Last Updated on July 26, 2024
To succeed in futures trading, you should always strive to improve. Working consistently and tirelessly towards achieving your goal will determine whether you will make it in the long run. While this might sound like an exhausting journey, the truth is that if you have the right kind of support, there’s nothing to fear. Hitting your goals could become just a matter of time. To help traders accomplish that, Earn2Trade introduced the Trader Career Path ® program – a new way to get funded as a trader.
Funded trader programs can be a springboard for launching your career as a trader. However, not all are created equal. Most don’t give you the sense of progression and struggle to match the pace of a trader’s growth curve.
The Trader Career Path ® fixes that. It’s a funding program with a scaling plan that supports you throughout your entire journey. From making the first steps in the virtual account to a funding offer with up to $400,000 in real capital at the end – the program gives you everything you need to conquer the futures markets.
What Is the Trader Career Path ®?
The Trader Career Path ® helps you structure your trading journey by reflecting on your progress over time. The gradual achievement of different milestones gives you a clear roadmap and continuous motivation to make it as a professional trader. The better you become, the more contracts and trading capital you will be able to trade with.
So, how is it different from other funded trading programs?
Funded trader programs offer a relatively quick pathway to becoming a professional trader. They start as educational courses and a rule-based evaluation program but can then evolve into a fully-funded professional trading career with long-term prospects.
They teach you trading fundamentals, market mechanics, risk management strategies, and, most importantly – discipline. After successfully passing an evaluation, you receive a funded trading offer from a prop trading firm. That way, you can trade with their capital and retain the majority of the profits for yourself.
What most funded trader programs lack, however, is a progression roadmap. They are static, meaning that they measure your trading skills at a particular point in time without much consideration for how you might improve in the future. In reality, a trader becomes better by the minute and with every winning or losing trade. Funded trader programs should reflect that growth.
The Trader Career Path ® offers you just that – a scaling plan that tracks your evolution as a trader at each step of your journey. It doesn’t lock you into a single account. Just the opposite – as you become better, you will move to a different tier and be able to trade more contracts and with higher capital. That way, through trading and continually withdrawing your profit, you can build your way up to a $400,000 account.
How It Works
The program offers two straightforward scaling plans:
- TCP25 – virtual starting capital of $25,000, with a max live account value of $200,000
- TCP50 – virtual starting capital of $50,000, with a max live account value of $400,000
- TCP100 – virtual starting capital of $100,000, with a max live account value of $400,000
Whatever you choose, your journey will consist of three steps.
The first is the evaluation phase, where you will have to manage an account with $25,000–$100,000 in virtual capital. To successfully pass it, you must follow the pre-defined trading rules and meet the goals for each program (more on these below or on the dedicated page).
The next step is getting your first funding offer from Earn2Trade’s partners – Helios Trader Group (US) and Appius Trading Limited (UK). At that point, you can proudly say you are a funded trader!
The third and last step is building your way up the scaling plan ladder. You will start with a capital of $25,000–$100,000 – either through a LiveSim® or a Live account (more about the difference below or in the dedicated article). From there, it’s all up to your skills and determination. By demonstrating good and consistent performance, you can progress through a series of Live accounts – from $25,000, $50,000, or $100,000 to $200,000 or $400,000, depending on the program you choose. Each time you hit the target of your current account and withdraw your share of the profits (80%), you will move to the next tier.
What Are the Rules?
To pass the evaluation stage of the Trader Career Path ® program, you have to comply with the following rules:
1. Only trade during approved times
You may start trading once the exchange opens for your particular asset. Generally, this is 5 p.m. CT but may differ based on holiday or asset. In practice, this means you’ll generally be trading during the official market hours of the CME group.
All positions and working orders must be closed by 3:50 p.m. CT until 5 p.m. CT. Specific assets like GF/HE/LE must be closed by 1:05 p.m. CT until 5 p.m. CT. Others like XC/XK/ZC/ZL/ZM/ZS/ZW must be closed between 7:45 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. CT and then again between 1:20 p.m. – 5 p.m. CT.
