Proprietary trading firms (popularly known as “prop firms”) have been making waves in the financial markets. Allowing traders to participate in online trading using the firm’s own money provides an innovative opportunity to profit from the market—one that doesn’t need a trader’s capital.
FTMO is one prop trading in South Africa, providing traders with a generous 90% profit share and the chance for a 25% quarterly capital scale.
In this FTMO review, we’ll review all the necessary information about FTMO. From its offered instruments and account types to its challenge phase, you’ll explore the nitty-gritty of this prop trading firm. Find out if this is the best prop trading firm for you.
FTMO Review at A Glance
FTMO dubbed itself a modern prop trading firm, revolutionizing the relationship between funded traders and prop firms. This prop firm offers a generous 90% profit split to its traders. Any interested funded trader can access an
But it doesn’t stop there—traders can also scale their account size by 25% every four months. In other words, the funded trader can double their account in a year if conditions are met.
Like any prop trading firm, traders wishing to get funded by FTMO must pass its evaluation or challenge phase. And this phase is no joke—many users have reported how difficult it is to pass the FTMO challenge.
But don’t fret; you don’t have to brace the challenge on the blindsided. The prop firm has a free test version for those who want to test the waters before registering. Staying true to its promise, this test trial mirrors the actual, paid test. This ensures the user gains familiarity with the challenge and the platform.
Is FTMO Safe and Regulated in 2025?
No, FTMO is not regulated by any regulatory body. It’s a prop trading firm, not a brokerage service. This means the company is not necessarily required to bear a regulatory license as it doesn’t handle the client’s fund directly.
However, FTMO is a legitimate prop firm trading platform—processing more than USD29 million in payouts since its launch in 2015.
Let’s look deeper into the features and benefits of getting funded by FTMO.
Overview of FTMO Proprietary Trading Firm
Founded in 2015, FTMO is a Czech Republic-based proprietary trading firm that offers a maximum account balance of USD 2 million.
Since its establishment, the prop firm has grown its user base due to its wide range of offered trading instruments, flexible funded account types, and valuable tools like the Mentor App and Account MetriX.
Let’s look deeper into the benefits and features of FTMO prop trading firm:
Multi-Asset Investment Options
FTMO knows how risky the financial markets are. It’s aware that overexposure to a single risk hinders trading profitability and ultimately magnifies the potential of account wipeout even on the smallest market movement.
Thus, FTMO allows its funded traders to access multiple trading instruments to diversify their trades and develop better strategies.
Here are the available FTMO trading instruments:
- Forex
- Cryptocurrency
- Commodities
- Stocks
- Indices
With access to these major financial markets, a funded trader can meet its account trading objective and access their profit share.
Three Funded Account Types
FTMO allows traders to access three different funded account types, given that they have passed the evaluation and predefined criteria for account opening.
View this as a progression—a trader cannot access a higher-tier account if they don’t pass the account before it.
Here are the three FTMO account types:
Demo Account – Evaluation Process
This is the first account you’ll have the moment you register with FTMO. It’s designed to see how the funded trader applicant performs in a simulated market environment.
In this phase, the trader demonstrates their trading expertise and discipline by following the trading objectives set by FTMO.
Once the evaluation phase concludes, the trading objectives become more lax—with the profit target reduced by 50%.
The trader will then access the actual FTMO account once both evaluation and verification phases are completed.
Monetized Demo – FTMO Account
This is the second step FTMO uses to assess the capabilities of the funded trader.
Dubbing itself a modern prop trading firm, FTMO retains its funded account in a demo or simulated market environment. However, this doesn’t mean that traders can’t access a real monetary profit.
In fact, FTMO awards its FTMO traders with 90% of their simulated profit with real money.
If the prop trading firm deems the trader capable, they will advance to the Premium Programme—a funding program for professional traders.
Pro-Trading – Quantlane
Quantlane accounts are the very last trading accounts offered by FTMO. This is specifically designed for professional traders whose expertise has been proven to align with FTMO’s investment objectives and profit targets.
Through this account, the FTMO holder will access the real, live capital of FTMO. Traders will be entitled to fixed salaries under a contract, a Performance & Mindset coach, and advanced trading platforms and tools.
