FTMO Challenge 2-Step $100K vs FundedNext Stellar 2-Step $100K

A minimum trading day requirement sets a floor on the number of separate sessions in which activity must occur before an evaluation can be marked as passed. It exists because a profit target can, in principle, be reached by one oversized position held through one favourable move. That outcome tells the firm nothing about how a trader sizes, exits or repeats decisions. By forcing activity to be spread across distinct sessions, the condition converts the test from a single event into a sequence, which is what the firm claims to be measuring. 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 →

The profit split is the proportion of simulated gains recorded on a funded-stage account that the participant may request as a payment under the contract. The remainder stays with the firm. It is expressed as a share of the profit measured above a reference point — usually the highest balance already paid out from, or the starting balance of the stage — so gains that merely recover an earlier drawdown generally do not count toward a new request. The split applies only to the simulated performance the account is credited with; it is not a share of any external trading result and does not describe capital held by the participant. 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 →