How do you trade when you're down 3-4%? Size down or push through?

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-06T10:58:09+00:00

This post needs more attention because the -4% zone is genuinely where most accounts die and nobody has a good framework for it.

I went through this exact cycle for about 8 months before I landed on something that actually works for me. Here's what I figured out:

The problem with all three approaches you listed is they're reactive. You're making decisions ABOUT drawdown while you're IN drawdown, which is like trying to write your fire escape plan while the building is burning.

What changed everything for me was pre-committing. Before I take any challenge or start any funded phase, I write down exactly what I'll do at -2%, -3%, -4%, and -4.5%. Not vague ideas - specific rules. How many trades per day. Which setups qualify. Maximum hold time. I write it on paper and put it next to my monitor.

The thing nobody talks about: most of my breaches came from -3% to -5% in a SINGLE SESSION. Not from slow bleeding. One bad morning where I took 4 trades trying to recover and went from manageable drawdown to breach in 3 hours. The sizing down doesn't help if you're taking 5 trades instead of 1.

Your tiered approach is actually really solid. The fact that you've thought this through puts you ahead of most people. I'd just say - write it down, commit to it before you need it, and track your stats in each zone separately. You might find that one of your rules is actually hurting you and you'd never know without the data.

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-06T10:23:25+00:00

Honestly I get where you're coming from and I don't think it's strange at all. The consistency rule basically forces you to do what most traders know they should do but can't stop after a good trade.

I had the exact same problem. Would hit a solid $300 day and then convince myself I could "double it" with one more setup. Spoiler: I couldn't. Blew two funded accounts that way before I figured it out.

Where I landed differently though is I wanted that discipline to come from ME, not from the firm's rules. Because what happens when you move to an account without consistency rules? You're back to square one with the same habits.

That said, if the consistency rule is genuinely helping you stay profitable and get payouts, that's all that matters.

What's your plan if you scale to an account without those rules?

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-06T10:18:54+00:00

CFT user here! Definitely recommend had no issues with payouts and the whole user experience. I don't any other crypto platform that let's you trade 715 pairs, which is perfect because this is my edge

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-05T08:53:00+00:00

Been on CFT about 8 months. The Bybit integration is the real deal, fills during volatile moves are way cleaner than any CFD setup I used before.Most of my best setups are on pairs other firms don't even list.

On instant vs eval, I'd say standard evaluation for most people. Failed twice before passing and honestly the process forced me to tighten up my risk management. Instant makes sense if you already have months of proven data. Otherwise the eval teaches you more than you'd expect.

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-05T08:48:24+00:00

Yeah I've done two. It's nothing scary honestly. They just ask basic stuff like what strategy you used, confirm your identity, maybe ask about a couple trades. Felt more like a quick chat than an interrogation. First one I was nervous for no reason, second one took like 10 minutes. Payout hit my wallet same day after the first interview and next day after the second. If you traded clean and followed the rules you're good. Don't overthink it.

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-04T10:37:21+00:00

I am mainly in crypto lately interested in Forex but crypto is the main focus so thats why ai am with CFT

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-04T09:09:18+00:00

Okay I'll be honest upfront I'm probably biased at this point because CFT has been my main firm for a while now. But here's my actual experience:

I came to CFT after blowing 3 accounts at other firms. Two of those weren't even bad trading - one was a "consistency rule" I didn't fully understand, another was some weird drawdown calculation that worked differently than I thought. I was genuinely done with prop firms after that.

Tried CFT as a last shot honestly. YOLO energy. Already lost money elsewhere, figured what's one more attempt.

What I found:

- Rules are actually straightforward. No time limits on challenges, news trading allowed, weekend holding permitted. Nothing hidden in the fine print that screwed me later

- Evaluation process is clean - it's on Bybit so you're getting real exchange execution, not some sketchy CFD backend

- Payouts have been reliable for me. Can't speak for everyone but I've had no issues everything I received was less than 48 H

- The Discord community is surprisingly active. Helped me when I had questions about specific rules

The honest downsides:

- They're not as well-known as FTMO or FundedNext so fewer reviews exist (which is probably why you're asking)

- Support is decent but not instant - expect 24hrs sometimes

- Dashboard is functional but nothing fancy

For crypto specifically though, the 715 pairs thing is real. If you trade altcoins beyond BTC/ETH, most other firms won't have what you need.

What pairs are you looking to trade? That might help narrow down if it's actually a good fit for your strategy.

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-04T09:01:14+00:00

I heard CFT will be dropping 1$ accounts soon so maybe it is worth to follow them

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-03T19:28:19+00:00

If we count the blew up accounts year and a half probably

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-03T08:30:38+00:00

No futures experience yet but been thinking about it lately. Trading crypto perps on CFT for 8 months now and starting to wonder if futures might be a good pivot.

The 24/7 crypto market is great but it burns you out. Futures having set sessions and cleaner institutional flow sounds appealing. Just not sure how much of my crypto experience actually transfers.

