Frequently asked questions.

The Live Funded Futures phase operates under a different rule set from Phases 1–4. In the Live Funded phase, the maximum loss is capped at 50% of your starting balance, there are no fixed profit targets, consistency rules, or maximum time limits, and traders are eligible to keep 90% of profits. You must also place at least one executed trade every 7 calendar days to retain the account. Because the account is live, traders may also experience real-market conditions such as slippage, partial fills, and varying liquidity.

You must complete the CME market data attestation using the R | Trader Pro desktop application. This cannot be completed through mobile or web platforms. Once the attestation is completed in R | Trader Pro, you may then be able to log in and trade through supported mobile or web apps. Traders must attest as non-professional users; professional status is not accepted for this program.

The Futures program does not prohibit trading during news events, but traders should use heightened caution. News events can create increased volatility, reduced liquidity, slippage, and fast market conditions. Traders are responsible for staying informed of scheduled economic releases and managing positions accordingly.

Prohibited trading includes strategies or behaviour that exploit pricing errors, latency, non-public information, front-running, arbitrage, regulatory issues, third-party passing strategies, or activity that jeopardizes the relationship with liquidity providers or exchanges. Futures traders must also comply with applicable CME Group rules. The company may terminate participation, deny funded account access, or take other action if trading activity is determined to be prohibited. Always review the full Terms & Conditions before trading.

Futures commissions vary by product and are charged per side. Examples include ES and NQ at $2.18 per side, MES and MNQ at $0.71 per side, CL at $2.30 per side, MCL at $0.86 per side, GC at $2.40 per side, MGC at $0.86 per side, and other futures products according to the applicable commission schedule. Traders should always review the current commission schedule before trading.

During holiday trading hours, auto-liquidation may not occur at the half-time market close. Traders are responsible for monitoring holiday and shortened-session market hours and closing positions as required. Failure to close positions before the relevant market close may result in account loss, whether the account is Funded Futures or Live Futures.

During regular trading days, Futures positions will be closed for you at 15:10 CST. Trades cannot be held over weekends.

Futures trades can generally be placed starting at 17:00 CST at the Globex open and can be held until the 15:10 CST session close.

Yes. Traders must trade the active front-month contract for each product because it has the highest liquidity and open interest. Trading out-month contracts is prohibited and may result in account loss. Traders should confirm the active front-month contract before trading.

Eligible Futures products may include major equity index futures, currency futures, energy futures, metals, agricultural futures, and selected micro contracts. Examples include ES, MES, NQ, MNQ, YM, MYM, RTY, M2K, 6E, 6B, 6J, 6C, 6S, 6A, CL, MCL, NG, HO, RB, GC, MGC, SI, SIL, PL, HG, ZC, ZS, ZM, ZL, ZW, MBT, and MET, subject to current provider rules and availability.

You may have one active Funded Futures account per starting tier size at a time. The available tiers are $25K, $50K, $100K, and $150K. This means the maximum number of active accounts is four, one of each size, with a combined starting balance not exceeding $325,000.

When you purchase a Funded Futures plan, you receive credentials for access to a Rithmic R | Trader account. R | Trader Pro is available as a Windows desktop application. To use Rithmic web or mobile platforms, you must first complete the market data attestation through R | Trader Pro. Rithmic credentials may also connect to compatible third-party platforms such as Quantower, MotiveWave, Bookmap, and others. Technical support for R | Trader, Rithmic, or third-party platforms should be handled by the respective technology provider.

Once you achieve the profit target for your current Futures phase and meet the consistency requirements, you may be eligible to request that phase’s payout. The payout must be completed before the account is upgraded to the next phase.

If you have gains in your Live Funded Futures account at the time of a breach, you will still receive your portion of those gains, subject to the applicable terms and withdrawal conditions.

Yes. The number of contracts you can hold at one time is limited by your account size and exchange margin requirements for each product. Your account balance must be sufficient to cover the required margin for open positions.

