How to Pass the Evaluation
Trade a minimum of 5 days.
Hit your profit target.
Follow the rules in this article.
If you do that, you’ll be assigned an Elite account within 72 hours and be on your way to funding.
Diamond Hands Evaluation Rules
1. Reach the Profit Target
Each Diamond Hands evaluation has its own profit target and End of Day (EOD) trailing drawdown. The goal is to reach the profit target without hitting the EOD trailing drawdown.
2. Diamond Hands Evaluation Drawdown
Q: How does the trailing drawdown work in Diamond Hands Evaluations?
In your Evaluation account, the drawdown trails your highest end-of-day balance.
You also have a daily loss limit calculated from the prior day’s ending balance.
Losses from open positions count intraday. If an open trade dips your balance below the daily loss limit, or the max loss limit, at any point during the session, the Evaluation fails.
Example: You start with $50,000 and a $2,000 max drawdown (minimum balance $48,000). If you end the day with a $1,000 profit, your minimum balance moves to $49,000. If your account hits the daily loss limit at any point intraday, the account fails.
3. Minimum Trade Day Requirement
You must trade for a minimum of 5 days and reach your profit target to qualify for an Elite Sim-Funded account. You can purchase the Add‑On ODTP to skip the 5‑day trade minimum.
Details on Trading Days
Q: What qualifies as a trading day?
Any day you place a trade qualifies.
Q: Does Sunday count?
No. Sunday evening and Monday are counted as the same trading day.
Q: Is there a maximum number of days to hit my profit target?
No. You may take as many days as you need to hit your profit target. Simply pay the Evaluation subscription every 30 days until you pass.
Note: If you have NOT failed your Evaluation, your current profit and remaining drawdown carry over when your renewal is processed.
Q: Can I trade on holidays and during news?
Yes, but volatility can be very low or extremely high. Manage risk carefully.
Note: Elite Trader Funding is not responsible for your account during times of very low or extremely high volatility.
4. Evaluation Resets
If you fail the Evaluation, you can reset your account anytime from your Trader Dashboard for a fee.
You may reset as many times as needed to pass.
Resets for failed evaluation accounts occur immediately upon monthly renewal, allowing traders to continue without significant interruption.
Note: Resetting your Evaluation does not change your monthly subscription renewal.
Elite Sim-Funded Rules
In this section, we’ll cover the rules for trading your Diamond Hands Elite Sim-Funded account and the requirements you must meet to qualify for a payout.
1. Minimum Allowed Balance (Diamond Hands)
Q: How does the minimum allowed balance work in Elite Sim-Funded accounts?
How it works: The drawdown trails your highest end-of-day balance until you’ve earned realized profits equal to the max drawdown + $100.
When it stops: Once that safety net is reached, the daily loss limit is removed and the drawdown never moves again.
Your minimum balance: From then on, your starting balance + $100 becomes your minimum allowable balance. If your account falls below this static level, the account will fail.
Example: You start with $25,000 and your max loss is $1,500 (minimum balance $23,500). If you close the day with a $1,000 profit, your minimum balance moves to $24,500. Your Max Loss Limit operates the same until you reach $1,600 in realized profits (max loss of $1,500 + $100). Once reached, your drawdown locks permanently at $25,100; this is the minimum allowed balance.
2. No Hedging
Traders are not allowed to hedge against themselves with the same or correlated instruments across one or multiple accounts. Learn more.
3. Maximum Account Position Limits
Each account type and size has maximum position limits for minis and micros. Please visit our Plan Information & FAQ to review the details for your current account.
Q: How do the maximum account positions work?
You are not allowed to exceed the maximum allowed positions at any time. Doing so will result in account failure. In Elite accounts, going over the limit will also forfeit profits with account closure.
Legend: 1 mini = 1 position; 10 micro = 1 position.
Example: An account with a maximum open position of 3 minis (or 30 micros). Allowed: 2 mini + 10 micro. Not allowed: 2 mini + 20 micro (equivalent to 4 positions). Not allowed: 3 mini + 60 micro (9 positions).
4. Household Trading Rule
Traders from the same household are not allowed to participate at ETF under any circumstances. Learn more.
5. Trading for Others
Trading for another user, within the same household, or remotely, is strictly prohibited. Learn more.
6. Flatten Trades
Q: Am I allowed to hold trades overnight?
Yes. Only Diamond Hands and Direct To Funded accounts are able to hold trades through close, and the weekend. Check CME Market Hours.
7. Weekly Trading Requirement
Traders must execute at least one trade per week to keep their account active. If you cannot trade, notify ETF via the self‑serve form. Missing a week will result in account closure and voided payouts.
8. Loss Limit Rule
Once a trader earns 20% profit on their Elite Sim‑Funded account, a new loss limit applies. If you lose more than 35% of total accumulated profit after reaching 20% growth, the account will be removed from the Elite Sim-Funded program. This overrides the initial max drawdown and disqualifies you from the Live Elite program.
9. Elite Reset
All ETF Elite Sim-Funded accounts can be reset only three times.
Please visit the article below to review your reset pricing options.
10. Details on Trading Days
Q: What qualifies as a trading day?
Any day you place a trade qualifies.
Q: Does Sunday count?
No. Sunday evening and Monday are counted as the same trading day.
Q: What contract can I trade?
You must trade the most current contract with the highest volume.
