Blue Guardian 1-Step $100K vs FTMO Challenge 1-Step $100K

A daily loss limit caps how much an account may lose within a single trading day. It is the rule that ends the largest share of evaluations, usually before the overall loss rule is ever approached. The limit is expressed as a share of account size, but what matters more than its size is the reference point it is measured against. Two conventions are common. In the first, the limit is anchored to the balance recorded at the start of the trading day, so intraday gains do not raise the allowance and intraday losses do not lower it until the next day begins. In the second, it is anchored to the highest equity reached during the day, meaning an unrealised profit that is later given back consumes part of the allowance even if the account never falls below where it opened. The same sequence of trades can pass under one convention and breach under the other. Full explanation →

A trailing drawdown level moves in one direction only. It follows the account upward as the reference figure it tracks makes new highs, and it stays where it is when the account falls. A losing day does not pull the level back down; the room between the current balance and the level simply shrinks. This is what people mean when they call it a ratchet. The consequence is that a run of gains followed by a return to the starting balance can leave an account close to breach even though it has not lost anything relative to where it began. Full explanation →

A payout cycle is the interval that must elapse between the points at which a participant on a simulated funded account may request payment of their agreed share of the account's recorded gains. It is a structural term, not an administrative detail: two offers with identical profit splits can differ substantially in how frequently that split is actually accessible, and the cycle length interacts with every other rule, because a longer interval means more trading days during which a breach can end the account before any request becomes possible. Full explanation →

A profit target is the gain a simulated account must show before an evaluation phase counts as passed. It is measured against the account's nominal size — the notional balance the simulated account is opened with — and not against the fee paid to enter. The two numbers are unrelated in kind: the fee is an amount actually paid, while the nominal size is a reference figure used to scale the rules. Because the target is expressed as a proportion of that reference figure, the same proportional target represents a different absolute gain on each account size offered, while the underlying trading requirement stays the same in relative terms. Full explanation →