FTMO: 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

FTMO Challenge T&C: 'The FTMO Challenge accounts are accounts for simulated trading'; cl. 5.2 'No actual trading is taking place and there is no execution of trades in financial markets'; cl. 5.3.2 the capital shown 'does not represent any deposit of funds and has no monetary value'; cl. 5.3.3 no remuneration for Evaluation results. Funded stage: FTMO Account is also 'an account for Simulated Trading' (cl. 21.1) and the trader 'may receive a reward for the data you generate' (cl. 6.1). Account-specifications FAQ: 'At all stages, you trade with fictitious capital.'

Entity: FTMO Evaluation Global s.r.o. source

Regulation: FTMO Challenge T&C cl. 2.1: 'None of the Services are subject to laws regulating the financial sector... We are not regulated by the Czech National Bank or a similar authority'; cl. 2.1 adds the customer 'will not receive regulatory protection associated with the financial sector'. The OANDA group acquired by FTMO in Dec 2025 holds its own broker licences (press release: 'licenses in eight key markets'); this does not extend to the FTMO Challenge services per the T&C.

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: 14 days
• Minimum: Minimum closed profit of $20 for bank wire and $50 for crypto (stated to cover transaction cost)
• Frequency: Reward claim can be requested on day 14 or any later day after the first trade on the account; all positions and pending orders must be closed. 2-Step also allows rollover of the Reward into the account (1-Step does not).
• Independent proof: None found: no certified payout aggregator record for FTMO located. Company statements only: '$650M+ Paid in rewards', '4.5M+ Customers' (ftmo.com homepage, 2026-10-09). The FTMO Account T&C that govern rewards are not published publicly, so reward-denial clauses at the funded stage could only be read indirectly via Challenge T&C cl. 7.6.4.

Search for lawsuits, regulator warnings (CNB, CONSOB, CNMV) and closures against FTMO on 2026-10-09 returned no action against FTMO. Homepage claims: '4.5M+ Customers', '$650M+ Paid in rewards', '140+ Countries', '4.8/5 Trustpilot', and 'Featured in Forbes: In 2024 FTMO increased its revenue by a quarter to five billion CZK' — all company statements, not independently verified here. No certified payout aggregator found.

