Funded Trader Markets (FTM), Measured Directly | Martingale Officially Allowed and Among the Cheapest Per-Dollar-of-Drawdown, But No Track Record to Back It Up

Note: This article is based on direct measurements from the official site, purchase configurator, and official help center on September 23, 2026. Not investment advice. Rules and prices are updated frequently, so always check the official site before buying.

Funded Trader Markets (FTM for short) is a Dubai-based prop firm that made its first payout in August 2024. This site had it listed on the comparison table but hadn't entered price data for it, because the September promo made the list price impossible to see.

This time, I was able to pull list prices for 5 programs across every size from the official purchase configurator, so it's now properly listed.

And laying out the numbers, it turns out the fee per unit of loss allowance is among the cheapest of any firm on this site. But the reasons not to recommend it outright are just as clear.

Conclusion: The Answer Up Front

The good

• Martingale and layering are officially allowed within a single account. Of the 20+ firms listed on this site, the only ones that explicitly allow it by name are Fintokei, FundedHive, and FTM
• EAs are explicitly stated to be "allowed on all accounts and all phases." There's also no contractual requirement to submit source code
• The fee per $1,000 of loss allowance is among the cheapest. $99.8 on 2 Step Plus (vs. $133 for Breakout Classic, $145 for MyFundedPerps Signature)
• 2 Step Plus has no consistency rule at either the evaluation or funded stage. Target ÷ max DD is also a lenient 1.30
• News trading allowed, weekend holding allowed, no deadline, swap-free on every account
• The site is localized into Japanese, and there's a Japanese-speaking staff member

The bad

• Trustpilot's rating is suspended. Fake reviews were removed for "violating guidelines"
• 2 Step Plus and Instant Plus come with the "Shield Risk Protocol." The moment floating loss exceeds 1% of the balance, all positions are auto-closed and the profit split drops 50% → 40% → 30% → 20% (permanent on the 4th). It is also the condition for keeping the base 70% split, so it always applies on funded accounts, and if you take the free 90% add-on it applies during evaluation too, with the 2nd violation failing the account. In practice it doesn't work with methods whose stop is wider than 1% of the balance, or with averaging-down/martingale that carries floating loss. On the site operator's own account, an EA with a 2.5% stop got its first violation during evaluation, and we pulled out
• IP/VPN restrictions are among the strictest in the industry. VPN/VPS is banned at purchase, at KYC, and on the dashboard, and your trading IP can't overlap with another user's. A violation means a ban with no refund
• The site contradicts itself. "Up to 100% profit" vs. "Up to 90%," "up to $800,000" vs. a combined cap of $1M, and advertising for "Nitro X," which isn't actually sold
• The promo's stated deadline doesn't work. It still says "until 15TH SEP," yet the promo was still active on September 23

1. Pricing (Measured at the Official Configurator, September 23, 2026)

These are all list prices. The figures in parentheses are after the SEP promo.

1 Step Nitro (Target 10% / Max DD 6% / Daily 4%)

"Up to 75% off" only applies at $50K and below. $100K and above is 60% off. Only $300K has a 3% daily DD; every other size is 4%.

2 Step Plus (Target 8%→5% / Max DD 10% / Daily 4%)

There's no $300K (the ceiling for the two-step is $200K).

Warning: floating loss is capped at 1% of the balance (Shield Risk Protocol). Go over 1% and all positions are auto-closed and the split drops 50% → 40% → 30% → 20%. It is part of the condition for keeping the base 70% split, so it always applies on funded accounts. If you add the free "90% split" add-on at purchase, it applies during evaluation too, and the 2nd violation fails the account. On $100K the cap is $1,000 of floating loss, so it doesn't suit methods that can't keep each trade's stop inside 1% of the balance.

Instant (No Evaluation, Capped at $100K)

Daily DD is 3% on all three. The split is "Up to 80%" on Standard and Pro, while Plus alone is fixed at 80%. A floating-loss limit exists only on Plus.

