EventHorizon

Topstep Ambassador

PhD Physics, Princeton. Someday, we will reach the galaxies.
For now, we pick a flower on earth and move the farthest star.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@TheQueenofKa @Alpha_Futures_ The existence of affiliate programs really renders so many prop firm "summaries" or "comparisons" suspect.

I'm a proponent for Topstep, primarily because of its Live program and no-nonsense payout history (99.26% approved this year). It does NOT have an affiliate program.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@aw_trades_ Good luck! Hope to see you on the Octagon soon :)

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

Sadly you are once again misinformed. “A portion goes to live for buffer” — what buffer? The sim funds can’t be withdrawn immediately but to say that means they are “no longer yours” is very misleading. Make some profit and they will be yours. At other props they simply vanish, forever and are certainly no longer yours, no longer accessible. Ever.

Make $50k in sim. Move to Live, start with $10k (the minimum at Topstep) and every week unlock another $10k. Before that happens suppose you have five days of $150+ and now have $12k. You can take out $6k - no buffer. If you make $3k each week you’ll unlock the remainder of the initial $50k in $10k chunks.

After four weeks you could have a total of $62k (or more) and take out $31k (or more).

To imply, as you seem to insist on doing, that sim profits are lost forever simply because you get moved to Live before getting a payout is very misleading especially when compared to other firms and is why I keep correcting you. I suppose anyone reading this by now has a clear picture and I can move on.

Recall this all started when you cast Topstep along with other props as a firm that “forfeits sim profits” when being moved to Live. Blatantly wrong.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

Your original post said sim profits are forfeited at Topstep which is absolutely incorrect and the misrepresentation I sought to correct. In fact, you start with a minimum of $10k in Live at Topstep. You can call continuing to be profitable "jumping through hoops" if you like but that's not how I see it.

There really isn't any splitting hairs because at other props sim profits are indeed forfeited as in gone forever. They are erased. Not at Topstep.

My goal is simply to clarify factual information for the readers of these posts. If they think Topstep is like other props and when you are moved to Live you lose all your simulated profits - thanks to posts such as yours that claim this - I want to make sure it is clear that is NOT the case.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

Yes, you can be sent to Live after any number of payouts including none. But those simulated monies, as I pointed out, are NOT LOST as you implied in your initial post. You keep them -- all of them, up to $150,000.

This can also be discovered by very simple search of the Topstep website.

This is in contrast to most props where you lose all the sim profits and start Live with $0 or a small amount. In fact, someone posted recently that she had around $150,000 in sim monies over 20 accounts at a prop and was being moved to their version of Live with just $3k.
In her case, she actually did lose all those monies.

Not sure what you are referencing with the rather odd "sorry that hurt your feelings"

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

Topstep does NOT forfeit sim profits. In fact, you can move as much as $150k in sim profits to Live at Topstep. True you only "unlock" 20% of this amount to start but in a few weeks the remainder can be unlocked as you make profits.

Also, the minimum starting balance for a Live account at Topstep is $10k (even if this is greater than 20% of your total sim balance).

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@DylanWinkler789 @TheOneLanceB That's exactly right. Yes, there are some hurdles but in the long-term, the sky is the limit for Topstep Live traders.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@LethalityTrader Curious as to what data set led you to believe "the number of traders consistently making payouts is growing at an incredible rate". I have yet to see such evidence.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@cantucapital Depends on which market you are talking about. In any case, you can decide how much you want to risk - say $150/trade - and then based on recent (past hour or two) volatility choose a size so that a 2-sigma move against you hits the $150.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

You actually DO still get the simulated money. Unlike many props that start you in Live with $0 or a very small amount, at Topstep you move the entire balance of your funded accounts to Live.

You can move as much as $150,000 from your Funded accounts to the Live account. Yes, you would only access 20% of that amount to start, but the rest gets unlocked as you make profits (as often as weekly, in $30k chunks).

In a few weeks you could have the full $150,000 you earned in your Express Funded Accounts (“XFAs”) - plus any profits you made as you unlocked this full amount - in your Topstep Live account

And after five days of $150+ in profit you can withdraw 50% of the balance with no cap. After thirty days of $150+ you can take daily payouts of any size.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@Ckhangg_7 @Topstep Well done. In the long-term this is what works. Project these steady profits out 30 or 40 days and you'll see great payout opportunities. Keep at it! When you get moved to Live, too.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@TheSwoleNegus7 @Topstep CME velocity event. SLs are market orders - if no market, no fill. Unfortunate reality of how the velocity event mechanism works.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

As part of your decision making process you should consider the Live accounts. I’ve seen (posted on X) someone with over $150k (? Can’t recall) in sim profits across 20 accounts moved to a single Apex Live account starting with $3k.

At Topstep, you can move as much as $150,000 from your Funded accounts to the Live account. Yes, you would only access 20% of that amount to start, but the rest gets unlocked as you make profits (as often as weekly, in $30k chunks).

In a few weeks you could have the full $150,000 you earned in your Express Funded Accounts (“XFAs”) - plus any profits you made as you unlocked this full amount - in your Topstep Live account.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@aw_trades_ As I've commented before when you've mentioned tilting, you are only (but a very talented) human!

Sharing this undoubtedly helps many traders who are beating themselves up for doing the same. It happens, and you can move on from it.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

You are not alone in feeling the risk tools on these platforms are game changers - can't tell you how many traders have echoed that sentiment.

Decide - and lock for the day - the SL/PT for each trade, the DLL and PT for the day, the max number of trades you can take, which futures you can trade, etc. Set them and stick to them is what countless traders that succeed have told me.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@tradewiththesky @Topstep Sorry to hear it. I can assure you, however, you are not alone in falling into these psychological traps.

Tomorrow is a new day, learn from your mistakes.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@FredM274 @fundedshif @MichaelPatak @AskTopstep @Topstep The 99.26% are the approval rate for payout request. If your account was put on hold close to a payout, perhaps you are doing very well and are now being moved to Live. If so, congratulations. Well done.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@FredM274 @fundedshif @MichaelPatak @AskTopstep @Topstep I understand. You're innocent of course. FYI I'm not a Topstep employee or staff member but I do feel it important to separate facts from fiction.

Good luck wherever you are trading.

[EventHorizon @EventHorizonTOP]

@Seraphinaf5 5^0 = 1 so this is 3^5 / 3 = 3^4 = 81 as pointed out to me by an 8 year old.

These trivial "IQ" questions are clogging up my X, this will be the last I respond to. Will start blocking.