Ftmo/topstep - due diligence

i am attempting to conduct a thorough "due diligence" investigation of the
ftmo.com and the topstep companies and their "pay to play a demo account"
business model.
if the result of this "due diligence", the result is found that ftmo and
topstep companies are found to be legit, then this will be a good thing
for those two companies and THEREFORE THESE TWO COMPANIES SHOULD REJOICE
THAT I AM DOING THIS, BUT IF THEY ARE FOUND TO BE NOT CREDIBLE... YOU GET
MY POINT..

i was temporarily suspended for being a bit pushy while i was conducting some
due diligence regarding this "pay to trade demo" company: http://ftmo.com
shortly after i made a request to learn if there were any established ftmo traders
that had already been long term users at forexfactory, very soon after that i
got temporarily suspended.

of course there might be "red badge" forexfactory users that claim to be ftmo
traders, but they could as easily be mouthpieces for ftmo..

for example, if ftmo is truly a legit company that really really does end up
funding traders, then there would be a few people from forexfactory that had
already been active and well known users that decided to go thru the ftmo
challenge, and i would find that to be somewhat credible evidence that the
ftmo system actually works and doesnt just charge fees to go thru a challenge
that nobody can successfully complete.

my suspicion is that the ftmo challenge is next to impossible and if you should
actually make it thru the challenge that you will find the restrictions that
are placed on you as a live trader to be even more disabling to you as a trader,
meaning that you will get kicked to the curb even tho you did make it thru the
challenge and was actually awarded a "live account".

i am fairly well seasoned and experienced in the trading procedures, etc, and
from what i read i am extremely suspicious that their "live account" isnt a
live account at all, but instead is just a bullshit terminal that isnt even
connected to any kind of banking pipeline and isnt even connected to live trading
at all..

edit: which brings up another issue... i seem to remember that topstep shows a registered
address in chicago, but ftmo is overseas somewhere, but either way if they are taking
on united states traders, arent they required to be registered as some kind of trading
house? if this is correct, then ftmo and topstep could get shut down and could face
civil and/or criminal penalties.

https://www.forexfactory.com/thread/707034-ftmocom-funding-for-serious-traders?page=301

>let me ask you this... out of all of the traders that are well established and
>long term users that you have seen around the forexfactory for years, traders
>that you have an established rapport with, how many of them have taken the
>challenge and ended up successfully trading a live account at ftmo?

i simply asked if there were any well established forexfactory users that had
decided to go thru the challenge and were awarded a live account, and as i said
above that my account was temporarily suspended.

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https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/specific_search/TOPSTEPTRADER

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https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/wwwtopsteptradercom/internet/wwwtopsteptradercom-mike-patak-aka-nebraska-they-make-you-pay-over-and-over-again-for-co-840089

this is a very bad review.. it says the same thing that i keep reading
in many places, like the review below from topedgefx.com that says that
it is IMPOSSIBLE TO TRADE PROFITABLY WITH THE RESTRICTIONS THAT THEY
PLACE UPON THEIR TRADERS.

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https://topedgefx.com/topstepfx-review-aka-topsteptrader-scam/

>However, if you look at TopstepFX conditions that must be met
>for one to “qualify for funding”, you realize that they are
>unrealistic and impossible to achieve. Even the smartest asset
>managers in the world cannot meet the standards that have been
>set by TopstepFX.

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https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/is-topstep-trader-legit-or-a-scam.330510/

by qubit000
>Searching for reviews and find very few from actual funded traders.
a post by "baron", the founder of elitetrader.com forum
>Topstep Trader has been sponsoring this forum for many years.
by simplelikeme
>They are not a scam. My friend and I was there for 6 months. Very good service.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06fUE5I9Yeo

Thanks jmoreno for documenting this.

Some companies unethical behavior is dangerous for newbies. This type of business is not legal in most countries and pursuit from finance regulatory entities.

jmoreno (https://www.forexfactory.com/jmoreno)

You get my BLOCK, for misleading content and false identity. 100%

It seems like there is no payout proof of this company. Maybe, it is no necessary if no one has ever passed the verification step. But some demanded to have been passed it several times. Anyway, no proof from their side. When asked for a proof, they reply with disrespectful messages. They have called me twat, retarded, etc.

Moreover, they use to visit other companies of the like threads discrediting their businesses. Makes me wonder if they are promoting FTMO and have never passed the verification step.

This type of practices corrupt this retail Forex world.

Don't know shit about topstep, i have seen their site and nothing they offer was of interest to me. FTMO i passed 4 times total (failed 1 verification) its much easier to trade when you are live if you regulate yourself.
If anything the gripe should be that their DD restrictions is not just on original balance so earning potential is significantly weaker.

Their CFD feeds are garbage but thats CFD's for you and their LP is pretty obvious to me and I don't like them. For FX their feed is great.

You are digging down a hole where you will never have any hard evidence. Just your moronic big letter and all caps posts which contain little information of value and are just there to distract newbies. What people do with their hard earned is none of your business and unless YOU have been through something with them that is documented evidence and proof of malpractice you should probably stop, because now you just look like a fucking idiot.

