1. Weekly Trading Requirement

  2. Traders must execute at least one trade per week to maintain an active account. If you are unable to trade due to specific reasons, please notify ETF via the self-serve form available here. Failure to execute a trade for a week will result in account closure and void any payouts. This rule applies to all account types, including Diamond Hands.

  1. Risk Management

       Risk management is crucial at ETF to ensure traders stay within set limits.

  • Loss Limits: Elite Sim-Funded and LIVE ELITE accounts that experience a loss greater than 35% of the growth after reaching 20% growth, will be invalidated.
  • Trailing Drawdown: The drawdown follows your highest intraday gains and stops trailing once you realize gains equal to the drawdown amount plus $100.

  • Avoid artificial trading tactics, such as:

    • Scratch trades or drastically downsizing contracts.
    • High-frequency trading (HFT): All trades must last at least 10 seconds.
    • Adding to a losing position is prohibited.
    • Martingale practices: Entering a new position larger than the previous losing position to recover is prohibited.
    • IP Masking technologies (VPN, VPS, TOR, Proxy, etc.) are prohibited. Click here to test your connection. Learn more about this policy.
  1. End-of-Day (EOD) and Static Rules

      At market close, your cash balance must be above the daily loss limit and drawdown to avoid liquidation mode.

  • Static Drawdown: The static drawdown remains fixed. If your balance falls below this minimum, your account will enter liquidation-only mode.
  • Flatten Trades: All positions must be closed 1 minute before market close. Failure to do so will result in account termination and forfeiture of profits. Diamond Hands accounts are exempt from this rule.
  1. 40% Consistency Rule
  • For Elite Sim-Funded accounts before August 1, 2024, your most profitable day must not exceed 40% of your total profit when requesting a withdrawal. This is calculated as:(Best Day P&L / Total P&L) * 100 = % of P&L.

 

  1. Account Management Example
  • A starting balance of $150,000 grows by 20% to $180,000. If a loss exceeds 35% of the increase ($10,500), the account becomes invalid with a $169,500 balance.

 

Account and Risk Management :

This table illustrates how account growth and losses affect participation in the Elite Sim-Funded program.

 

Account Stage Description Account Balance Change
Initial Balance Starting account balance $150,000 -
After 20% Growth Account increases by 20% $180,000 +$30,000
After Significant Loss Loss exceeding 35% of the increase ($10,500 loss) $169,500 -$10,500 (35% of $30,000)

 

    Trailing Drawdown:

   This example explains how the trailing drawdown is calculated and applied during trading.

 

Scenario Description Example
Starting Point Initial account balance $150,000
Intraday Highest Unrealized Gain Highest gain achieved intraday (not yet realized) $10,000
Trailing Drawdown Drawdown follows the intraday highest gain Follows $10,000 gain
Realized Gains + $100 Drawdown stops after realizing gains + $100 Stops after $5,100 in realized gains
Exceeding the Drawdown If losses hit/exceed the drawdown amount, the account fails Losses exceed $5,000

 

   End-of-Day (EOD):

   This table illustrates how traders must manage their account balance at the end of the trading day.

 

Scenario Description Example
Account Size Initial balance of the account $150,000
Static Daily Loss Limit (DLL) Maximum daily loss allowed; exceeding triggers liquidation mode Daily loss limit is set at $3,300
EOD Max Drawdown Balance must remain above this by market close Max EOD drawdown is $4,500
Trailing Stops After Gains EOD drawdown stops after gains exceed the drawdown + $100 Stops after $4,600 gains
Intraday Minimum Balance & Liquidation If your balance hits the minimum intraday, your account will result in liquidation-only mode and be marked as failed Balance drops to $145,500, triggering liquidation-only mode and marked as failed

 

 Static :

This explains the static minimum balance and how the account will be marked as failed if it falls below this balance.

 

Scenario Description Example
Account Size Starting account balance $150,000
Static Minimum Balance Minimum balance that must be maintained Static minimum balance is $148,750
Fixed Drawdown Mechanism The drawdown remains fixed and does not trail gains Drawdown remains at the static minimum balance of $148,750 regardless of account gains
Account Growth As the account grows, the static drawdown level remains fixed, providing a stable threshold for risk management If the account grows to $160,000, the drawdown is still $148,750
Liquidation Mode If the balance falls below the minimum, liquidation is triggered Drops below $148,750