FTMO Trading Platform Review: Pros, Cons, and Key Insights
Table of Contents
Welcome to our FTMO trading platform review. We’re here to tell you how this proprietary trading company works, and we’ll answer all of those important questions like, ‘Is FTMO legit or a scam?’
FTMO is a Czech-based company that’s been in existence for nearly a decade. You have to pass two special tests to trade here, but once you do this, you’ll be granted plenty of extra funds to trade with. So let’s take a closer look at what we uncovered in our FTMO challenge review.
Pros and cons of FTMO
Pros
Relatively low opening deposit to take FTMO Challenge test
Classic selection of platforms including MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5
Enjoy high leveraged trading of up to 1:100
High potential profits of up to 90%
Excellent for trading cryptos and fiat currencies
Cons
Strict testing procedure requires a maximum loss of 10%
Could be better for trading stocks and futures
No bonuses or promotions
The basics of our FTMO review
FTMO is an international trading platform, and in this FTMO trading platform review, we’ll explain how it lets you enjoy proprietary trading. This is where the firm invests for direct margin gain, rather than earning commission by trading on your behalf.
To start here, you’ll have to create an FTMO account, and then make an opening deposit of $155 or more. As well as euros, the other available currencies include US dollars, British pounds, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Swiss francs and Czech koruna. Sadly, there are no bonuses or promotions available at FTMO.
Once you have made your deposits, you will have to pass two specific tests that are the FTMO Challenge and Verification. If you pass these trading objectives, you’ll be given $400,000 in your FTMO trading account.
You can enjoy leveraged trading of up to 1:100 across various instruments, including currency pairs, cryptocurrencies, stocks, indices, and commodities. The prop trading firm states that after passing the initial test, you can earn up to 80% in profitability. This could increase to 90% after that.
What happened in our FTMO Challenge review
If all of the above looks good and you want to join the FTMO proprietary trading firm, you’ll need to pass the two-step testing stage. This consists of the FTMO Challenge and the Verification procedure. Here’s what the FTMO evaluation process consists of:
Our FTMO Challenge review
The FTMO Challenge rules require you to choose an opening deposit between $10,000 and $200,000. The test fee varies based on the deposit amount, with a €155 fee for the minimum deposit of $10,000.
During the challenge, you’ll need to make a 10% profit within 10 to 30 days. If your losses exceed 10% of the initial deposit, you’ll fail the challenge.
If you don’t reach the profit target but stay within the loss limit, you can retake the challenge for free. Additionally, once you make your first profits as an FTMO trader, you’ll receive a refund of your fee. After successful completion, you’ll move on to the next FTMO evaluation.
The FTMO Verification process
This evaluation process of the prop firm also gives you a trading challenge, but you are given a longer time period to meet the profit target. As a result, you will aim to meet the profit target on the financial markets from a minimum of 10 days up to a maximum of 60 days.
There is no requirement to pay for this second stage of the testing process. If you reach the profit target and pass the FTMO Verification stage, you’ll become a funded trader at FTMO. This means that you could get $400,000 in your funded trading account if you show successful trading skills and hit the profit target within the trading parameters.
Familiar trading conditions found in our FTMO review
FTMO offers a familiar set of trading instruments, as noted in this FTMO trading platform review. These include classic currency pairings for forex trading, stocks, and commodities like metals. Additionally, there’s a comprehensive list of nearly a dozen cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. However, for funded accounts, the ability to trade ETFs, options, and futures contracts is missing or limited compared to other prop firms discussed in this trading journal.
Forex traders are prioritized at FTMO and you’ll find that pairings like EUR/USD and USD/JPY are foregrounded. There are a total of 44 different currencies for forex traders to discover trading talents they didn’t know at FTMO. Plenty of ways for forex traders to use a funded account.
Platforms featured at FTMO
You’ll have a classic choice of platforms, including MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader. These platforms offer essential trading indicators and instant execution with no price slippage.
We used MetaTrader 4 for most of this FTMO review. You can install MT4 on your computer or use the web-based platform. FTMO also offers apps for iOS and Android devices, along with other apps to help enhance your online trading experience.
Analyzing the FTMO accounts
FTMO features three different kinds of trading accounts for different kinds of trading behavior. This might not be quite as many as you get at other prop trading firms, but they should meet the needs of most profitable traders. Here’s what you get with the different FTMO accounts:
Demo trading account
We started our FTMO review by trading on the Demo account. This is free to use and it gives you all of the same trading conditions that you’ll find in the Main account at FTMO. You have to set up your account via a quick registration process to get the free trial. This merely asks you to provide your email, name, telephone number and country of residence. The demo account lasts for 14 days and gives you a good way to try FTMO without risking any of your own money.
