Risk rules compared: E8 Market Futures vs. FTMO Futures

100 Crescent Ct, Unit 700, Dallas, Texas 75201, US

Praga 1, Calle Purkynova 2121/3, 110 00, Czech Republic

Dylan Elchami

Otakar Suffner

United States

Czech Republic

2021

2015

E8 charges no payout fee. WorkMarket or Rise may charge a processing fee depending on the selected withdrawal method.

Challenge and SimFi Performance accounts are simulated. Futures market data is sourced from CME.

A small group of consistently profitable traders may be invited to a Live Funded Account at FTMO's discretion. It cannot be requested and additional country restrictions apply.

• Signature Futures: on demand once all payout requirements are met.
• Zero Starter and Zero Max: daily, minimum $100.

On demand once the qualifying-day requirements for the current payout cycle are met.

E8 Signature Futures

E8 Zero Starter

• $50K: $1,000
• $100K: $1,600
• $200K: $2,100

E8 Zero Max

• $50K: $3,000
• $100K: $5,000
• $200K: $7,000

Signature Futures and Zero allow a maximum of 5 payouts per account; after the fifth, the account closes and a free Challenge of the same size is issued.

Growth — per payout

• $50K: up to 50% of available profit, capped at $2,500
• $100K: up to 50% of available profit, capped at $3,000
• $150K: up to 50% of available profit, capped at $4,000

Pro — per payout

• $50K: up to 100% of available profit, capped at $5,000
• $100K: up to 100% of available profit, capped at $6,000
• $150K: up to 100% of available profit, capped at $8,000

$100

$20

Payouts require successful onboarding and KYC with WorkMarket or Rise. If neither provider accepts the trader, E8 cannot process the payout.

At least 50% of every requested payout must come from new profit generated during the current payout cycle. US clients must submit Form W-9 and proof of ownership of an eligible US bank account before their first payout.

After an account fails, a 10% discount is available for 7 days to retry the same account size and settings.

Evaluation accounts can be reset to their original conditions without changing the monthly billing date. There is no limit on purchased resets.

Zero Starter and Zero Max allow the payout share to be increased from the 80% base configuration to 100% at checkout.

EOD Dynamic Drawdown based on the highest end-of-day balance. Intraday equity does not move it. It locks permanently at the initial balance level.

End-of-day trailing drawdown based on the highest closing balance. It can only move upward and locks permanently once it reaches the initial account balance.

• Signature Futures: 80%.
• Zero Starter/Max: 80% base; 100% can be selected at checkout.

90%

• Signature Challenge: none.
• Signature Performance: 2% Daily Pause (soft breach; trading resumes the next day).
• Zero Challenge and Performance: none.

• Growth Evaluation: none
• Growth Sim-Funded: soft limit of $1,000 / $2,000 / $3,000 on 50K / 100K / 150K; positions close and trading pauses until the next day
• Pro Evaluation and Sim-Funded: hard limit of $1,000 / $1,500 / $2,000 on 50K / 100K / 150K; breach terminates the account

• Challenge stage: unlimited accounts.
• Signature Futures: up to 5 active Performance accounts.
• Zero Starter/Max: up to 3 active Performance accounts. Limits apply per household.

Signature requires leaving a non-withdrawable buffer equal to the EOD Dynamic Drawdown before payouts. On Zero, any profit left after a payout remains as buffer and cannot be requested in a later cycle.

Growth allows withdrawing up to 50% of available profit per cycle, leaving the remainder in the account. Pro allows up to 100%, subject to its payout cap.

Unlimited, but the account closes after 7 days of inactivity.

Unlimited while the monthly subscription remains active.

• Signature Futures: can pass in 1 day.
• Zero Starter/Max: earliest pass in 3 days because of the 40% Best Day rule.

No fixed minimum. The Evaluation must satisfy its consistency rule, which can require multiple trading days.

No activation fee or recurring subscription.

No activation fee and no recurring charge on Sim-Funded or Live Funded Accounts.

