Who is this article for:
This blog article is addressed to both experienced prop firm traders and people that are new in the prop firm industry.
If you already have experience with prop firms, this article will probably confirm some things you already learned the hard way.
If you are new, it can help you avoid a lot of mistakes early on, save time, save money, and avoid unnecessary stress.
This comes from experience and from being in this industry for a long time.
Prop firms: who we accept, who we recommend, who you should avoid
There are many prop firms out there.
There are prop firms we accept, prop firms we recommend, and prop firms you should avoid. We are very clear about this and we don’t change our position depending on hype or trends.
Now, there are two prop firms that every trader should start with:
- FTMO
- FundingPips
At the same time, we want to be clear: FundingPips is a prop firm we do not accept to use our services with. Because of that, this leaves FTMO as the prop firm you should always have a funded account with, especially when you are building your base.
In this article, we will explain why.
Let’s clarify something first
It is actually very good to have funded accounts with multiple prop firms.
We encourage traders to increase their trading capital using prop firms, once they know what they are doing and once they trade in a controlled way.
When you reach around $400,000 in trading capital from CFD prop firms, things start to look pretty nice. When we say CFD prop firms, we are referring to classic prop firms such as FTMO, 5ers, FundingPips and similar ones. This is different from Futures prop firms, where you trade Futures contracts like NASDAQ Futures, NQ1, NQZ2025 and so on.
Once you secure standard maximum allocation with 2 or 3 CFD prop firms, you can do extremely well for yourself and your family. We are talking about people that live in reality, not about people chasing dreams of becoming millionaires or billionaires, or Instagram fantasies.
Once you are above the $400,000 mark, trading usually becomes calmer. You have more room, and it becomes easier to manage trades without constantly being under pressure. From there, it’s much easier to grow towards $1,000,000 in trading capital and stay consistently around those numbers.
Why FTMO should be your first prop firm and main focus
FTMO is the prop firm you should start with. No matter what.
Your first $400,000 in prop firm trading capital should come from FTMO. Structurally, it is a very strong option.
We are talking about:
- A 2-step evaluation
- 10% profit target for Phase 1
- 5% profit target for Phase 2
- 10% maximum drawdown
- 5% daily drawdown
There is no consistency rule and no trailing drawdown, like you see with many Futures firms.
That means you are not trading under constant pressure and you actually have room to operate.
Another important reason to start with FTMO is that it is a serious company and it proved that many times in the past (FundingPips too).
How to reach $400,000 with FTMO
You can secure $400,000 in trading capital with FTMO by passing two $200,000 challenges.
At the time of speaking:
- $200,000 is the biggest standard challenge size
- $400,000 is the standard maximum allocation
Once funded, you can also scale your accounts through the FTMO Prime Program, but for that you need to show consistency, stay funded, and process multiple payouts.
The Prime Program requirements are:
- Active FTMO account
- No failed FTMO account in the last 4 months
- 4 processed rewards with at least 4% profit per reward
Shady prop firms and payout problems
There are many shady prop firms in this industry.
FTMO is not one of them, same goes for FundingPips.
Many prop firms deny payouts to funded traders for all kinds of made-up reasons. Bad faith, greed, incompetence — or a mix of all of them. You want to stay away from that kind of prop firm.
There are very few prop firms we truly recommend. These are FTMO and FundingPips.
Here at PropFirmKillers, we can help you secure that $400,000 with FTMO, even more than that, and most importantly help you achieve consistent payouts.
As for those that are not and will not be our clients, you might want to consider FundingPips for your next prop firm challenge, the company is run by good people with good intentions towards their traders – they have real values, integrity and good faith, which is something nobody in the industry genuinely have.
There are also other prop firms you can use our services with, in case you don’t currently have an FTMO challenge or funded account.
And by the way, you can always send us an e-mail and ask us if you’re not sure what prop firm to go with for your current circumstances and for the goals you have for yourself and family in life.
Trading NASDAQ and Gold on FTMO
On FTMO, the spreads on NASDAQ are acceptable and the overall trading conditions are good.
The Futures market is more precise, because everyone sees the same price. With CFD prop firms, prices depend on the broker, which is normal.
Even with that, we trade NASDAQ and Gold on FTMO, and we make good money doing it. We’re comfortable with the conditions so far.
Final words
FTMO is not absolutely perfect. No prop firm is.
But if you are serious about prop firm trading and you want to also use our services, FTMO should be your base. Your starting point. The foundation of your funding.
Build from there.
Stay realistic.
Stay consistent.
That’s how you last in this industry.