How to Pass the Evaluation
- Trade a minimum of 5 days.
- Hit your profit target.
- Follow the rules in this article.
If you do that, you’ll be assigned an Elite account within 72 hours and be on your way to Live Funding.
Diamond Hands Evaluation Product Rules
1. Reach the Profit Target
- Each Diamond Hands Evaluation has its own Profit Target and End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing Drawdown. The goal is to reach the Profit Target without hitting the EOD Drawdown.
2. Diamond Hands Trailing Drawdown – Evaluation
Q: How does the End of Day trailing drawdown work?
- In your Evaluation & Elite account, the drawdown trails your highest end-of-day balance.
- You also have a daily loss limit calculated from the prior day’s ending balance.
- Losses from open positions count intraday. If an open trade dips your balance below the daily loss limit, or the max loss limit, at any point during the session, the account fails.
Example: You start with $50,000 and a $2,000 max drawdown (minimum balance $48,000). If you end the day with a $1,000 profit, your minimum balance moves to $49,000. If your account touches the daily loss limit intraday, the account fails.
3. Minimum Trade Day Requirement
- You must trade for a minimum of 5 days and reach your profit target to qualify for an Elite account. You can purchase the Add-On ODTP to skip the 5-day minimum.
Details on Trading Days
Q: What qualifies as a trading day?
- Any day you place a trade qualifies.
Q: Does Sunday count?
- No. Sunday evening and Monday are counted as the same trading day.
Q: Is there a maximum number of days to hit my profit target?
- No. You may take as many days as you need to hit your profit target. Simply pay the Evaluation subscription every 30 days until you pass.
- Note: If you have not failed your Evaluation, your current profit and drawdown will carry over when your renewal is processed.
Q: Can I trade on holidays and during news?
- Yes, but volatility can be very low or extremely high. Manage risk carefully to avoid wiping out your account.
- Note: Elite Trader Funding is not responsible for your account during times of very low or extremely high volatility.
4. Evaluation Resets
- If you fail the Evaluation, you can reset your account anytime from your Trader Dashboard for a fee.
- You may reset as many times as needed to pass.
- Resets for failed evaluation accounts occur immediately upon monthly renewal, allowing traders to continue without significant interruption.
- Note: Resetting your Evaluation does not change your monthly subscription renewal.
Billing Policy Overview
- Post-Oct 1, 2024 Accounts: Billing continues for passed evaluations qualified on or after October 1, 2024, ensuring account validity for activation.
- Pre-Oct 1, 2024 Accounts: Evaluations qualified before October 1 are grandfathered, with no charges for passed evaluations.
- Recommendation: Activating passed evaluations is recommended to make full use of trading opportunities, though activation is optional.
Diamond Hands Elite Sim-Funded Product Rules
In this section, we’ll cover the rules for trading your Diamond Hands Elite account and the requirements you must meet to qualify for a reward.
1. Diamond Hand Trailing Drawdown
Q: How does the trailing drawdown work in Diamond Hands Elite Sim-Funded accounts?
- How it works: The drawdown trails your highest end-of-day balance until you’ve earned realized profits equal to the max drawdown + $100.
- When it stops: Once that safety net is reached, the daily loss limit is removed and the drawdown never moves again.
- Your minimum balance: From then on, your starting balance + $100 becomes your minimum allowable balance. If your account falls below this static level, the account will fail.
Example: How the EOD Drawdown Moves
Starting point: You open with a $50,000 account balance. Max drawdown: $2,000 → your minimum balance is $48,000.
EOD trail: If you end a day at $50,900, your minimum moves to $48,900. This process continues each time you set a new highest end-of-day balance.
Locking the drawdown: Once you build $2,100 in realized profits (max DD $2,000 + $100), the trailing stops. From then on, starting balance + $100 is the permanent minimum.
2. No Hedging
- Traders are not allowed to hedge against themselves with the same or correlated instruments across one or multiple accounts. This prevents conflicts of interest and market manipulation. Learn more.
3. Maximum Account Position Limits
Each account type and size has maximum position limits for minis and micros.
Q: How do the maximum account positions work?
- You are not allowed to exceed the maximum allowed positions at any time. Doing so will result in account failure. In Elite accounts, going over the limit will also forfeit profits with account closure.
- Legend: 1 mini = 1 position, 10 micro = 1 position.
- Example: An account with a maximum open position of 3 minis (or 30 micros). Allowed: 2 mini + 10 micro. Not allowed: 2 mini + 20 micro (equivalent to 4 positions). Not allowed: 3 mini + 60 micro (9 positions).
4. Household Trading Rule
- Traders from the same household are not allowed to participate at ETF under any circumstances. Learn more.
5. Trading for Others
- Trading for another user, whether within the same household or remotely, is strictly prohibited. Learn more.
6. Flatten Trades
- Diamond Hands can hold trades overnight. There is no requirement to close positions one minute before market close. Manage risk appropriately across sessions and be mindful of holiday/maintenance gaps.
Example: You may carry an ES position overnight. Be aware that overnight moves can be significant and may impact your daily loss limit at the next session’s open.
7. Weekly Trading Requirement
- Traders must execute at least one trade per week to keep their account active. If you cannot trade, notify ETF via the self-serve form. Missing a week will result in account closure and void rewards. Applies to all account types, including Diamond Hands.
8. Loss Limit Rule
- Once a trader earns 20% profit on their Elite Sim-Funded account, a new loss limit applies. If you lose more than 35% of your total profit from that point, ETF may remove your account from the Elite Sim program. This overrides the initial max drawdown and disqualifies you from the Live Elite program. This rule promotes responsible risk management.
- This assessment occurs during audits or reward requests, where accounts are checked for stability.
