FAQ

Prop Trading Academy (PTA) is a prop trading company that lets traders trade on demo capital and be paid a share of the profits they generate. You can pass a challenge (Pass&Pay, One Step GO), start directly on a funded demo account (Instant Funded) or join a Zero Rules™ Payout Pool — in every case you trade a funded demo account and request real payouts on its performance.

Four, each with its own page and conditions:

Zero Rules™ — funded from day one, no phases to pass. Your payout comes from the Payout Pool of your edition, with a payout split that climbs up to 100%.

Sprint Pass&Pay — a single-phase challenge where you pay 25% of the fee up front and the balance only once you have passed.

Instant Funded Sprint — a funded demo account immediately, no evaluation, 90% payout split.

One Step GO — a one-phase challenge with a 3% target, a trailing drawdown and none of the 50% operating rules; 90% split and unlimited payouts once funded.

The old One Step / Double Step challenges are no longer on sale.

Zero Rules™ is a funded demo account from day one: no evaluation phases, no profit target to hit first, no expiry on the current edition. Instead of a fixed payout split, your payout comes from the Payout Pool of your edition — 90% of every fee paid by the traders in that pool goes into it, and the payout split is the pool divided by the eligible profit of all the traders in play: never below the 10% minimum, up to 100%. The pools are shown live on the product page.

The conditions are few: a MDP (maximum daily profit — the share of your account that counts toward the payout each trading day, 0.5% or 0.2% depending on the variant you choose), a 3% maximum daily drawdown measured against the previous day's close, a minimum of 10 trading days and no hedging across your own accounts (hedging inside one account is fine). There are no consistency, concentration or single-day conditions and the three 50% operating rules do not apply.

The purchase fee is not refundable. Once the payout is approved the account is closed on the ZR Cup edition (one payout per account); other editions may have a fixed duration or a different number of payouts — the product page always shows the conditions of the edition on sale.

A REBUY is a second ZR Cup account at 50% of the current list price: same size, same MDP variant, same conditions, with the right to a new single payout. It can be used once per originally purchased account (a rebuy does not grant another rebuy) and it is available only after the account is lost — on the maximum drawdown, or by voluntarily closing it while it is in a loss. An account that took its payout has no REBUY: the next Cup is bought at the list price.

When: From 26 September 2026, the REBUY must be purchased within 24 hours of the account being lost. Once that period has elapsed, the right to a REBUY lapses. It is not on the checkout: email support@proptradingacademy.com with the account number; once eligibility is verified you pay by bank transfer and the new account is opened. It joins the same Payout Pool on the same terms and is marked Rebuy in the live ranking.

Single-phase challenge — you pay 25% of the fee up front and the remaining 75% only after passing.

Evaluation phase: profit target +3%; maximum daily drawdown 5% (calculated on the starting equity of the day); maximum total drawdown 10% of the initial capital; at least 1 trading day with a position opened and closed; all positions must be closed at the end of the challenge.

Once you have passed, the balance of the fee must be paid within 10 days, otherwise the demo account is closed and the pass is void.

Funded phase: 5% trailing drawdown on the high-water mark (threshold = HWM × 95%); no profit target; 90% payout split from the first payout; at least 10 trading days before each payout; maximum payout 3% of the demo account per withdrawal; at least one trade every 30 days; KYC and the Signal Provider agreement before the first payout; 50% of the fee refunded from the third payout, barring violations.

Sizes and fees (25% now / 75% after passing): 20K $59 / $224 · 50K $134 / $404 · 100K $268 / $810 · 200K $478 / $1,439.

Direct access to a funded demo account, no evaluation to pass. Maximum drawdown 5% on the high-water mark: the HWM is the highest equity ever reached and every new high moves the limit up (equity $105,000 → limit $99,750, even if the initial capital was lower).

To request a payout you must respect the risk conditions and have at least 10 trading days; the payout split is 90% and each payout is capped at 3% of the demo account. At least one trade every 30 days or the account is closed. KYC and the Signal Provider agreement are required before the first payout. The fee is not refundable.

Sizes and fees: 10K $169 · 20K $299 · 50K $599 · 100K $1,149 · 200K $1,999. Instant Funded is designed for experienced traders who want to start immediately on funded demo capital under clear risk conditions.

A one-phase challenge with a one-off fee (20K $299 · 50K $675). Evaluation: profit target 3%, MDP 0.5% per trading day, overall loss limit 6% trailing on the high-water mark, no daily loss limit, at least 5 trading days.

