FTMO Review – Are They A Scam Or Legit?
Welcome to our FTMO 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 that 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.
From here you’ll be able to enjoy leveraged trading of up to 1:100 across a variety of instruments that include currency pairings, cryptocurrencies, stocks, indices and commodities. The prop trading firm states that you can enjoy a profitability of up to 80% after passing the initial test and this could rise up to 90% thereafter.
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 state that you have to pick an opening deposit amount of between $10,000 and $200,000. There will be a test fee that varies according to how much the deposit is, with a €155 fee for the minimum $10,000 deposit.
Now, you will be tested on your trading and you will be encouraged to make a 10% profit on this deposit between 10 and the maximum trading period of 30 days. The trading rules state that if your losses are over 10% of the initial deposit, you’ll fail the FTMO Challenge.
If you don’t reach the profit target, but don’t hit the maximum loss threshold, you’ll be able to take the Challenge again for free. We should also note that you’ll be paid your fee back once you make your first profits on an actual market as an FTMO trader. Once there is successful completion of this, you’ll be able to use the unique trading tools to enter the next FTMO evaluation process.
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
We found that FTMO features a familiar set of trading instruments. These include all of the classic currency pairings for forex trading at this proprietary trading firm, stocks and commodities such as metals, as well as a surprisingly comprehensive list of nearly a dozen cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin Dash, Ethereum and Litecoin. The only instruments missing for those with funded accounts were the ability to trade ETFs, options and the choice of futures contracts was also limited compared to other prop firms featured 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 be given a classic choice of platforms that include favorites like MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, as well as cTrader. Such platforms allow you to enjoy the essential trading indicators along with instant execution on your trades with no price slippage.
We used MetaTrader 4 for the bulk of this FTMO review and you can install MT4 to your computer, or use the web-based trading platform. There are also FTMO apps that you can download to your iOS or Android device, along with a series of other apps that are designed to help you get more out of your online trading.
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’ve passed the FTMO evaluation and selected which platform and account you wish to use for your trading objectives, you’ll be able to start FTMO regulated trading with the $400,000 that has been put in your account. The profit split means that 20% of any profits made will be retained by FTMO. This means that you’ll get to keep up to 80% of the profit split if you use the Normal strategy to begin trading.
If a profitable trader manages to trade large accounts and make a minimum 10% profit over their first four months, their deposit amount will be boosted by $100,000. The maximum initial capital allocation for those funded traders using the Aggressive trading strategies is $2 million and this gives you an extra reward of up to 90% of your profits if you fulfil 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 in existence since 2014. In that time period, FTMO has paid out over $27 million to traders in over 180 countries. The sheer scale of FTMO is impressive with over six million trades being carried out every month – more than most prop firms. FTMO has also been positively featured in extensive trading journal publications such as Forbes and has won the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 award no less than 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
Like all good prop firms, FTMO hosts a responsive and knowledgeable customer support team. They can be accessed between 9am and 5pm EST from Monday to Friday. The customer support is available in over a dozen different languages and can be reached via live chat, email and telephone. Essential for all beginner traders and traders 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. These include a trading academy and an economic calendar which will assist in preparing for any major events in financial markets with your FTMO account.
In addition to this, FTMO traders are even given the option to use the Mentor Application that offers an extra level of insight into online trading. Plus with performance coaches and an equity simulator on hand, you’ll have all you need to make the most of your funded account at this prop firm and get 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?’ and found that this is a proprietary trading platform that you can trust. While the initial testing period is very strict, our FTMO Challenge review found that it offers professional traders substantial rewards if they make it through.
With high leverage and a potential profitability of up to 90%, the prop trading firm represents an excellent option for those with a good amount of trading experience. So now that you’ve read this FTMO review, sign up to this trading platform, get your FTMO account and enjoy being an FTMO trader.