2. Cheapest by Container Unit Price

Here's the ranking by the metric this site always uses — "fee per $1,000 of loss allowance" ($100K, list price).

Here's how it stacks up against other firms (all at $100K, list price).

FTM 2 Step Plus          $99.8  ← cheapest
FTM 1 Step Nitro        $103.7
Breakout Prop Classic   $133.3
MyFundedPerps Signature $145.0
FTM Instant Pro         $200.0  ← most expensive

2 Step Plus has both the cheapest unit price and a target ÷ max DD of 1.30, putting it near the top for how easy it is to pass (Fintokei's ProTrader is 1.40, The5ers' High Stakes Classic is 1.63). And on top of that, it has no consistency rule at either the evaluation or funded stage.

Looking at the numbers alone, FTM's 2 Step Plus is a pretty good container.

Don't Buy Instant Pro

The 3% max DD is the exact same number as the 3% daily DD. In other words, you can burn through the entire max DD in a single day — it's effectively only "one day's worth of allowance." This is exactly the same structure as Breakout Prop's Turbo.

On top of that, its unit price of $200.0 is double that of the firm's own 2 Step Plus. Standard (DD5%, $723) costs only $123 more but has a 67% wider allowance, so if you're buying Instant, go with Standard or Plus.

3. Martingale Is Officially Allowed

This is FTM's biggest distinguishing feature. Here's the exact wording from the official help center:

Yes, martingale and layering strategies are allowed within a single account.

The condition is "within a single account." If you're deploying the same method across multiple accounts, you need to either:

• Open the same currency pair within 5 minutes, or
• Fully close the earlier position before opening the next

Anything opened separately past the 5-minute mark counts as "prohibited sequential trading" and is excluded from payouts, and during the evaluation phase, if that profit exceeds 20% of total profit, you have to retake the challenge. If you open and close simultaneously across all accounts using the official trade copier, this restriction doesn't apply.

Not many firms explicitly allow martingale by name. Within what this site covers, it's just 3: Fintokei (unbanned on July 28, 2025), FundedHive, and FTM. FTMO and FundingPips don't name it in their prohibited lists, but it's effectively banned under their "significantly oversized position" clauses.

4. EAs and Copy Trading Are Also Broadly Allowed

At Funded Trader Markets, we permit the use of Trading Bots across all accounts and phases, though certain types of bots are restricted.

Allowed on every account and every phase. The following 7 types are banned:

• HFT bots
• News scalping bots
• Bots that exploit demo server quirks
• Bots for multi-account reversal
• Arbitrage bots (reverse / latency)
• Tick scalping bots
• Emulators

If flagged, the account gets suspended or banned, with no refund.

What's even more unusual is how it treats copy trading — it states that you can copy from an evaluation account or retail account at another firm, as long as it's "your own trading." Other firms typically restrict this to your own accounts within their own system, so this is a fairly loose approach.

But there are 2 catches.

• Commercial EAs are not allowed. The terms of service contain a clause banning "third-party, commercial, or strategies sold specifically to pass the challenge"
• Closing under 1 minute voids profit at the funded stage. Even during the evaluation, if "trades under 1 minute exceed 20% of total profit," you have to retake the challenge

5. IP/VPN Restrictions Are Unusually Strict

This is the biggest practical reason it's hard to recommend FTM.

• VPN/VPS is banned at purchase and at KYC
• VPN/VPS access to the dashboard is also not allowed
• Your trading IP must not overlap with another user's
• MT5 and cTrader are completely banned for trading from US IPs (including via VPN/VPS)

A violation results in "payout denial, account restriction, or a full ban," and there's no refund.

Opening the purchase page displays your own source IP address right on screen, which shows they're actually monitoring this.

This clause doesn't sit well with running an EA 24/7 on a VPS. There's a non-zero chance your VPS's IP overlaps with another user's, and the moment it does, it's a rules violation. It's an inconsistent setup — martingale and EAs are both allowed, yet the unattended environment you'd run them in is the thing getting clamped down on.