P&P (Pass & Pay): the same challenge with the fee split — $89 up front on 20K, $202 on 50K, $359 on 100K; the balance ($209 / $472 / $839) must be paid within 48 hours of passing the evaluation to get the Funded phase. If you do not pass, the balance is never due.

Funded: MDP 0.25% per trading day, loss limit 3% trailing, at least 10 trading days per payout, 90% payout split, unlimited payouts, each payout capped at 3% of the account ($600 → $540 on 20K, $1,500 → $1,350 on 50K). 50% of the fee is refunded with the third payout.

EAs, news trading, weekend positions and hedging inside your own account are all allowed, and the three 50% operating rules (single day / single symbol / daily volume) do not apply.

If you fail to meet the targets or breach a condition, your challenge demo account is closed and you can purchase a new challenge whenever you like. On Pass&Pay you only lose the 25% paid up front.

You may have multiple demo accounts, but their total value cannot exceed $1,000,000. Zero Rules™ accounts have no per-client limit on the number of accounts.

No — merging demo accounts is not possible.

1. Create your account — open the purchase portal, enter your details and set a password. If you already have an account, just log in.

2. Choose your program — in the portal pick the program (Zero Rules™, Pass&Pay, Instant Funded, One Step GO) and the size of the demo account. If you have a discount code, enter it before paying.

3. Pay — by credit/debit card (Stripe) or in cryptocurrency.

4. Start trading — you receive an email with your demo account credentials and the links to download cTrader; the same account appears in your client portal, where you can follow your targets and risk limits in real time.

The broker's time zone is UTC+0 and never changes.

You trade on cTrader, free to download from the link in your welcome email or from the download area of your dashboard. It is available for PC (Windows, Mac), Android, iOS and as a web version.

Your login details are always sent to your registered email address, so please check your spam folder too. If you cannot find the email, contact support at support@proptradingacademy.com.

Forex, indices, commodities (metals, oil & gas) and cryptocurrencies. The full list of symbols is visible in cTrader once your demo account is assigned.

All demo accounts are in USD.

PTA does not provide real accounts and does not collect deposits from clients. All funded demo accounts run in a simulated environment with virtual money — this is what lets PTA offer its services globally without restrictions. The payouts you receive on their performance are real. At its sole discretion PTA may copy trades from selected demo accounts.

PTA offers leverage of 100:1 during evaluation phases and 30:1 on funded demo accounts (Instant Funded, funded phases and Zero Rules™). If a demo account shows excessive exposure in terms of volume, PTA may reduce the leverage down to 1:5 at its discretion.

On Pass&Pay, Instant Funded and One Step GO accounts the commission is $2.5 per order per lot ($5 open & close per lot of 100,000). It is deducted from the demo trading account and, when you open a position, the commission of the closing order is charged at the same time.

Zero Rules™ accounts trade at raw cost: no commission, only the spread.

Yes. You can trade freely whenever the markets are open, keep positions open over the weekend and open or close trades before, during and after high-volatility events such as economic announcements.

The only exception is the Pass&Pay evaluation phase, where all positions must be closed at the end of the challenge.

Yes. Expert Advisors and automated strategies are allowed on every program, provided they respect the risk conditions, stay personal and distinct from other traders' activity and do not fall under the prohibited practices below (HFT, latency arbitrage, coordinated trading across clients).

Inside a single demo account, yes — opposite positions on the same symbol are allowed on every program. Across accounts, no: opposite or cross-hedged positions between your own accounts, or between different PTA clients, are not permitted.

PTA looks for traders with sound money management and a sustainable exposure. If a demo account carries a volume that is excessive relative to its equity, PTA reserves the right to reduce its leverage down to 1:5 — to protect the stability of the business and to shield traders from sudden, potentially damaging moves.

These three rules apply to Pass&Pay and Instant Funded accounts only.

#1 – 50% MAX TRADE PROFIT/LOSS or MAX DAILY PROFIT/LOSS: if, when a payout is paid, more than 50% of it is attributable to a single day or a single trade, the payout is reduced by 50%.

#2 – 50% MAX SYMBOL PROFIT/LOSS: if more than 50% of the payout is attributable to trades on a single instrument/symbol, the payout is reduced by 50%.

#3 – 50% DAILY VOLUME – consistency of daily volumes: if the daily trading volume is below 50% of the maximum daily volume recorded, and this happens in 50% or more of the observations in the reference period, the payout is reduced by 50%.

Any violation identified on or after the tenth trading day is final.