Trading can be conducted throughout the day except over public holidays and when the exchanges are closed. Otherwise, there are no restrictions, meaning you can freely trade during market events. Read more here.
2. Follow the progression ladder
The TCP25, TCP50, and TCP100 accounts that you can trade at the early stages of your journey allow up to 3, 6, and 12 contracts, respectively. Gradually moving from one account tier to another will increase the number of contracts available for trading. Reaching the maximum live account values of $200,000 for the TCP25 and $400,000 for the TCP50 and TCP100 will allow you to trade up to 16 and 30 contracts, respectively. Learn more about the different tiers and their rules here.
3. Do not reach or dip below the daily loss
Each account has a particular daily loss limit requirement. It is based on the daily Profit & Loss, including both open (real-time/unrealized) and closed trades and commissions, for each trading day. Avoid going below your daily loss limit. Find out more here.
4. Do not reach or dip below the minimum account balance (EOD Drawdown)
When the market closes, the End-of-Day Drawdown (EOD) updates your minimum account balance based on your performance during the particular trading day. To avoid breaking the rule, keep your balance up and above your minimum account balance requirement by avoiding excessive volatility and significant price swings. You can learn more here.
5. Trade a minimum of 10 trading days
To pass the program, you need to open trades on at least 10 days.
6. Maintain consistency
To meet this requirement, no trading day should account for 30% or more of your total Profit & Loss throughout the examination period. If it does, you should continue trading and building up your account until those days make up a smaller percentage of your total profit (less than 30%). Learn more here.
What Happens After You Pass?
After you pass the evaluation, a proprietary trading firm will ask you to choose between a LiveSim® or Live account with a capital of $25,000, $50,000, or $100,000 based on your chosen program. While the LiveSim® and Live accounts are very similar, there are some differences to keep in mind.
The LiveSim® Account
The LiveSim® account is a virtual account that allows you to continue sharpening your skills in a simulated environment while having the benefit of withdrawing your profit. Although no trades on the account are executed on a live exchange, the simulation is traded through a live data connection from Rithmic.
The prop firm offers this as an optional step for traders who don’t think they’re ready to jump into live trading. Think of it as a bridge between trading on a simulator and trading on a live account. Furthermore, it grants you advantages like faster setup time (you can start trading in just two business days after accepting the funding agreement) and a NinjaTrader® license from Earn2Trade.
This option suits traders who want to mitigate the stress of live trading but still make money if they perform well. As stated above, this is an optional step and not necessary if you want to start trading live immediately.
The Live Account
To really experience being a professional trader, you should pick the Live Account. In the Live Account, you will be trading on your preferred platform, with your orders being processed directly through a brokerage to the CME. The setup time is a bit longer (up to 10 days) because there is a necessity for registering with the brokerage. However, in the end you will be regarded by the CME as a professional trader and have the opportunity to trade with the prop firm on the live market through a real futures account at an FCM (Futures Commission Merchant).
After that, anytime you successfully hit the profit targets for your current account and withdraw your share of the profit, your account will automatically upgrade to the next level, following the scaling plan.
Drawdown Types
Closely following each account’s trailing, fixed, or EOD drawdown requirement is pivotal for making it to the top.
The trailing drawdown is tied to your highest live account balance, including both open and closed equity. If your profit grows by $10, so does your minimum account balance. This includes open equity, so it’s a good idea to use take-profit orders to mitigate heavy price swings.
The fixed drawdown is the account balance you shouldn’t go below. For example, the fixed drawdown for the $200,000 account is $194,000.
The EOD drawdown is based on your trading account’s end-of-day balance.
Gauntlet Mini™ vs. Trader Career Path ®
Considering the success of the Gauntlet Mini™ program, you are probably wondering how the Trader Career Path ® can outshine it.
The truth is that both programs are fundamentally similar and can help you become a professional trader with equal success. The main difference is in the way they can do it.
The Gauntlet Mini™ lets you start with an account size of your choice. Whether you want to go with the $50,000 or $200,000, you can apply directly for the plan that suits you best. However, this program doesn’t allow you to upgrade.