During simulated phases, trades are executed against liquidity provided by the trading platform and are designed to closely mimic real-market pricing and execution. Once you receive a live funded account, pricing and execution come directly from the exchange or applicable market venue.

No. Market pricing and trade executions are provided by third parties and are not changed or modified by KickStart Trading. Transaction costs, spreads, commissions, and market execution conditions are established by the applicable provider, liquidity provider, or exchange.

If you do not pass the KYC process, your account may be closed. For Instant Funding, if KYC fails when requesting a withdrawal, the withdrawal may be rejected, gains forfeited, and the account closed.

For Funded Futures plans, KYC and the trader agreement are required before requesting a payout. For Instant Funding, a trading contract and KYC are required, but these steps may not need to be completed until requesting a withdrawal. Traders should ensure they are able to satisfy KYC requirements before purchasing.

No. The inactivity timer cannot be paused at any Futures account phase.

Yes. Once you reach the Live Funded Futures phase, you must place at least one executed trade every 7 calendar days to retain the account.

Yes. During Futures Phases 1–4, you must place at least one executed trade every 14 calendar days to retain the account.

Each Futures phase from Phase 1 through Phase 4 has a maximum time limit of 60 calendar days. You must complete the requirements for that phase within the 60-day window. If you do not complete the phase within that time, the account may be deactivated and you would need to purchase a new Futures plan to continue. The timer begins on the day you place your first trade and cannot be paused or extended.

Market data fees cover the cost of accessing real-time exchange price data. These fees are included in the purchase price during Futures Phases 1–4. Once you reach the Live Funded Futures phase, applicable market data or platform fees may be deducted from the account balance monthly.

A futures contract represents a standardized amount of an underlying asset. For example, one E-mini S&P 500 futures contract represents $50 times the index price, while one crude oil contract represents 1,000 barrels of oil.

No. Futures positions must be closed and all open orders must be cancelled by 15:10 CST each weekday. Futures positions cannot be held over the weekend.

No. If an account is breached, you would need to purchase a new account to continue.

For Futures, the Maximum Trailing Loss trails using the end-of-day balance. For example, if your starting balance is $100,000 with a 5% maximum trailing loss, your initial loss limit is $95,000. If your end-of-day balance rises to $102,000, the new high-water mark becomes $102,000 and the maximum trailing loss moves to $97,000. Once you generate a 5% return, the maximum trailing loss locks at the starting balance. End of day is defined as 16:00 CST.

There is no specific daily loss limit in the Funded Futures plan, but traders must always remain within the maximum trailing loss rule.

No. However, to complete a phase and become eligible for the phase payout, you must meet both the profit target and the consistency requirement.

The consistency requirement is designed to discourage traders from reaching targets through one or two outsized trades. It is calculated as best trading day P&L divided by total P&L, multiplied by 100. A 25% consistency requirement means your best trading day cannot account for more than 25% of total profit. You must meet the profit target and keep the consistency ratio at or below 25% to be eligible for payout and advancement.

Once you complete a Futures phase and meet the 25% consistency rule, you may be eligible to request that phase’s payout. You cannot advance to the next phase until the payout has been requested and completed.

Phase 1 begins once you purchase an account. After you hit the profit target while maintaining the required consistency level, you can request the phase payout and then advance to the next phase. At each new phase, the account begins again with a fresh starting balance.

The Funded Futures plan is a performance-based futures trading program. Traders move through four phases, each with defined goals and payouts, before graduating into a Live Funded Futures account.

Yes. If you have a hard breach in a Funded Futures account, accumulated gains may be forfeited unless you purchased the Payout Protector add-on, subject to the applicable terms and conditions.

No. Payout Protector is entirely optional and must be selected at the time of purchase if you want it to apply.

No. The account will still be considered breached if a rule violation occurs. Payout Protector does not remove or alter risk parameters. It only protects eligible gains from being forfeited in certain account breach scenarios, subject to the applicable terms.