Q: Can I trade on holidays and during news?
Yes, but volatility can be very low or extremely high. Manage risk carefully.
Note: Elite Trader Funding is not responsible for your account during times of very low or extremely high volatility.
Elite Sim-Funded Payout Requirements
For each payout cycle, you must maintain the safety net and achieve the required number of Active Trade Days.
1. Meet the Active Trade Day Requirement
Traders must complete 8 Active Trading Days (ATDs) for Payout Cycle 1. For Payout Cycles 2–4, 10 ATDs are required.
What qualifies as an ATD? A day you place a trade that results in at least $200 realized profit and at least 23% of your best ATD P&L.
If both criteria aren’t met, the day won’t qualify as an ATD, but profits still add to your balance.
Check out the example below:
Note: Your best trading day P&L does not reset after a payout. It only resets if you establish a new best day with a higher realized profit.
2. Achieve the Safety Net
You must reach your safety net to meet the first payout requirement. Once you earn realized profits equal to the account max drawdown + $100, the EOD drawdown locks permanently, and the daily loss limit (if applicable) is removed. You cannot withdraw from the safety net during any payout cycles.
Use this table to see the payout ranges for each Diamond Hands funding amount and how they increase across cycles until reaching the $25,000 cap and Live account eligibility.
FundingAmount | 1st Payout Cycle (8 ATD) | 2nd Payout Cycle (10 ATD) | 3rd Payout Cycle (10 ATD) | 4th+ Payout Cycle (10 ATD) | Payout Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$100,000 | $100 – $1,750 | $100 – $2,000 | $100 – $2,250 | $100 – $2,500 | $25,000 & Live |
Payout Steps
Meet Requirements: Ensure you’ve met the safety net and ATDs.
Request a Payout: Visit your Trader Dashboard and request a payout.
Trade Activity Audited: Your activity will be audited for compliance.
Subscription Active: Keep your subscription active during the payout process.
KYC & Rise Onboarding: Complete KYC and onboard with Rise to receive payments.
Payout Request Timing
Approval Timeline: Payouts are approved daily, Mon–Fri, from 3 PM Eastern (excluding holidays).
Cut‑Off Time: The cut-off time for approved payout requests to be included in Monday’s batch is Friday at 5 PM EST and the cut-off time for the Wednesday batch is Tuesday at 5 PM EST. Requests after this time will be rolled over to next week.
Elite Sim Payouts: Processed twice weekly, Mondays and Wednesdays.
Live Elite Payouts: Processed daily.
Once you receive email confirmation that your payout is approved, funds are deducted from your account, and you may immediately resume trading. Your Trader Dashboard will update with your next trade. You must still meet the weekly trading requirement, or your account may be closed, and payouts will be voided.
Profit Split
Once approved, traders keep up to 100% of simulation profits up to $25,000.
Payout Structure
You can request withdrawals once you’ve met the payout requirements and are in a Payout Cycle.
Withdrawals can be as little as $100, up to the cycle maximum.
In any Payout Cycle, you may withdraw a minimum of $100 until reaching the Payout Cycle maximum cap.
New payout requests can only be made once an existing payout has been processed.
⚠️ To advance to the next Payout Cycle, you must withdraw the full amount from your current payout cycle.
The day your payout is approved does not count toward your ATD requirement, but the funds will be added to your account balance.
This same structure applies to each Payout Cycle.
LIVE ELITE Transition
How do I get moved to Live?
ETF may transition traders from their Elite Sim-Funded account to a LIVE ELITE account at our discretion—this can happen before, during, or after a payout request.
Transition criteria MAY include:
5 payouts per trader
50 Active Trading Days per trader
$25,000 total payout cap per trader
What is my starting balance for LIVE ELITE?
Your LIVE ELITE static balance is based on your single best-performing Elite Sim-Funded account that has reached the safety net (account max drawdown + $100):
50K or below: $2,000
100K: $3,000
150K or above: $5,000
If your top-performing account is a Direct to Funded (DTF) account:
25K DTF: $2,500
50K DTF: $5,000
100K DTF: $5,000
NOTE: CME Rules Compliance
All traders must complete 34 lessons on CME Rules and Regulations before advancing. Review CME guidelines here.
Diamond Hands accounts purchased before September 17, 2025, will continue under the previous payout/LIVE ELITE policies.
Legacy Diamond Hands Payout Structure
Funding Amount | 1st Payout Cycle (8 ATD) | 2nd Payout Cycle (10 ATD) | 3rd Payout Cycle (10 ATD) | 4th+ Payout Cycle (10 ATD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
$100,000 | $100 – $2,500 | $100 – $2,750 | $100 – $3,000 | No Min/Max |
NOTE: ETF may transition traders from their Elite Sim-Funded account to a LIVE ELITE account at our discretion—this can happen before, during, or after a payout request.
Active Elite Sim-Funded accounts purchased before September 17, 2025, will continue under the previous payout/LIVE ELITE policies.
Total Active Funded Accounts: Traders can hold up to 20 Elite Sim-Funded accounts at one time.
Fast Track Account Restriction: Of these 20 accounts, only 5 can be from passed Fast Track evaluations. This limit is designed to balance trading potential with risk management across different evaluation types.
Direct to Funded Account Restriction (DTF): Limit of 5 active DTF accounts per trader.