The Trader Career Path ® is a scaling plan that allows you to upgrade your account and withdraw your profits whenever you hit the goal. Furthermore, it introduces an even higher account tier for the most successful traders. You can work your way up to a Live Trading Account with $400,000 in starting capital. Besides, traders who manage to hit the $40,000 profit goal can withdraw $32,000 (the $40,000 profit goal – the prop firm’s 20%) and receive a custom offer. Thanks to this, the best traders have no limits and can discuss with the trading firm the possibilities of a customized, larger-size account with additional perks.
Funding Program Comparison
| Trader Career Path ® (evaluation) | Gauntlet Mini™(evaluation) | Funded LiveSim® | Funded Live | |
| Drawdown | EOD | EOD | EOD | Trailing |
| Fees | Monthly subscription | Monthly subscription | No subscription fee | No subscription fee |
| Markets | All four CME exchanges included in the price for non-professionals | All four CME exchanges included in the price for non-professionals | Non-professionals: A one-time per-account activation fee of $139.00 covering all four exchanges. Professionals: $135/month per exchange | $135 per month for each exchange |
| Assets | All CME futures contracts except for crypto futures | All CME futures contracts except for crypto futures | All CME futures contracts except for crypto futures | All CME futures contracts except for crypto futures |
Simply put, there is no clear winner in the Gauntlet Mini™ vs. Trader Career Path ® debate. Both programs have their respective advantages and are suitable for traders with different needs.
Thanks to this, we can give our users the best possible funded trader experience.
How to Withdraw Your Profits?
The withdrawal policy of Earn2Trade’s funded trader programs is as easy as it gets since there are virtually no restrictions after you get funded. For example, you won’t have to accumulate a certain amount of money, trade for a specific period of time, or place a certain number of trades before you can withdraw.
All withdrawal requests are processed once a week on Tuesdays. Your withdrawal request needs to be emailed to the prop trading firm no later than 2 p.m. CT on the prior Friday to ensure the withdrawal goes out the following Tuesday.
You can choose to withdraw via the following:
- Bank Wire
- Crypto withdrawal
These withdrawal methods are provided through a partnership with Rise, an international contract and payment management platform.
The prop firm charges $10.00 per withdrawal (pass-through fee to Rise), which is waived for withdrawals over $500.00.
Here is how it works in practice.
Once you are funded, you will be able to withdraw 80% of your profits. You don’t even have to wait to accumulate the full profit target – you can withdraw any amount over $100 (please note that on LiveSim® accounts, for the first withdrawal only, the trader needs at least $239 in profits to cover both the minimum withdrawal amount and the one-time setup fee).
In fact, with the Trader Career Path ® program, you are required to withdraw your profits each time you hit the profit target of your current account. Once you withdraw the entire profit, your account will be upgraded to a fresh one with more capital and an even more flexible drawdown requirement.
For example, the profit goal of the Live Trading Account ($50,000) is $3,000. Hitting it will ensure you can withdraw $2,400 (the $3,000 profit goal – the 20% share of the prop firm). You can handle the withdrawals either by cashing out the entire sum at once or over several transactions.
Your account will be automatically upgraded to the next tier once you withdraw the amount specified by the profit target.
Build Your Career as a Trader
The most successful traders of our time have one thing in common – they have gotten where they are thanks to their consistency and gradual improvement. Through continuous learning and progress, they have maintained a steady course in climbing the ladder of success.
We realize that the first steps in the trading world can be overwhelming. You don’t know where to start and what to prioritize. There is so much information and possibilities that the whole picture often seems too overwhelming.
The Trader Career Path ® helps you sort out the chaos by reflecting on your progress as a trader. The better and more experienced you become, the more sophisticated trading needs you will have. And the Trader Career Path ® gives you just that – a clear path towards trading professionally that backs you with more capital and better terms at each step of your journey.
Our new program sets no boundaries and puts you in control of your journey. It is all up to you to make the jump from a beginner to a pro and earn the opportunity to trade with a capital of up to $400,000.