If you are trading a $100,000 funded account and have generated $8,000 in gains at the time of a breach, the account would normally be closed and those gains could be forfeited. With Payout Protector, the account would still close due to the breach, but you may still receive your eligible portion of the $8,000 gain, provided all withdrawal conditions and terms are met.

Payout Protector is an optional add-on that may allow you to still receive a payout on eligible gains in your account even if the account is breached, provided all other withdrawal conditions are met and the account is not otherwise in violation of the Terms & Conditions.

If you selected the Payout Protector add-on at checkout, you may still be able to request your portion of eligible gains in the funded account at the time of breach, subject to the applicable conditions and terms.

Traders can request a withdrawal of profits through the trader dashboard, subject to the applicable rules. Withdrawals are limited to one request every 30 days. The minimum withdrawal amount is the greater of $100 or 1% of the account’s starting balance. Once a withdrawal is approved, the provider’s share is also withdrawn and the maximum trailing drawdown locks at the starting balance. The trailing drawdown does not reset after a withdrawal.

The Instant Funding plan allows traders to start with a fully funded account without needing to complete an assessment phase first.

Yes. Maximum position size is generally determined by available margin, but the provider may increase margin requirements, limit maximum order size, limit the number of open positions, revise drawdown levels, or refuse orders in response to risk, liquidity, or market conditions.

Group trading, signal services, passing services, or other methods that bypass individual strategy are not allowed. Copy trading from one account to another is only permitted if the trader owns all accounts involved.

For non-Futures programs, trades must be closed by 3:45 PM EST on Friday. Trades left open after this time may be automatically closed. This is normally treated as a soft breach, allowing trading to continue when markets reopen. Weekend holding may be available as an optional add-on at checkout. Futures positions cannot be held over the weekend.

A soft breach means the violating trade may be closed, but you can continue trading. A hard breach means you violated a major rule such as the daily loss limit, max drawdown rule, or inactivity rule. A hard breach can result in failing the assessment or losing the funded account.

For non-Futures programs, one Forex lot typically equals $100,000 notional. Index, crypto, metals, and oil lot definitions vary by product. For example, Gold is generally 100 ounces per lot, Silver is generally 5,000 ounces per lot, and Oil is generally 100 barrels per lot. Always verify instrument details on the trading platform.

Yes. For non-Futures programs, an account may be considered inactive and breached if there is no trading activity for 30 consecutive days. Futures inactivity rules differ by phase.

The maximum trailing drawdown is initially set at a defined percentage and trails based on closed balance, not equity, until the required return threshold is reached. Once that return threshold is achieved, the trailing drawdown locks at the starting balance and no longer trails upward.

For static drawdown accounts, the maximum drawdown is set as a defined percentage of the starting balance. It does not trail upward as the account grows.

The Daily Loss Limit is the maximum amount an account may lose in a single trading day and resets daily at 5:00 PM EST. It is calculated using the greater of the prior day’s end-of-day balance or end-of-day equity, so unrealized gains at reset can affect the next day’s allowable loss. Traders are responsible for monitoring breach levels in the dashboard.

After passing an assessment, you will receive instructions to complete KYC verification and the trader agreement. Once completed and supporting documentation is provided, the funded account is typically created and issued within 24–48 business hours.

Traders can request a withdrawal through the trader dashboard, no more frequently than once every 30 days. Once a request is approved, eligible gains are paid through the available outbound payment solutions, subject to the applicable payment split, methods, rules, and provider terms.

No. KickStart Trading does not control pricing from liquidity providers or executions on trades. Pricing and execution are provided by the applicable liquidity provider, trading platform, exchange, or third party.

The funded account generally follows the same rules as the assessment account, except there is no profit target in the funded account. Traders must continue to follow all applicable rules, risk limits, and provider terms.

Stop losses are required as part of sound risk management. If a trade is placed without a stop loss when required, the trade may be closed. This is generally treated as a soft breach, allowing trading to continue.