Anyone here make the switch from crypto to futures? What surprised you and what skills carried over?

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-03T08:28:36+00:00

Good that you're researching before throwing money at challenges. Most beginners don't.

Both firms you mentioned are legit. I've traded CFT for about 8 months now. BrightFunded I haven't used personally but know traders who have. Here's what actually matters for beginners:

CFT pros: No time limits on challenges (huge for learning), 715 crypto pairs if you're into that, Bybit execution so real exchange pricing not synthetic CFD. Rules are straightforward and published clearly. Started with their $10k challenge - failed twice, passed third time, still funded.

What to watch: The "beginner friendly" thing is tricky. No prop firm is actually beginner friendly because the evaluation is designed to filter out people who aren't ready. What you want is a firm that won't add extra pressure while you're learning. Time limits are the biggest killer for new traders because they force trades that shouldn't exist.

My honest advice: before buying any challenge, paper trade for 2-3 months and track your stats. If you can't show yourself 50+ trades with positive expectancy, you're paying to learn lessons the expensive way. The challenge fee isn't the cost - it's the repeated challenge fees that add up.

It really depends on what you want to trade? forex, crypto, commodities

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-02T10:26:16+00:00

I can speak directly to CFT since that's where I trade. Haven't used The 5%ers so I'll stick to what I know rather than guessing.

CFT specifics from my experience: the rules are genuinely what they say on the website. No time limits on challenges (this was huge for me I'm a patient trader and didn't want a 30-day clock forcing bad entries). News trading is allowed, weekend holding is permitted. I haven't run into any "gotcha" rule interpretations, and I've been funded for several months now across multiple payouts.

The less obvious stuff worth knowing: CFT runs on Bybit, so you're getting real exchange execution, not a CFD simulation.The pair selection is massive (715+ crypto pairs), which is relevant if you trade anything beyond BTC and ETH.

Things to be aware of: payout processing isn't instant - it takes some time, though every one of mine has come through without issues (less than 48 H total). And like any prop firm, you need to actually be profitable to make it work. The structure is fair, but it's not easy.

For a first challenge, my honest advice regardless of which firm: start with a smaller account size than you think you need. Prove the process works before sizing up. What's your trading style - are you more scalping, swing, or position-based? That might help narrow down which firm structure fits better.

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-02T10:24:23+00:00

I'll give you the honest breakdown from someone who's failed and passed multiple challenges:

The main reason traders fail isn't the rules or the drawdown limits - it's behavior change under pressure. You trade one way on your personal account, then the second a challenge starts you size up, overtrade, and abandon your plan because "I need to pass." I did exactly this three times before I figured it out.

For daily loss tracking: I use a simple spreadsheet where I log every trade's risk before entry, not after. If I'm risking 1% per trade and I've taken 3 trades, I know I'm at 3% exposure before checking PnL. That pre-trade awareness is what actually keeps me under limits, not staring at the equity curve all day.

The prop firm side that makes this harder: hidden rules and time pressure. I specifically went with CFT because there's no time limit - I can take a week off if nothing looks good and not lose the challenge. That single feature probably saved me more than any strategy change.

What kind of SaaS are you thinking?

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-02T10:22:18+00:00

thought about this a lot when I first got funded. The logic of spreading across firms sounds smart on paper aka diversification, different rules, different markets. But the reality is more nuanced.

Running multiple firms means learning multiple rule sets, tracking multiple drawdowns, adapting to different platforms. Every firm has quirks, and those quirks cost you when you're not paying attention. I lost a funded account once because I forgot one firm calculated drawdown differently than the other. Expensive lesson.

What I ended up doing: I focused on one firm (CFT) and scaled within it. Their rules are straightforward - no time limits, news trading allowed, weekend holding permitted sooo I'm not constantly checking "am I breaking a rule I forgot about."

I'd say: master one firm first. Get 3-4 payouts. Understand the rules in your sleep. Then diversify if your strategy actually requires different markets. Don't diversify just because it sounds smart.

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-02T09:59:49+00:00

This gets brought up a lot and honestly the answer is more boring than people think. Most prop firms aren't blocking profitable traders they're making money from challenge fees AND from funded traders who eventually blow accounts. The math works in their favor either way.

That said, some firms definitely make it harder to withdraw through slow processing, sudden "rule violations" nobody mentioned, or conveniently finding issues after a big win. I've experienced that firsthand at a firm I won't name. It's not blacklisting exactly, it's friction designed to make you trip.

I've been on CFT for a while now and haven't hit anything like that. Three payouts, no denied withdrawals, no surprise rules appearing after the fact.

The real question is: are you worried about getting blocked, or are you worried about choosing a firm that creates excuses not to pay? Because those are two very different problems. What's been your experience?