6. There's No Track Record to Back It Up

Trustpilot's Rating Is Suspended

As of September 2026, FTM's Trustpilot page is "rating suspended for violating guidelines." Trustpilot explicitly states it removed fake reviews. Before the suspension, the data showed 414 reviews with 26% at 1 star.

This site has confirmed the same state at other firms too (FundedElite, Alpha Capital, E8 Markets, AquaFunded, FunderPro, and others). It's not unusual industry-wide, but for a newer firm with a short track record, this weighs heavily since there's nothing else to judge by.

The Corporate Structure Is Split Across 3 Entities

The terms state: "The contracting entity is determined at registration, and settlement is handled by the relevant group company." In other words, you don't know which entity you've contracted with until you actually register.

On top of that, Cyprus is on the firm's own list of restricted countries — meaning it has a Cyprus entity but doesn't serve Cyprus residents.

The restricted countries are Cuba, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, North Korea, Russia, and Cyprus. Japan is not on the list.

7. Contradictions Within the Site

Here are the inconsistencies noticed while measuring.

None of these are fatal, but trusting the official wording when doing your own math will give you the wrong numbers. If you're going to buy, always judge by the numbers actually shown on the purchase screen.

8. Who Is This For

Good fit

• Someone who wants to run a martingale or averaging-down EA. It's one of the few options that officially allows it (though on 2 Step Plus and Instant Plus, floating loss is auto-closed at 1%, so you can't build deep averaging-down)
• Someone who prioritizes the unit price above all. 2 Step Plus's $99.8 per thousand dollars is among the cheapest of any firm listed
• Someone who wants to avoid a consistency rule (2 Step Plus has none, at either stage)

Poor fit

• Someone whose stop is wider than 1% of the balance. You'll hit the Shield (1% floating loss) on 2 Step Plus and Instant Plus, which means a lower split, or failing on the 2nd violation with the 90% add-on
• Someone who wants to run unattended on a VPS. The IP-overlap ban and VPN/VPS restrictions collide head-on with this
• Someone who chooses by track record. Trustpilot is suspended, and there's nothing else to judge by
• Someone who wants to run a commercial EA (banned by the terms)

Summary

The container's numbers are good. There's no track record behind it. That's the whole story in 2 lines.

2 Step Plus ranks near the top on unit price, target ÷ DD, and consistency rule, and it has a feature no other firm offers — martingale allowed. If Trustpilot were still active and the IP restrictions were normal, this would have made this site's recommended lineup.

As it stands, there's no way to verify this other than trying a small size yourself and confirming whether a payout actually goes through. A $5K 2 Step Plus is $100 at list price, $25 with the promo. There's no reason to jump straight to buying $100K.

FAQ

Q. Can I use this from Japan?

Japan is not on the restricted-country list. The site is localized into Japanese (it auto-redirects to /ja). There's also a Japanese-speaking staff member, and this site itself has been contacted in Japanese via X. Whether the help center articles are localized into Japanese hasn't been confirmed.

Q. How long does the promo run?

The site displays "15TH SEP," but it was still applied as of September 23, 2026. There's no way to tell whether this is a permanent discount or something that just wasn't updated, so I'd recommend comparing on list price.

Q. Which plan is the best?

2 Step Plus, if you can keep your stop inside 1% of the balance. It has the cheapest unit price, no consistency rule, and a lenient 1.30 target ÷ max DD. But floating loss over 1% of the balance means a full close plus a split cut (Shield Risk Protocol), so it doesn't suit wide-stop methods. Conversely, avoid Instant Pro (max DD 3% = daily 3%, effectively just one day's worth of allowance, and a $200 unit price).

Q. Can I use a VPS?

Using a VPS for the actual trading itself isn't banned, but VPN/VPS use at purchase, at KYC, and for dashboard access is banned, and your trading IP overlapping with another user's is also banned. A shared VPS carries the risk of IP overlap, so a dedicated IP is effectively a prerequisite.

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