What is a funded account: simulated capital, not yours

A funded account is a simulated evaluation account sold by a proprietary trading firm. The balance you see is the firm's capital, not a deposit you own, and the fee is a charge for the test, generally not an investment.

Verdict. A funded account is a simulated evaluation, not a brokerage deposit and not an investment in the firm. It suits a trader who reads the loss limits before paying a fee. It does not suit anyone who treats the headline balance as their own money. The caveat is the capital: FTMO calls it fictitious funds, and the published profit share is not one number across firms. We could not verify an industry pass rate.

What is a funded account

What is a funded account, in the product behind the search, is a paid test with a profit target and a loss limit. Clear both and the firm may pay a share of later profit. The balance is not put in your name.

Related:CMC Funded review: the payout policy is not published

FTMO's trading-objectives page states: "Please note that all accounts we provide to our clients are demo accounts with fictitious funds and any trading is in a simulated environment only." That notice is the firm's wording, not a named executive or a regulator. The same site gives the legal name as FTMO s.r.o.

A pass does not make the balance a deposit. FTMO's how-it-works page says you keep trading simulated capital for a share of simulated profits. E8 Markets calls the payout hypothetical earnings on a simulated platform. Topstep says "research analyst" for the simulated stage, and it also publishes a Live Funded Account with no dollar cap. Earlier checks: the FTMO review, the E8 Markets review and the Topstep review. Figures below were re-read on 8 October 2026.

How do funded accounts work

The fee is step one. FTMO's fee FAQ says it pays for the challenge, the platform and the tools, and varies with the simulated balance. It is not a stake in the firm. The two-step fee comes back with the first reward. The one-step fee does not.

The rules are step two. The profit is simulated, and only closed profit completes a target. Two-step numbers are in the table below. Each phase also needs four days with a position opened, and the funded account has no target. One-step is different: a 10 percent target, a 3 percent daily loss and a 10 percent loss that trails at the end of the day.

The request is step three, and it is not automatic. FTMO signs the account agreement only after the objectives and identity checks. Topstep's standard Express account then wants five winning days of at least $150, pays at most half the balance, and caps a $50,000 account at $2,000. Topstep states that 63 percent of traders lost the Combine on day one. We could not verify that elsewhere, and we found no pass rate for FTMO, FundedNext or E8. Most buyers are never paid because the account dies, or the request is ineligible, first.

Figures from four rulebooks read today

Cells are the preset book, not add-ons. FundedNext's CFD objectives also list a scale-up to 90 percent and an add-on to 95 percent. The 80 percent cell is the standard share. Detail is in the FundedNext review.

Read 90 percent as a ceiling, not a flat rate. The scaling plan makes it a two-step benefit after four months, 10 percent net simulated profit and two rewards, while one-step how-it-works states 90 percent. E8's "up to 100 percent" is preset eligibility, changeable at checkout. FundedNext closes a CFD account after 60 idle days. Only on the E8 Trader stage must the best day stay within 40 percent of profit, and profit clear half the daily drawdown: $2,001 in its $100,000 example.

Topstep is in dollars. The consistency page sets a $3,000 target on $50,000 and a best day at or below 55 percent, under $1,650. Maximum loss limits are $2,000, $3,000 and $4,500. We found no single required daily-loss percentage for the standard Combine on the pages opened.

Help pages for Apex Trader Funding, Funding Pips, Tradeify and Lucid returned a block page on 8 October 2026, so their payout figures are not restated. The reviews stand: Apex, Funding Pips, Tradeify and Lucid. The Blue Guardian review is that firm's payout check. No new figure is added.

Rules that void a payout

Drawdown is the hard close. Break the daily loss or the maximum loss at FTMO or FundedNext and the account ends. Stellar 2-Step counts open and closed results, swap and commission, from a reset at 00:00 server time. E8 counts floating or closed loss from the day's starting balance. None of the three leaves the account open.

Consistency blocks the cash more often than it kills the account. FTMO's one-step best day must be 50 percent or less of positive days' profit. Going over is not a breach: you trade on until it fits. Two-step FTMO and the E8 evaluation have no such rule on the pages opened. Topstep's Combine treats 55 percent as a hard line and raises the target instead of failing you at once. Its Express consistency path refuses a payout above 40 percent of net profit.

