Service Review: TopstepFX

Today I’m analyzing a new Forex combine, where traders attempt to prove their trading skill in order to qualify for a live funded account, TopstepFX. The developers of the service make traders go through multiple phases to prove that they can profit, and manage risk before allowing them to trade with money directly from their company’s account. This is a concept we’ve seen in the past, but not one we’ve seen come to for complete fruition as of yet.

The company is located at 130 S. Jefferson St. Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60661. There is no real in-depth information about the company, their goals, or what influenced them to create this type of service for the community. They can be contacted via email at support@topstepfx.com, or phone via 1 (888) 407-1611.

TopstepFX Review

The developers of the TopstepFX service, promote it as a very simple process where traders can make their way through a two-step evaluation process and quickly gain access to a “live funded account™ with up to $500,000 in buying power.” We are told that it is possible to pass both steps to earn a funded account within a single calendar month, but this isn’t the recommended approach, as the vendor believes that traders should trade their strategies, and not rush the markets.

In order to qualify, traders have to reach certain profit targets, and follow specific rules to ensure that their account does not suffer significant losses. Depending on the trading combine you are interested in, your profit targets, account loss limits, and maximum position sizes will vary, as will the monthly price of that competition, and buying power you qualify for.

There are very few services like these in the market, and the most similar to this one is a trading course that I reviewed a while ago called Earn2Trade.

Trading Combine

There are currently 3 accounts sizes available for traders looking to take part in the TopstepFX trading combine. The 200K account comes with $125 monthly charge, and requires traders to prove that they can hit a profit target of $2650, while keeping their weekly loss limit below $1300. The 300K account comes with $165 monthly charge, a profit target of $4000, and a weekly loss limit of $2000. Lastly, the 500K account comes with a profit target of $6650 and a weekly loss limit of $3300.

Once traders can prove their profitable, and then manage risk, they then qualify for the live funded account. While the advertisements and promotions of the service make it seem like traders are going to receive access to a $200,000 to $500,000 account, this is not the case. The live funded account is using a 1:100 leverage, which means traders are actually getting access to an account equivalent to $2,000 – $5,000 equity balance.

I’ve no issues with this concept, but it’s worth noting that if you are taking part in the 500K trading combine, you are paying $275 per month, for the chance of trading a $5,000 account.

How Is This Profitable For TopstepFX?

One of the questions we have to ask ourselves about this service, is how does the TopstepFX company earn money from this service? Well, the vendor actually makes out quite well with this trading combine concept, because they make a monthly fee while traders attempt to qualify for the live accounts, and then they take 20% of the monthly profit being made on those accounts after the traders gain access.

With the majority of Forex traders being unsuccessful, they will essentially be charging the majority of their clients a monthly fee to trade on a demo account, which costs them nothing. Also, when traders actually do prove themselves to be successful, they get a piece of that pie as well, which makes for a win-win situation.

What To Expect

The TopstepFX team highlights four major aspects they want to get across to the community.

• Safe environment to trade.
• Generous profit split.
• Withdraw any time.
• Dedicated support team.

These are all solid elements, but the most important, is real customer success stories, and trading account proof. These are still both limited, as the service is still brand new, but we can wait on this information to flush out over time.

Conclusion

I really have no issues with the TopstepFX platform. This service essentially gives traders the opportunity to bet on themselves. If you are a successful trader, with a very small budget, you could essentially sign up with this service, prove your worth and get access to an account worth anywhere between $2000 and $5000, depending on how much you are willing to pay per month while going through the combine.

This doesn’t mean that I recommend the service for everybody. I would really only recommend the service to proven traders, that know that they can meet the profit targets and rules without much issue. In fact, if you are interested in this service, I recommend that you look at the account parameters, the targets, the rules, and open your own demo account, to see if you can qualify for the real trading account on your own time. There is no reason to pay monthly price, if you will be unable to achieve the end goal.

As we revisit the review today after nearly a year, it’s apparent that most of the questions we’ve asked remain unanswered. According to our comments, we have yet to see any funded traders, and that is the main purpose of the service.

If you have anything you would like to add, please leave your questions and remarks below the article now.