Rules and clauses that decide outcomes

• Max daily loss (2-Step). Equity may not drop below the 00:00 CE(S)T balance minus 5% of initial simulated capital; includes open P/L, swaps, commissions. source
• Max loss (2-Step). Static: equity may not fall below initial capital minus 10%. source
• Max daily loss and max loss (1-Step). Daily 3% from 00:00 CE(S)T balance; max loss 10% trailing at end of day (only increases; resets when a Reward is withdrawn and a new FTMO Account is issued). source
• Best Day Rule (1-Step and 1-Step FTMO Account). Best Day must not exceed 50% of Positive Days' Profit; not a breach, but trading must continue until it is met before pass / Reward eligibility. source
• Minimum trading days (2-Step). 4 days with at least one position opened (00:00-23:59 CE(S)T); none on the FTMO Account. source
• News trading. No restriction during Evaluation (both products). On Standard FTMO Accounts, opening or closing trades (incl. SL/TP hits) on targeted instruments from 2 min before to 2 min after listed releases is not allowed; Swing accounts have no restriction. Violation 'may result in termination of an FTMO Account'. source
• Strategies / EAs. Discretionary, algorithmic and EAs allowed if legitimate and replicable on live accounts. Third-party EA used by others risks denial of the FTMO Account under the maximum capital allocation rule. Server limits: 200 orders at a time; over 2,000 server requests/day is hyperactivity. source
• Forbidden Trading Practices. Includes exploiting price/feed errors, opposite positions across connected or other-provider accounts, gap trading (opening trades when major news/earnings are scheduled, or within 2 hours before a market closes for 2+ hours), over-leveraging/one-sided bets/account rolling, EAs over 2,000 requests/day, hedging or partial closing to circumvent the Best Day Rule, and account sharing / third-party trading. source
• Risk-management replicability. Substantially larger/smaller position sizes or position counts versus own other trades, or cumulative exposure on correlated symbols, are listed as practices not reasonably replicable. source
• Consequences / discretion. Breach may lead to removal of trades from history, restricted platform access, disqualification, 'forfeiture of any potential Rewards', or termination of all agreements; FTMO judges what it 'reasonably consider[s]' harmful. source
• Consistency rules. FAQ: no additional consistency requirements beyond the Trading Objectives (Minimum Trading Days, Best Day Rule) provided risk management is sustainable. source
• Weekend holding (FTMO Account). FAQ: restrictions 'apply only to the Standard account type' and 'do not apply during the Evaluation Process'. On a Standard FTMO Account (funded stage) positions must be closed before the weekend market close or any rollover/market break longer than 2 hours; Swing accounts have no overnight/weekend restriction. Weekend trading itself: 'We do not have any restrictions on executing trades on weekends.' source
• Fee and refund. One-time fee, no recurring fees. 2-Step: fee refunded with first Reward withdrawal to the original payment method. 1-Step: entry fee not refunded. source
• Fee refund / withdrawal right (T&C). Cl. 3.12: 'once paid, you are not entitled to a refund of the FTMO Challenge Fee under any circumstances' unless agreed otherwise. EU consumers: 14-day withdrawal right lost once the first simulated trade is opened (cl. 12.1). Chargeback/dispute of the fee allows FTMO to stop and refuse future services (cl. 14.3). source
• Activation and inactivity (T&C). Phase must be activated (first trade) within 30 days or access is suspended; renewal can be requested within 6 months, otherwise terminated without refund (cl. 5.8.4). FTMO may terminate a Challenge account after 30 consecutive days without a trade, or if a loss between 8% and 10% is maintained for more than 30 days (cl. 13.2.3). source
• Discretion to reclassify trades / deny (T&C cl. 7.3-7.9). FTMO 'reserve[s] the right to determine, at our own discretion' what is a Forbidden Trading Practice (7.3); on breach may treat it as failing the objectives, cancel or remove trades from history, terminate all agreements, inform FTMO Trading to cancel 'all of your FTMO Accounts or rewards' (7.6.4), reduce leverage, impose consistency measures (7.6.9); no prior notice required (7.7); no compensation or refund (7.9). source
• Risk Management Rules (T&C cl. 7.4-7.5). FTMO 'retain[s] the discretion to implement any measures we consider appropriate to prevent activities we deem analogous to gambling' or 'misaligned with our mission and values' (7.4). Rules 'defined by us at our discretion, acting reasonably' (7.5). source
• Currency conversion adjustment (T&C cl. 5.3.4). Flat 0.7% adjustment on realised P/L of positions denominated in a currency other than the account currency, reducing profit and increasing loss. source
• Acceptance into funded stage not guaranteed (T&C cl. 5.8.7, 6.1, 6.3). Passing 'does not guarantee your acceptance into the FTMO Trader Program'; offer made by FTMO Trading Global s.r.o. under separate FTMO Account T&C; unavailable if aggregate simulated capital would exceed USD 400,000 or KYC data found incorrect. source
• Termination and reputation clause (T&C cl. 11.1, 13). Breach of eligibility, Rules of Simulated Trading, Website-use rules, or acting 'in a manner that may damage our reputation, including after termination' leads to termination of agreements; either party may terminate without cause on 5 business days' notice (13.2.4); no compensation (13.5). Liability capped at the fee paid (10.3). source
• Governing law / disputes (T&C cl. 17-18). Czech law; Czech courts. EU consumers may use the Czech Trade Inspection Authority ADR (coi.cz) or the EU ODR platform; no arbitration clause. Agreement concluded in English only (20.2). Complaints handled within 30 days (14.3). source
• Trading data use (T&C cl. 16.3). Customer consents to FTMO Group using anonymised simulated-trade information 'in connection with our or their trading in financial products'. source
• Order limits (T&C cl. 3.14). FTMO may limit the number of Orders for connected clients or 'unusually large number of Orders' and impose cool-down periods. source

Legal, regulatory and closure events

• 2024-02-18. FTMO stopped accepting new US clients and told US clients MT4/MT5 would become unavailable from 19 Feb 2024, moving them to DXtrade, amid MetaQuotes restrictions on prop firms serving US clients (Finance Magnates report). Outcome: Existing US accounts reported not closed or refunded at time of report; FTMO's official response not included in the article.. source
• 2025-12-01. FTMO completed the acquisition of OANDA Global Corporation (regulated broker group) from CVC Asia Fund IV; approvals from five regulators over about eight months, final approval November 2025 (OANDA group press release, 2 Dec 2025; also carried by Finance Magnates as an FTMO-issued release). Outcome: Deal closed; value undisclosed; OANDA to remain a standalone business. No regulatory action against FTMO itself found.. source

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

FTMO: common questions

Is FTMO a real-money account?