Available Account Currencies
FTMO funds all its accounts with various currencies—allowing traders from different countries to participate in prop trading. Accessing a selection of funded accounts in different currencies allows traders to bypass currency conversion when trading.
Here are FTMO-supported currencies.
- US Dollar (USD)
- British Pound (GBP)
- Euro (EUR)
- Czech Koruna (CZK)
- Canadian Dollar (CAD)
- Australian Dollar (AUD)
- Swiss Franc (CHF)
Trading Platforms
FTMO knows that platform familiarity is necessary to hit trading objectives. If the trader has to explore an inherently complex platform, it may hinder them from actually doing what they’re supposed to do—trade according to the firm’s objective and hit the profit target.
This is why FTMO supports the three widely used trading platforms by traders.
MetaTrader (MT4 & MT5)
MetaTrader platforms are arguably the most used trading platform. Being largely integrated into almost all online brokers, it’s certain that almost all traders are familiar with the platform. They might even master using it.
MT4, MetaQuotes’ pioneering platform, was designed to provide forex traders an avenue to buy and sell currency pairs. It’s known for its intuitive and customizable interface, making it the best choice for beginner traders.
MT5 was the answer to the demand for wider market access. It improves its predecessor by allowing access to multiple trading instruments, including stocks, commodities, contract-for-difference (CFD), indices, and cryptocurrencies.
Like MT4, this multi-asset platform boasts an intuitive and customizable interface to eliminate the unnecessary learning curve.
However, security measures are lacking on these platforms. Both these platforms only have a single login process, making them vulnerable to unauthorized capital access.
CTrader
CTrader, dubbed as the MetaTrader platforms killer, was also integrated into the FTMO’s ecosystem.
By offering access to this trading platform, a funded trader has multiple device options to use for trading. FTMO traders can trade through the cTrader mobile app, web-based platform, and desktop app.
DXtrade
DXtrade is an innovative solution for financial service providers. It’s a Whitelabel solution instead of an open-source platform.
Meaning, the platform that wishes to use DXTrade can customize and align the platform to all its branding elements.
Through DXtrade, the funded trader can access multiple trading instruments, including forex, commodities, indices, and CFDs.
Additionally, this trading platform supports advanced order types to ensure the best execution experience for FTMO traders.
Comprehensive Education
One notable benefit provided by FTMO is its comprehensive education. It stays true to its promise of empowering traders—not only by funding their trades but also by providing resources to sharpen their trading knowledge and practice discipline.
Through the FTMO academy, the prop firm provides the public with educational content to familiarize them with a solid foundation in various basic and advanced trading concepts.
The academy is a minefield of beginner-friendly and quality trading courses, walking you through foundational concepts, including:
- Gateway to Trading
- Financial Markets
- Forex Market
- Technical Analysis
- Fundamental Analysis
- Statistical Analysis
- Sentiment Analysis
- Trading Platforms
The academy also provides resources to interested FTMO-funded traders. It publishes content for the prop trading firm evaluation processes and requirements, including the minimum trading days, maximum daily losses/drawdown, maximum loss/maximum drawdown, and profit target.
What Is the FTMO Profit Target?
FTMO’s profit target is the most critical trading objective imposed by FTMO. After all, the prop trading firm wants to know if you’re capable of growing their capital.
In the initial phase (Evaluation phase), the funded trader’s target profit is 10% of the initial balance. If your initial balance is USD 10,000, you should increase your account balance to USD 11,000 (profit: USD 1,000) to pass this criterion.
However, the trader’s profit requirement will be reduced by 50% once the initial phase is concluded.
What Is FTMO Minimum Trading Days?
To assess how traders execute their trades efficiently while hitting all objectives, FTMO imposes the Four Minimum Trading Days objective.
This ultimately ensures that the trader has taken enough time to accomplish the challenge.
Remember, this requirement doesn’t mean you have to trade for four consecutive dates. You can complete this objective for as long as you want—it’s just that you have to complete at least four trading days to pass the challenges.
It’s a requirement to assess your commitment to engaging with the challenge.
Now, assume you have already achieved the accomplished objective within three days. You must trade for another day to pass the phase, aligned with the objective.
The good news is that this requirement is only imposed during the Evaluation Process—FTMO Challenge and Verification.
