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Topstep Trader Review

Earn A Funded Trading Account. Prove Yourself As A Trader To Start Trading With Topstep trader Money.

 

Topstep logo

You love trading futures but you don’t have enough capital to secure a big payday? Well, Topstep Trader is telling you not to worry. This platform promise they will fund your trading account for you so that you can put your futures trading skill into good use.

 Sounds like a dream-come-true, yeah?

Well, over the years, hundreds of futures trading websites have come and gone with different promises. For instance, some websites promise you can easily copy other futures expert trades and make serious money just by following their trading styles and actions. While this may have worked for some people, others lost a huge amount of money on futures trading.

You’ve made an excellent decision to read this honest and unbiased review of TopStepTrader. This way, you will know everything about this platform before you invest your time, skill, and money on the platform so that there will be no surprises. You will also learn how the platform works and whether they are a legit or another scam trading platform. Overall, you will find this article very interesting. Make sure you read until the end.

 

  • Name: Topstep Trader
  • Type:  Furture trading
  • Founded: 2012
  • Founder: Michael Patak
  • Website: https://www.topstep.com/
  • Price: $165 to $375 subscription fee (Special offer from $49~149, Limited time only)

Topstep

What is Topstep Trader?

Topstep Trader is a trading platform that claims they fund traders with a consistent and high-performing trading skill. The platform recruits traders by evaluating their performance in real-time simulated accounts.

The company was founded in 2012 and has since been included on the Inc. 5000 list of American’s fastest-growing private companies for 3 straight years. The company also claimed that they have been named a “Top 40 Global Proprietary Trading Firm” by Futures Magazine. In recent years, TopStepTrader has grown in popularity. They have also expanded in the number of countries that use their platform. TopstepTrader is actually listed on the INC500 website as one of the fastest-growing companies in America.

When it comes to the users’ experience, there are divergent opinions. Below, we will take a detailed look at the operations of TopStepTrader and then give you our verdict at the end.

 

Who is Behind Topstep Trader?

TopstepTrader was founded in 2012 by Michael Patak. He described himself as a successful floor trader at the Chicago Board of Trade. According to him, at the start of his trading career, he blew through three retail brokerage accounts before learning the keys to consistent profitability by participating in a simulated trading evaluation. Michael also stated that his experience of losing $90,000 is part of the reason why he started his platform – TopStepTrader.

 

How Does Topstep Trader Works?

This is where it gets very interesting. TopstepTrader modus operandi is a bit different from the regular ones. With a regular futures trading platform, you will need to fund your account with a certain amount of capital you are comfortable with.

However, with TopstepTrader, the platform funds your account after you’ve proven your trading skill and agreed on the profit-sharing formula proposed by the company.

To get started on this platform, you will need to sign up. You will get a practice account with a $150,000 fund for demo trading. This account is free and valid for 14 days. After this period, you can then upgrade by taking a monthly subscription which comes with a minimum fee of $150 and goes up to $375 depending on the type of trading account you choose. Once you become a paid member and meet other criteria, you will be qualified to enter what they call “TopStepTrader’s Trading Combine”.

Topstep Trader’s Trading Combine is a pool where your trades and performance are observed, monitored, and evaluated in real-time. Only futures are tradable at this stage. However, you will have full access to trade all kinds of CME Group products like the ES (E-mini S&P 500), NQ (E-mini NASDAQ 100) and CL (Oil).

To become Topstep Trader funded trader, you will need to pass their 2-step authentication. Step 1 involves trading at least 5 days without breaching their rules. These 5 days don’t have to be in a row. You also need to meet the profit target of your chosen Trading Combine account. After satisfying step 1, you will get an email from TopStepTrader to inform you that step 2 is active and your account is being reviewed. Passing step 2 takes more time and effort. However, if you eventually passed, you will become a funded trader.

When you become a funded trader, you get money from the platform to trade. Under their rule, you can keep the first $5000 of your profits and then 80% of your future profits. This stage is amazing because you will be trading with huge capital provided by TopStepTrader.

 

According to Topstep Trader, they funded 1764 accounts in 2019. The fastest number of days from signup to getting funded in 2019 was 15 days. About 147 accounts on average were funded per month in 2019 from users in 161 countries.

 

Cost and Fees of Using TopstepTrader

Some of the cost and fees that are involved with trading on this platform include:

  • Monthly subscription: $165 up to $375 (Depending on the account you choose, Special offer from $49~149, Limited time only)
  • Combine Reset (You only pay this fee when you blow your Combine account and needs a reset): $100
  • Data Fees: Starts at $69 to $105
  •  Commissions: $3.70


Topstep’s One Rule

Surpassing the Maximum Loss Limit (MLL) of your account will lead to a violation of the rules, making your account ineligible for funding. No other actions will result in a rule violation. The MLL is a Trailing Account Loss Limit that gets updated at the close of each trading day, but it can be activated during the trading day. It’s always advisable to keep this limit in mind.

To successfully complete the Trading Combine by Topstep, you are required to achieve three objectives without violating the One rule: the Maximum Loss Limit.

Topstep encourage disciplined traders to adhere to the following non-rule violating objectives:

1) Profit Target: This objective is fulfilled when your account balance exceeds the Profit Target at the close of a trading day.

2) Consistency Target: This target, set at 50% of your Profit Target, restricts you from earning more than half of your Profit Target in a single day. For instance, if your Profit Target is $6,000, your daily earnings should not exceed $3,000. Earning more than this will not result in a rule violation, but it will proportionally increase your profit.

3) Daily Loss Limit: This limit is account-specific. If you exceed this limit within a trading day, your account will be suspended for the rest of the day, but it will not constitute a rule violation.

 

 

Pros of Topstep Trader

1) Free Trial Available

If you are not comfortable subscribing out rightly, you have 14 days to use the platform free. However, not all the features will be available to you during this period. You will need to upgrade to be able to qualify to be evaluated for becoming a funded trader on the platform.

2) Free Performance Coaching

A performance coach from the company will take a look at your account and give you tips on ways you can improve your trading.

3) No Credit Card Required for Registration

You can use the free registration and free trial to check out how the platform works.

4) Trade with Huge Capital from TopStepTrader

You can get up to $150,000 to trade on this platform and keep up to 80% of your profit. This is a great way to make a lot of money if you have excellent forex-trading skills.

 

Cons of Topstep Trader

1) High Membership Costs

Whether you get funded or not, you will need to pay your monthly subscription fee every month. The membership costs are really high and you can pay them for months without getting funded.

2) Unlikely to Get Funded

TopStepTrader has a very strict approval process, you might not get approved to become funded traders.

 

Alternatives to Topstep Trader platforms

If you are looking for other platforms that work like TopStepTrader, you might want to check a website such as:

  • NinjaTrader
  •  T4
  • Jigsaw
  • Sierra Chart
  • Trade Navigator
  • MotiveWave

 

Conclusion

Topstep Trader is 100% legit. However, this platform is not for new or inexperienced traders. The platform is transparent and legit. However, more information is required for all the costs involved with using the platform. If you are a new trader, we recommend learning and mastering futures trading on other platforms. Take your time to create a trading strategy and then bring your winning strategy to TopStepTrader. This way, you can take advantage of their huge capital to make money with your trading skills.

 

Topstep pricing