Account management, signal services or similar third-party services. Your trading is completely free, but it must remain personal and individual, clearly distinct from that of other traders. This includes EAs that generate overlapping or coordinated activity across the demo accounts of different PTA clients: EAs are fully permitted only if the resulting activity is clearly your own. Violation → payout reduced by 50%.

Hedging across accounts of different clients. Opposite or cross-hedged positions between PTA clients are not permitted; hedging inside a single demo account is. Violation → payout reduced by 50%.

High-Frequency Trading (HFT). Activity that generates an excessive number of trades or exploits micro-movements and latencies — a large number of orders within seconds or minutes to profit from temporary inefficiencies and minimal price changes — is not permitted. Violation → payout reduced by 50%.

Gambling-like practices. We support traders who operate with discipline, adequate risk control and strategies that are sustainable over time. Two behaviours are therefore not permitted:

Oversized risk — risking more than 3% of equity on open positions. The total risk on open trades may never exceed 3% of equity or 50% of the potential payout/profit generated (the maximum cumulative loss in a single day or on a single trade). Violation → payout reduced by 50%.

All-in trading — reaching the profit target with a single trade or a few identical trades on the same instrument using high leverage. It relies on luck rather than on a sustainable method, and contradicts the purpose of our evaluations, which measure the soundness and replicability of a trading method. Violation → payout reduced by 50%.

When one or more operating rules are breached, the requested payout is reduced: 1 violation → −50%, 2 violations → −70%, 3 or more → −90%. Example on a $1,000 payout: $500, $300, $100.

These rules are a practical summary of the main restrictions; the Company evaluates trading activity on a comprehensive analysis of the trader's behaviour and reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to reduce or deny a payout if the activity is deemed non-compliant, unsustainable or contrary to the spirit of the service. For the full definitions and criteria see the Terms and Conditions, which prevail in all cases.

PTA reserves the right to end its collaboration with a trader if the strategies adopted prove unprofitable or cannot be replicated on a real account. A demo account may be closed immediately in case of: software arbitrage exploiting price latencies; abuse of a broker's technical problems, intentional or not; participation in third-party account management services; market manipulation, including opposite positions on linked accounts or with other entities; use of software, EAs, AI, HFT or mass order entry to gain unfair advantages or manipulate the service.

Traders must also avoid opening excessively large positions without risk control, and opening minimum positions (e.g. 0.01 lots) for the sole purpose of meeting the trading-day requirement. PTA assesses at its discretion whether an activity falls within the prohibited practices and may cancel the service and terminate the relationship immediately.

Pass&Pay, Instant Funded and One Step GO: the payout split is fixed at 90% from the first payout — no progressive scaling.

Zero Rules™: the split is not fixed — it is the Payout Pool of your edition divided by the eligible profit of the traders in play, from the 10% minimum up to 100%. You keep your whole slice of the pool.

Payouts are requested from your dashboard and paid by bank transfer to a bank account in your name or in cryptocurrency. Before the first request you must complete KYC (identity document and proof of residence), sign the Signal Provider agreement and provide your payment details.

How often: after at least 10 trading days on a funded account, for the first and for every following payout (One Step GO evaluation needs 5). A trading day is a day with at least one closed position.

How much: on Pass&Pay, Instant Funded and One Step GO any amount from $100 net up to 3% of the demo account per payout. On Zero Rules™ the payout is your share of the Payout Pool on the profit that counts (the MDP per trading day), with no minimum amount.

Unfortunately not. Once the conditions of a PTA demo account are breached the account is closed and its profit share can no longer be requested. Any other option would encourage excessively risky trading.

Every program has a one-time fee that depends on the program and the size of the demo account. There are no other costs, recurring fees or obligations to cover losses.

Sprint Pass&Pay: 50% of the fee is refunded from the third payout onwards, on a valid request.

One Step GO: 50% of the fee is refunded with the third payout — on P&P, 50% of the total fee.

Instant Funded and Zero Rules™: the fee is not refundable, even in case of profit or full compliance.

Refunds, when due, are credited to the payment method used at purchase. The right to a refund lapses if you used a promotion, bonus, discount or other incentive at purchase, and in case of confirmed violations with the resulting payout reductions or an account reset.

Once you have received the access codes to the trading platform and logged in or placed a trade on the demo account, the purchase can no longer be refunded. If you have not yet logged into the platform or traded, we accept refund requests within seven days of purchase, provided they are sent by email (requests via chat or contact form are not accepted). Refunds are credited to the payment method used at purchase.