9. Elite Reset
- All ETF Elite Sim-Funded accounts can be reset up to ten times (DTF included).
- Please visit here to review your reset pricing options.
10. Details on Trading Days
- Q: What qualifies as a trading day?
- Any day you place a trade qualifies.
- Q: Does Sunday count?
- No. Sunday evening and Monday are counted as the same trading day.
- Q: Can I trade on holidays and during news?
- Yes, but volatility can be very low or extremely high. Manage risk carefully.
- Note: Elite Trader Funding is not responsible for your account during times of very low or extremely high volatility.
- Q: What contract can I trade?
- You must trade the most current contract with the highest volume.
- Q: What happens when a contract expires?
- Prior to contract expiration, traders should close positions in the expiring contract and re-establish them in the most liquid contract.
Elite Reward Requirements
For each reward cycle, you must maintain the safety net and achieve the required number of Active Trade Days.
1. Meet the Active Trade Day Requirement
- Traders must complete 8 Active Trading Days (ATDs) for Reward Cycle 1. For Reward Cycles 2–4, 10 ATDs are required.
- Q: What qualifies as an ATD? Any day you place a trade that results in at least $200 realized profit and at least 23% of your best ATD P&L.
- For 10K 1 Step, 25K 1 Step, 25K EOD, and 100K Static Elite accounts, the minimum is $100 instead of $200.
- If both criteria are not met, the day will not qualify as an ATD, but profits still count toward your balance. Continue trading until you meet the ATD requirements.
- 23% Rule: You must earn at least 23% of your best trading day’s profit for the day to qualify. For example, if your best day’s profit is $1,000, you must earn at least $230 on other days for them to count as ATDs.
Check out the example below:
Note: Your best trading day P&L does not reset after a reward. It only resets if you establish a new best day with a higher realized profit.
2. Achieve the Safety Net
- You must reach your safety net to meet the first reward requirement. Once you earn realized profits equal to the account max drawdown + $100, the EOD drawdown locks permanently, and the daily loss limit (if applicable) is removed. You cannot withdraw from the safety net during any reward cycles.
Reward Steps
- Meet Requirements: Ensure you’ve met the safety net and ATDs.
- Request a Reward: Visit your Trader Dashboard and request a reward.
- Trade Activity Audited: Your activity will be audited for compliance.
- Subscription Active: Keep your subscription active during the reward process.
- KYC & Rise Onboarding: Complete KYC and onboard with Rise to receive payments. Residents of restricted countries are not eligible.
Use this table to see the reward ranges for each funding amount and how they increase across cycles until reaching the $25,000 cap and Live account eligibility.
Diamond Hands – 100K Account
Reward Requests Timing
- Approval Timeline: Rewards are approved daily, Mon–Fri, from 3 PM Eastern (excluding holidays).
- Cut-Off Time: The cut-off time for approved reward requests to be included in Monday’s batch is Friday at 5 PM EST and the cut-off time for the Wednesday batch is Tuesday at 5 PM EST. Requests after this time will be rolled over to next week.
- Elite Sim Rewards: Processed twice weekly, Mondays and Wednesdays.
- Live Elite Rewards: Processed daily.
Once you receive email confirmation that your reward is approved, funds are deducted from your account and you may immediately resume trading. Your Trader Dashboard will update with your next trade. You must still meet the weekly trading requirement, or your account may be closed, and rewards will be voided.
Profit Split
- Once approved, traders keep up to 100% of simulation profits up to $25,000.
Reward Structure
- You can request withdrawals once you’ve met the reward requirements and are in a Reward Cycle.
- Withdrawals can be as little as $100, up to the Reward Cycle maximum.
- In any Reward Cycle, you may withdraw a minimum of $100 until reaching the Reward Cycle maximum cap. (New requests can only be made once the reward has been processed.)
- ⚠️ If you qualify for Reward Cycle 2 before fully withdrawing Reward Cycle 1, unused funds from Reward Cycle 1 are forfeited.
- The day your reward is approved does not count toward your ATD requirement, but the funds will be added to your account balance.
- This same structure applies to each reward cycle.
Example: In Reward Cycle 1, the maximum reward is $2,000. You can withdraw $100 until reaching $2,000. If you qualify for Reward Cycle 2 after withdrawing $1,500, the remaining $500 is forfeited. In Reward Cycle 2, your new reward maximum applies with the same rules.
LIVE ELITE Transition
ETF may transition traders from their Elite Sim-Funded account to a LIVE ELITE account at our discretion — this can happen before, during, or after a reward request.
For full details on eligibility, transition criteria, starting balances, onboarding, withdrawals, risk parameters, market data fees, contract limits, supported platforms, and the 34 CME Rules requirement, see LIVE ELITE Program Information.
Diamond Hand Accounts bought before September 17, 2025, will continue under the previous reward/LIVE ELITE policies.
Legacy Diamond Hands Reward Structure
NOTE: ETF may transition traders from their Elite Sim-Funded account to a LIVE ELITE account at our discretion—this can happen before, during, or after a reward request.
Active Elite Sim-Funded Accounts bought before September 17, 2025, will continue under the previous reward/LIVE ELITE policies.
- Total Active Funded Accounts: For evaluations purchased on or after September 17, 2025, traders can have a maximum of 5 active Elite Sim-Funded accounts at one time. Evaluations purchased before September 17, 2025 are grandfathered and may hold up to 20 active Elite Sim-Funded accounts.
- Fast Track Account Restriction: Under the grandfathered 20-account limit, only 5 accounts can be from passed Fast Track evaluations. This limit is designed to balance trading potential with risk management across different evaluation types.
- Direct to Funded Account Restriction (DTF): Limit of 5 active DTF accounts per trader.