After purchasing an assessment, you receive access to a trader dashboard where you can monitor assessment and funded account progress. The dashboard updates account metrics in near real time. Traders are responsible for monitoring breach levels.

For non-Futures programs, you can trade products streamed by the liquidity provider into the available platforms, subject to change. This may include FX pairs, CFD indices, commodities, metals, and cryptocurrencies. Futures products are governed by the Futures product list and exchange availability.

For non-Futures programs, current platform integrations include DXtrade, MatchTrader, and cTrader through GooeyTrade. For Futures, supported platforms currently include DX|Futures and Volumetrica, subject to current provider availability.

Prohibited trading includes exploiting platform errors or latency, using non-public information, front-running, jeopardizing liquidity provider relationships, creating regulatory issues, using third-party passing strategies, arbitrage, prohibited news trading, gambling-style behaviour, or using one strategy to pass an assessment and another in a funded account where prohibited. The provider may terminate participation, remove gains, deny funded account access, or take other action if prohibited activity is detected. Review the full Terms & Conditions for the complete policy.

You may only take one evaluation of a specific account size and plan tier at a time across trading platforms. Maximum active evaluation plans and maximum active funded plans are generally capped at $1 million per person, subject to specific rules. Accounts of the same size and plan framework may be restricted, and certain passed accounts may be combined if no trading has taken place. Compounding limits may differ from initial funding limits.

For non-Futures programs, leverage varies by product and plan. 1-Step plans offer up to 20:1 leverage on Forex and metals, up to 10:1 on indices, up to 5:1 on oil, and up to 2:1 on cryptocurrencies. 2-Step plans may increase max leverage for Forex and metals to 30:1. Instant plans may offer up to 50:1.

Subject to applicable laws and regulations, traders from most countries can participate, excluding OFAC-listed countries and any other jurisdictions limited at the company’s discretion.

Trading hours are generally set by the liquidity provider, platform, exchange, or product rules. On DXtrade, right-click the symbol and select Instrument Info. On MatchTrader, expand the symbol and select Info. On cTrader, open the Symbol Window and review Market Hours for the selected instrument.

Affiliates are credited for referrals when a user creates an account using the affiliate link or discount code provided by the affiliate.

Assessment and funded accounts receive the same pricing and commissions as charged by the liquidity provider to comparable self-funded retail trading accounts, subject to product and platform terms.

You must use the account provided to you. Risk management software is synced with those accounts so performance can be monitored in real time for achievements and rule violations.

For non-Futures programs, opening a position within 3 minutes before or after a news event is prohibited. Traders identified as opening positions during a prohibited news window may have the position closed, P&L removed, leverage reduced, or the account breached. Futures news rules differ, but traders remain responsible for managing volatility and risk.

You must be at least 18 years old, or the applicable minimum legal age in your country, to purchase an assessment.

Charges appear under the name Dashboardanalytix.com.

When trading a funded account, you are treated as an independent contractor. You are responsible for any and all taxes on your gains.

Automated strategies may be used subject to the prohibited trading policy and all applicable provider rules. Automated trading cannot be used to bypass individual strategy requirements or violate prohibited trading rules.

The Ultimate Forex Trading Course™ is KickStart Trading’s flagship education program. It is designed to help traders build a structured foundation in technical analysis, Fibonacci-based market structure, risk management, trading psychology, and disciplined execution.

Yes. The course is designed to build from foundational concepts into more advanced trading structure. Beginners can use it to develop a serious framework, while experienced traders can use it to sharpen process, structure, and consistency.

No. Funding is one part of the ecosystem. KickStart also focuses on education, technical analysis, risk management, trader psychology, community, and long-term trader development.

Yes. You can watch the free training and access sample educational material before deciding whether the full course or wider KickStart ecosystem is right for you.

Yes. If you are unsure which route is right for you, you can book a funding discovery call or general enquiry call and speak with KickStart before making a decision.