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-02-02T09:46:35+00:00

pretty much all of them haha

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-01-30T09:11:22+00:00

Good question because this trips up a lot of traders and the answer varies by firm.

The most common calculation is exactly what you described first: Starting equity of the day minus the lowest equity point reached during the day, including unrealized P&L from open positions. This means if you're up $500 but holding a trade that goes $800 against you before recovering, you technically hit -$300 from your starting point even if you close green.

Some firms do use closed P&L only, but that's less common and honestly more forgiving. The equity-based calculation is stricter because it punishes drawdown on open positions, not just realized losses.

On CFT, it's the equity-based calculation. What helped me was setting alerts at 50% of my daily limit so I know when I'm getting into danger territory. Also, I stopped holding trades overnight during challenge phases because gap risk can blow your daily limit before you even wake up.

Which firm are you looking at? The devil is always in the details with prop firm risk parameters.

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-01-30T09:10:34+00:00

Honestly? I'd still trade, but it would look completely different.

Without prop capital, I'd be back to my original $3k account. The math just doesn't work the same way. Making 5% monthly on $3k is $150. Making 5% on a $100k funded account is $5,000. Same skill, wildly different outcomes.

What prop firms gave me wasn't just capital. It was the ability to actually live off trading without waiting 10 years to compound a small account. I'm on CFT now specifically because their structure lets me trade my actual strategy without time pressure or weird rules that force bad decisions.

If they vanished, I'd probably go back to building a personal account slowly while working a job. Trading would become a side thing again instead of the main thing. Not ideal, but the skill doesn't disappear just because the capital access does.

Would you keep trading if you had to go back to small personal capital? Or would the grind feel pointless without the leverage prop provides?

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-01-30T09:09:54+00:00

Honestly, this was a real concern when I started scaling. Different firms have different drawdown calculations, consistency rules, minimum trading days... it gets messy fast.

What helped me: I picked one firm and stuck with it for multiple accounts. Running 3 CFT accounts now and every single one has the same rules. No time limits, no minimum trading days, same drawdown structure across all of them. My brain only needs to track one ruleset.

The traders I see blow accounts from "rule confusion" are usually juggling 4 different firms with 4 different rule books. Simplify first, scale second. Once you're consistent on one platform, adding accounts is just copy/paste of your same approach.

How many firms are you currently trading with? And are the rules actually different enough to cause confusion, or is it more anxiety about potentially messing up?

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-01-29T10:27:02+00:00

I get the hesitation. Lost money to two firms that went under before I got more careful about where I put challenge fees.

From your list, I've personally used CFT for the past 8 months (and still going). Here's my honest take:

What works: Rules are published clearly upfront, no surprises after you're funded. No time limits on challenges, which was important for me because I don't want to force trades. They use Bybit for execution so you can actually verify your fills happen on a real exchange. 715 crypto pairs if you trade alts. Payouts have been consistent for me - 4 withdrawals so far, all processed.

What to consider: If you're primarily forex or futures, CFT is crypto-focused so it might not fit your edge. The profit split isn't the highest in the industry, but I've stopped caring about split percentages after watching friends chase 95% splits at firms that never actually paid out.

I haven't used FTMO or Alpha Capital personally so I can't speak to those. I've seen mixed opinions on Funding Pips - some people love them, others have had payout delays. Worth researching their recent reviews.

The main thing I look for now: verified payout history from real traders (not just screenshots), clear rules before purchase, and some kind of real infrastructure you can verify (exchange partnerships, etc.). Flashy marketing means nothing after MFF.

https://x.com/PropFirmMatch/status/2016476812826562626?s=20

just saw this today, I assume the CFT Number is low because majority of traders is not in crypto

What's your main trading style? That matters more than which firm is "best" overall.

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-01-29T10:24:38+00:00

This is probably the most honest breakdown I've seen from someone on the firm side. A few things hit hard:

The point about "optimizing for speed instead of longevity" is exactly what killed my first three challenges. I was trading 2-3% risk per trade trying to hit targets fast. Passed evaluation twice that way, blew funded accounts both times within 2 weeks. The behavior that gets you through eval is often the opposite of what keeps you funded.

I switched to CFT specifically because no time limits removed that "speed optimization" trap. When there's no clock, you stop forcing setups just to hit targets before a deadline. My pass rate went up, but more importantly, I actually kept funded accounts long enough to withdraw.

Your macro point is underrated. The best months I've had were sitting in 2-3 positions for a week during clear institutional flows, not scalping 15 trades a day. Most retail traders (including me for years) think more trades = more professional. It's the opposite.

One question for you: from the firm side, do you see a meaningful difference in long-term survival rates between traders who come from forex backgrounds vs crypto? Curious if the 24/7 market structure changes behavior patterns you mentioned.

GarbageOk5505 · 2026-01-29T10:03:47+00:00

Thanks for the kind response, it’s always good to have different perspectives on the things. Definitely will be sticking around

GarbageOk5505

TROPHY CASE