News bans often start only after a pass. FTMO's news FAQ leaves the evaluation free of the ban. On a Standard account, opens and closes, stops included, are barred from two minutes before a restricted release to two minutes after. A fill inside can end the account. Swing accounts are exempt. E8 allows news in the evaluation, then removes profits from the five minutes either side on the trader account without calling it a breach.

What the firm pays, and what we could not verify

FTMO states two figures side by side: $650 million-plus paid in rewards, and 4.5 million-plus customers. No audit or date range sits beside either. The payment is a reward from simulated profits. FundedNext's share is of net profit, with no target once funded, and that page never calls the balance your deposit.

Topstep publishes a live account beside the simulated one. Express payouts are capped. Live payouts are not, and withdrawing down to the loss limit closes the live account. Daily access to unlocked balance starts only after 30 winning days on that live account. Express days do not count, and the policy does not show who is moved to the live account.

What a forex funded account is

A forex funded account is the same simulated contract on currency pairs, usually as contracts for difference. FTMO's two-minute ban, Standard accounts only, covers the pair tied to the release. E8 Classic states forex leverage of 1:50, and 1:25 on indices, metals and energies. FundedNext's forex book is the CFD row above. Topstep's $50,000 futures target is $3,000, not that percentage.

Who regulates this, and who does not

No FCA page opened today defines a funded account or calls buying one a criminal offence. The statement of 26 September 2025 names loan notes and mini-bonds, not this product. If the firm offering an investment is unregulated, the ombudsman and the compensation scheme are unlikely to apply. That still does not decide whether a simulated challenge is an investment.

Client money is the sharper line. A UK CFD broker must segregate it, which our CASS 7 note sets out. A fee for fictitious funds is not that deposit. We did not recheck the FCA register brand by brand, and there is no single operator behind the phrase.

Frequently asked questions

How do funded accounts work?

You pay a fee, then trade a simulated balance to a profit target inside loss limits. FTMO calls the fee the cost of the challenge and platform, not a stake in the firm. A pass lets you request a share of later simulated profit. The pass is not the payment, and a loss-limit breach closes the account before you ask.

What is a forex funded account?

It is the same simulated evaluation on currency pairs, usually as contracts for difference. The balance is not yours. On a funded FTMO Standard account you cannot open or close the affected pair from two minutes before selected news until two minutes after. E8 Classic states forex leverage of 1:50 and strips profits booked five minutes either side of high-impact news on the trader stage. FundedNext's standard Stellar 2-Step share is 80 percent.

Are funded trading accounts legal in the UK?

We found no FCA page that defines a funded account or treats buying one as a criminal offence. The 26 September 2025 statement names loan notes and mini-bonds, not this product. If a firm offering an investment is not regulated, the ombudsman and the compensation scheme are unlikely to help. A challenge fee is not client money a UK CFD broker must segregate. Check who you pay.

Is the capital the trader's money?

No. FTMO says the accounts are demos with fictitious funds and that the trading is simulated. After a pass you still trade simulated capital, for a share of simulated profits. E8 calls that payout hypothetical earnings. Topstep calls the simulated trader a research analyst. A live account, where published, is a later contract, not the balance you were shown at the start.

Why do most traders never receive a payout?

Topstep says 63 percent of traders lost the Combine on day one. We could not check that elsewhere, and we found no pass rate for FTMO, FundedNext or E8. A loss-limit breach closes the account. A consistency rule can stop the request while it is still open. On FTMO's one-step path the fee is not refunded, so a failed attempt is simply spent.

This review is independent editorial analysis and is not financial, investment, or trading advice, and is not an endorsement or solicitation. The Industry Spread has no affiliate or referral relationship with the firms covered. Proprietary trading challenges carry a fee that is generally non-refundable, most participants do not reach a funded account, and funded capital is the firm's capital, not the trader's. Terms change frequently — always verify current rules directly with the firm before paying any fee.