Main account
The Main account gives you the option to switch between Normal and Aggressive accounts, depending on the amount of risk you wish to expose yourself to and your initial account balance. The Aggressive account strategy opens up the profit targets to 20% with your trading capital but it is accompanied by a larger potential loss of 20%.
Swing account
There is also a Swing account available for those who join FTMO. This offers you less restrictions on fundamental trading and you can hold trades for many days. Just bear in mind that the Swing trading account features a leverage that has been reduced to 1:30 compared to the normal risk level.
Trading at FTMO
Once you pass the FTMO evaluation and select your platform and account, you can start FTMO regulated trading with the $400,000 in your account. The profit split means FTMO will retain 20% of any profits. You keep up to 80% if you use the Normal strategy to start trading.
If a trader manages to make a 10% profit over four months with large accounts, their deposit will be boosted by $100,000. Funded traders using the Aggressive strategy can receive up to $2 million in initial capital and an extra reward of up to 90% of their profits if they meet the trading objectives.
Trusted payments featured in this FTMO review
We found that registered traders can trade at this legitimate prop firm in most of the major currencies including US dollars, euros, British pounds, Canadian dollars and Australian dollars. Most people will use a regular bank wire transfer, but there are other options.
Deposits
You can make a minimum deposit of the equivalent to €155 at FTMO which may seem fairly high compared to other trading platforms, but the rewards can be worth it. Bear in mind that if you deposit a higher amount, it will feature a €250 deposit fee but this will open up the Aggressive trading strategy.
You are presented with a broad choice of payment methods for making your deposits. These include all of the standard credit cards as well as a transfer from a bank account, and there is even the option to use Skrill as well as some other alternative payment providers.
Withdrawals
Withdrawals can only be made after 14 days of opening your first trade and you can do so via all of the payment methods used for making deposits. FTMO also has the facility to make payments in cryptocurrencies.
We found that there are no FTMO fees for making withdrawals, and the brand usually takes between one and two working days to process your requests. We found that all of our payouts were paid within eight hours.
Understanding the FTMO MetriX tool
The evaluation process will be tracked by a special feature called FTMO MetriX. This is a section on the site that tracks each trade you make as part of the evaluation process and offers extensive account analysis.
Our FTMO Challenge review found that this tool gave us the latest updates regarding important details like the start and end dates of the Challenge, the account size, which platform you are using and your current results.
This means that you’ll always be reminded of things like your maximum daily loss, your maximum overall loss and your overall evaluation process progress. Plus you’ll get a wealth of statistics on all of your most recent prop trading. A great way to see how far you have to go to reach the next level.
Is FTMO legit or a scam?
We found that FTMO is a trusted proprietary trading platform that has been active since 2014. During this time, FTMO has paid out over $27 million to traders in more than 180 countries. The sheer scale of FTMO is impressive, with traders carrying out over six million trades every month—more than most prop firms. FTMO has also earned positive recognition in trading journal publications like Forbes and has won the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 award three times.
It’s worth emphasizing the fact that, once you’ve paid your initial fee for passing the FTMO Challenge review, you’ll never have to risk any of your own capital at this trading platform. Still, that’s no excuse not to use proper risk management when you join FTMO.
Customer support at FTMO
FTMO has a responsive and knowledgeable customer support team, as mentioned in this FTMO trading platform review. They are available from 9am to 5pm EST, Monday to Friday. Customer support is offered in over a dozen languages. You can reach them via live chat, email, or telephone. This service is essential for beginner traders and those receiving payouts for the first time.
Extra features found at FTMO
FTMO gives you plenty more extra features to help you be a better FTMO trader. FTMO offers a trading academy and an economic calendar to help prepare for major events in financial markets. These tools are available with your FTMO account.
Additionally, FTMO traders can use the Mentor Application for deeper insights into online trading. Performance coaches and an equity simulator are also available. With these resources, you’ll be equipped to maximize your funded account and achieve a better profit split.
Conclusion – Highlights from our FTMO review
This is simply an excellent proprietary trading firm that will give you a great way to test your trading. FTMO has passed all of the unbiased traders reviews we’ve seen and our FTMO reviews are no different.
We’ve successfully answered the question, ‘Is FTMO legit or a scam?’ We found that FTMO is a trustworthy proprietary trading platform. The initial testing period is strict, but our FTMO Challenge review shows that it offers substantial rewards for professional traders who pass.
With high leverage and potential profitability of up to 90%, this prop trading firm is ideal for experienced traders. Now that you’ve read this FTMO review, sign up, get your FTMO account, and enjoy trading with FTMO.