Same $50,000, same 10%, same trades. We ran FTMO’s 1-Step and 2-Step rules, plus Topstep’s 50K limit, over three months of real EURUSD moves; of the two FTMO accounts, the one that failed was the one in profit.
- FTMO’s 1-Step Maximum Loss trails: it is recalculated at 00:00 CE(S)T, 10% under the highest end-of-day balance or the initial capital, whichever is higher, and can only go up.
- FTMO’s 2-Step Maximum Loss is static: 10% of initial capital, so a $50,000 account fails when equity drops below $45,000.
- Topstep’s 50K Maximum Loss Limit is $2,000, trails the end-of-day balance and locks once it reaches the starting level. Topstep itself is futures-only.
- On our EURUSD run the trailing account failed on 23 September at +$380; on 8 October the static one was still open at −$4,120.
A 2-lot EURUSD long on a $50,000 FTMO 1-Step account from 23 June 2026 would have failed on 23 September at $50,380, still $380 in profit. Trailing drawdown is a maximum loss limit that moves up with your highest end-of-day balance and never moves down: on FTMO’s version it sits 10% under that high, and on Topstep’s 50K it sits $2,000 under it until it locks at the starting balance. You open the dashboard and see an account still above its start next to a failed Maximum Loss objective.
The same trades on FTMO’s other account, with the same 10% but a static line, were still running 15 days later, $4,120 down. Which of the two rules did more for the trader?
Trailing drawdown vs static: which one ends the account first?
The trailing one, when both start at the same distance and the account makes money before it gives some back. A static line stays where it was on day one; a trailing line follows your best close.
We took the ECB euro reference rate for every business day from 23 June to 8 October 2026. The model trader is long 2 lots of EURUSD, which is $20 a pip, and closes and reopens at each daily rate, so every day’s result is realised. Then we laid three rules over the same series of closes and also checked FTMO’s daily loss limits, 3% on the 1-Step and 5% on the 2-Step:
The best close came on 21 August, at +$6,140. On the trailing account it moved the floor to $51,140, which is $1,140 above the starting capital. From there the market took the position down for a month, and on 23 September the account ended the day at $50,380, under the floor while still in profit. The worst single day before that was −$1,120 on 17 September, inside the $1,500 daily limit, so it was the trail that ended the account.
On the static account nothing moved. The floor stayed at $45,000 through the whole slide. The lowest close was $45,700 on 7 October, and on 8 October the account was still open.
Have you checked where your floor sits after your best day, or only how much you’re up?
What is EOD trailing drawdown?
It’s a trailing limit that is reset only at the daily close, so a profit you’re holding at 3 p.m. doesn’t move it. FTMO’s 1-Step and Topstep’s Maximum Loss Limit both work this way. Topstep’s help centre describes the rule in one line:
“It rises as your end-of-day balance grows, but never moves down.”
Topstep Help Center, “What is the Maximum Loss Limit?”, checked October 2026
The floor is set at the close, but the breach is checked on equity during the day. FTMO measures that limit against equity, which it defines as balance plus open P/L, plus or minus swaps, minus commissions. A trade can close green and still break the line at its low before the close.
Our model uses one ECB rate a day, taken at 14:15 Frankfurt time, so it can’t see those intraday lows. A real account on the same path would have failed on the dates in the chart or earlier, never later. The same goes for intraday trailing rules, where the floor also follows open profit: they move up faster than an end-of-day trail, never slower.
How much room is left after a winning run?
Take your highest end-of-day balance, or the starting one if that’s higher, and subtract the trailing amount. If your firm locks the trail at the starting balance, cap it there. Your room is today’s balance minus that number.
Here’s what the three rules left on our run at two points where the account had come back from a high:
| Rule | Room at start | 28 Jul: after +$1,500 close, down to $49,500 | 23 Sep: after +$6,140 close, down to $50,380 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topstep 50K rule: $2,000 trail, locks at start | $2,000 | none, floor reached | failed earlier |
| FTMO 1-Step: 10% trail | $5,000 | $3,000 | none, $760 under the floor |
| FTMO 2-Step: 10% static | $5,000 | $4,500 | $5,380 |
Source: Topstep Help Center; FTMO x OANDA trading objectives; ECB reference rates; calculation by VipTools.
You probably counted your room from the $50,000 you started with; on FTMO’s trailing account on 23 September it had to be counted from $56,140.
The trailing rule stopped the account $5,760 below its best close. The static rule let it fall $10,440 from that close, to $45,700 on 7 October, and kept it open. One ended the challenge with $380 of profit still on the account; the other kept the challenge alive and let the trader lose all of the profit and $4,300 of the starting capital.
Does a trailing limit punish day traders or swing traders?
On an end-of-day trail, the trader who closes every day. Our model trader banks each session, so every new high close lifts the floor with it. On FTMO’s 1-Step the trail follows the balance, not open profit, so a swing trader holding the same move unrealised leaves the floor where it was until the position is closed. The breach is still checked on equity, so a position that’s underwater still counts against the line either way.
Our position: if your style regularly gives back half of a run before the next high, take the static product and manage the give-back with your own exits. On the trailing product every new high close raises the line you must stay above, and after a strong run the room is still only 10%, measured from the top.
The steps are uneven on real prices. Between 23 June and 21 August the closes moved FTMO’s floor up by $6,140, and more than two-thirds of that, $4,280, came in the last three weeks of the run.
FTMO’s trail has no lock. FTMO’s text says the limit can only increase, and it is based on the highest end-of-day balance or the initial capital, whichever is higher. Topstep’s lock does not exist there. Source: FTMO x OANDA trading objectives page, October 2026.
Before you size the next trade on a trailing account:
- Write down today’s floor, not the starting one.
- Put the gap between balance and floor into the lot size calculator as your risk budget and split it over the trades you plan.
- If one stop would use more than half that gap, cut the size or skip the trade.
What is trailing drawdown in a prop firm?
It’s the firm’s drawdown rule written so that the limit follows your best result instead of staying where it started. FTMO uses a 10% end-of-day trail on the 1-Step and a static 10% on the 2-Step; Topstep uses $2,000 on its 50K Combine and stops trailing at the starting balance.
We couldn’t measure the most common question in this topic: how many accounts each rule ends. Neither firm publishes it.
On the chart the red line stops at $51,140 on 23 September, the day the account closed $760 under it, at $50,380.
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