corrections