Note my post: I highlighted why you're an idiot but also why FTMO specifically are a bit crappy from my own personal experience. I provided more value in your thread than you have in your 100 ramblings about the company of FTMO.

Don't want to try them to gather evidence? Then don't, but you have nothing on them and at this point you are just slanderous.

Be more polite please!

as the millenials say.. EAD

I think this is brilliant. Absolutely no one should be anti due diligence into any business to prove honesty.

What is becoming more apparent now is as regularity authorities clamping down and reducing leverage squeezing retailers out, all in the name of safety for clients, these types of trade challenges nicely takes the place of retail traders keeping them still involved. I don't say this in a positive way.
That is, a couple hundred dollars gets you back trading when the odds are vastly stacked against you.

With reduced leverage (like IC Markets will introduce this week) requires 100k deposit requirements. Trade challenges only cost 250USD etc.

All part of the big picture planned several years ago I think.

https://www.forexfactory.com/thread/post/13464102#post13464102

Moreno & Paul


still not enough for you?

You are kidding! Do you really think this is a proof?

First, accounts start at $40,000. Well, who knows as rules change all time. Your probably fake user says that the account is 10k.

Second, I can fabricate proofs of that type easily. Do you want to see it? What about a proof of FTMO saying you are part of the team?

Accounts audited! Regulation authority approval! Trading results of the "prop-firm" audited! With those super talented traders all of you are that firm would be having the best results in the world. Who doesn't want to prove all these? It would increase the number of customers considerably. No, nothing to prove, better concentrate efforts on hunting inexperienced traders.

Lol You're a clown Paul.
You can barely read and comprehend the information on the FTMO website, yet here you are demanding Audit reports like you would understand a single thing in it.

The Lowest account size offered by FTMO across the available currencies is 10,000. It's been that way for the longest. If you don't even know something as basic as that, you're just a sad little troll. A blind man without hands would do better due diligence than yourself Paul.

And these are the FTMO traders...

Disrespectful all time.

You know pretty well they have changed the rules several times.

Thanks jmoreno for your veteran contribution.

Anyone knows about Czech Republic NFA equivalent? Any regulation entity there?
I would like to contact them to report this business and get some information.

With all honesty this could be fake proof... the poster has 4 posts...
Noticed how come so many of the posters are new members?

Not saying that some of these companies are not honest, but definitely some what they are asking is not an easy task if you put the numbers down...

A number I would like to know is how many of the traders that start trading are there after 3 months?

In proof terms no one. As someone suggested because of an FTMO answer only 6% pass the first month, so you can guess 3 months later...

Their business is the participation fees. No one ask for a participation fee when he is looking for trading talent. It's a fraud.

Totally agree with you. That could very well be fake. But there are a number of other such proofs provided by long time FF members/users on the thread and in the journals section. Are we going to discredit all of them in addition to those from some traders with YouTube channels?

What kind of proof would be Enough then?

with only respect, i have asked who the long term forexfactory users are also profitable ftmo traders, they tell me that i must be too lazy to sort thru the forum to find them..

it would be so easy to just say that wankytrader and bobbybobbobby and loopyforex are ftmo traders and have also been forexfactory users for years before signing on with ftmo.

with all due respect, of course.

Moreno, i'm going to assume you're not trolling as usual so we can have a meaningful conversation.

First off, come on man, how do you expect every or any one to memorize the names of FF members who have posted screenshots of their payments in the past? How is that even possible.

I recommended an easy way to find them by clicking on the attachment icon (beside the subscribe icon on every thread) on the FTMO thread. It will reveal all the pictures posted in the thread since it's inception. Numerous pictures of successful challenges, verifications and profit split payouts. All you have to do is just look through them one after the other for what you want. You don't expect me or anyone else to go through that task on your behalf, do you?

Secondly, it's alright to be a bit cynical or suspicious, but without an open mind to the possibility of this thing being legit, you will never allow yourself see the truth.
I gave you two names i could remember because they show up once in a while, Karmostaji and Nikosko... Karmostaji shared his screenshot again, you discredited it and called it fake...
You think any one would want to continue down that rabbit hole with you?

You don't think that if they've been in business for over 3 years, ONE person wouldn't have called them out by now for not paying him/her their share?

Freefox & Akamrp (active members) both have threads titled "my prop journey" or something.... there should be a pay out proof there from multiple prop firms, i can't remember for sure.
There's a trader from my country named Jeffery benson who showed his first payout on youtube.
There's blake olsen of VVS academy who showed his 19k payout out months ago (he also criticizes FTMO occasionally when they misbehave).


KEEP AN OPEN MIND.




As for paul lol, Eat sh*t.

Koop you're wasting your time.

The thing about forexfactory is the loudest critics are always the ones who aren't making any money. Its always been like that and the nature of discussion is lost on them. Just by Jmoreno's writings you can tell that either you have to agree with him or you are wrong and a shill. He doesn't want to discuss anything, what he is looking for is some sort of cult like following of naysayers. Eventually he will move them to a separate website and charge them $45 a month to be a member.

These types have come and gone from FF over the years, its always the same stupidass story. Just call him a dick and move on.