• Signature: 5 profitable days between payouts after the first payout; a profitable day requires at least 0.3% realized profit.
• Zero Starter/Max: no minimum profitable days in Performance.

Growth payout eligibility

• $50K: 4 days with at least $150 closed profit per day
• $100K: 4 days with at least $250 closed profit per day
• $150K: 4 days with at least $300 closed profit per day

Pro payout eligibility

• $50K: 5 days with at least $200 closed profit per day
• $100K: 5 days with at least $300 closed profit per day
• $150K: 5 days with at least $500 closed profit per day

Only Zero Performance accounts scale contract allowance. At 1.5% locked profit the first level unlocks the next day; at 3% the second level unlocks. Signature and Zero Challenge contract limits do not scale.

Sim-Funded Accounts start with 2, 4 or 6 mini contracts on the 50K, 100K and 150K sizes. The limit scales with end-of-day profit up to 5, 10 or 15 minis respectively. Ten micros count as one mini.

One-time fee. No subscription.

Monthly subscription. Market data is included and there is no activation fee. After a hard breach, the trader can buy a reset or wait for the next renewal to receive a fresh Evaluation.

Unlimited concurrent Evaluations. Maximum 3 concurrent Sim-Funded Accounts across Growth and Pro.

Semi-automated and fully automated trading, including bots, AI tools and HFT above 300 trades per day, is prohibited on Futures.

Algorithmic trading and EAs are allowed, but manipulative automation, high-frequency strategies and latency arbitrage are prohibited. Third-party EAs can cause duplicated-strategy issues.

VPN and VPS use is allowed if the trader remains the sole controller of the account and does not reside in a restricted country.

Futures accounts use a netting system. Hedging across multiple accounts or users is prohibited.

Opposing positions may be used within one account. Hedging or offsetting directional risk across different accounts, providers or people is prohibited.

At least 50% of total profit must come from trades held for 10 seconds or longer.

Scalping is allowed when it reflects legitimate market trading. High-frequency and latency-arbitrage strategies are prohibited.

There is no fixed percentage risk cap, but irresponsible, all-or-nothing or disproportionate risk-taking can trigger review or account termination.

No fixed percentage is published, but overleveraging, one-sided bets and materially inconsistent position sizing can lead to account action or termination.

Allowed only between accounts owned by the same trader. Team trading, signals and copying another trader are prohibited.

Copying between accounts owned by the same trader is allowed. Copying signals or decisions from another trader or third party is prohibited.

The account closes after 7 days without opening and closing at least one trade.

Sim-Funded Accounts receive a warning after 30 consecutive inactive days and close after a further 30 inactive days. Live Funded Accounts have no inactivity rule.

• Zero Challenge: 40% Best Day rule; if the best day exceeds 40% of total profit, the effective target increases.
• Zero Performance: no consistency rule.
• Signature Challenge: no consistency rule.
• Signature Performance: 35% Best Day rule for payout eligibility.

• Growth Evaluation: the best day cannot exceed 40% of total profit
• Pro Evaluation: the best day cannot exceed 50% of total profit
• Sim-Funded: no consistency rule

• Exploiting gaps, illiquid markets, pricing errors or slow data feeds
• Semi-automated or fully automated trading, bots, AI tools and HFT above 300 trades/day
• Trading within 2% of a CME product lock limit
• Irresponsible or all-or-nothing trading
• Hedging across accounts or users
• Tick scalping where less than 50% of profit comes from trades held at least 10 seconds
• Trading anything other than the front-month contract
• Account rolling and strategies that are not reproducible in real markets

Exploiting platform or data-feed errors; relying on drawdown protection as the sole exit; offsetting risk across accounts; copying third-party trades; manipulative automation, HFT or latency arbitrage; opening positions within 2% of a CME price limit; holding positions or resting orders after market close; overleveraging, account rolling, spoofing, layering, wash trading or other behaviour that cannot be replicated in a live futures market.

All positions are forcibly closed every trading day at 15:10 CT. Trading is permitted from 17:00 to 15:10 CT.