FTMO Challenge T&C: 'The FTMO Challenge accounts are accounts for simulated trading'; cl. 5.2 'No actual trading is taking place and there is no execution of trades in financial markets'; cl. 5.3.2 the capital shown 'does not represent any deposit of funds and has no monetary value'; cl. 5.3.3 no remuneration for Evaluation results. Funded stage: FTMO Account is also 'an account for Simulated Trading' (cl. 21.1) and the trader 'may receive a reward for the data you generate' (cl. 6.1). Account-specifications FAQ: 'At all stages, you trade with fictitious capital.'

Is FTMO regulated?

FTMO Challenge T&C cl. 2.1: 'None of the Services are subject to laws regulating the financial sector... We are not regulated by the Czech National Bank or a similar authority'; cl. 2.1 adds the customer 'will not receive regulatory protection associated with the financial sector'. The OANDA group acquired by FTMO in Dec 2025 holds its own broker licences (press release: 'licenses in eight key markets'); this does not extend to the FTMO Challenge services per the T&C.

Is FTMO available in Italy?

Italy is not listed on the restricted list we read. FAQ: accepted globally except listed. Not served: nationals/residents of Iran, Syria, Myanmar, North Korea (limited EEA exception for Iran/Syria/Myanmar nationals); sanctioned persons; and by 'business decisions' Afghanistan, Belarus, Russia, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, San Marino, Vatican, Venezuela, Cuba and others (full list on the page); Ukraine only Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Khers

What we read, and what is missing

• FTMO How it works open
• FTMO Challenge Rules open
• FTMO Challenge: 2-Step open
• FTMO US FAQ: simulated instruments and strategies open
• Finance Magnates: FTMO halts US client acquisition open
• Traders Union: FTMO payout rules open
• TOS Tracker: FTMO terms capture open
• CurvedTrading FTMO review open
• FTMO Trading Objectives open
• FTMO FAQ: withdraw reward open
• FTMO FAQ: entry fee refund open
• FTMO FAQ: fees open
• FTMO FAQ: news trading open
• FTMO FAQ: consistency rules open
• FTMO FAQ: who can join open
• FTMO Forbidden Trading Practices open
• FTMO Challenge Terms and Conditions (PDF, header read) open
• FTMO FAQ: strategies/instruments open
• FTMO Challenge Terms and Conditions PDF (last updated 4 Aug 2026), full text read open
• FTMO homepage pricing table (embedded ftmoPricingTable JSON) and founders open
• FTMO Symbols page (crypto CFD list, leverage, trading hours) open
• FTMO FAQ: account specifications (leverage, platforms) open
• FTMO FAQ: close positions overnight / weekend open
• FTMO FAQ: trade on the weekend open
• OANDA press release: OANDA acquired by FTMO (2 Dec 2025) open
• FTMO Terms & Policies index (lists CFD/Futures T&C; FTMO Account T&C not listed) open

Not verified: Closed this pass (2026-10-09, primary sources): prices per size for both products (EUR, homepage pricing table), fee currency (EUR, T&C 3.7), leverage (1:100 Standard / 1:30 Swing; crypto 1:3.33/1:1), weekend holding and weekend trading, inactivity/activation rules, refund/withdrawal-right clauses, full FTMO Challenge T&C (termination, discretion, governing law Czech, Czech courts, ADR, no arbitration), crypto symbol list and hours, founders/executives (homepage + OANDA release), 2025 OANDA acquisition. Still open: the FTMO Account Terms and Conditions (funded stage, FTMO Trading Global s.r.o.) are not published on the public site, so the exact reward-denial and termination clauses at the funded stage are known only via the Challenge T&C cross-reference (cl. 7.6.4) and the Forbidden Trading Practices page; 1-Step minimum trading days (none listed; not a confirmed 'zero'); no certified third-party payout aggregator exists for FTMO; revenue claim attributed to Forbes not checked at source; USD checkout prices depend on FTMO's conversion rate.

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