FTMO Free trial 100k 2 step Challenge

My FTMO $100K Free Trial Review

This FTMO account was a tough one, but there are a lot of lessons I can take from it.

I started the $100,000 FTMO Free Trial on August 10th, and the account eventually ended on August 28th after I breached the maximum loss limit.

I finished with a balance of $89,948.22, putting my overall P&L at -$10,051.78 (-10.05%).

Here are my overall statistics:

Starting Balance: $100,000

Final Balance: $89,948.22

Total P&L: -$10,051.78

Total Trades: 29

Win Rate: 31.03%

Average Profit: $1,070.37

Average Loss: -$984.26

Average RRR: 1.09

Profit Factor: 0.49

Expectancy: -$346.61

Sharpe Ratio: -0.48

Discipline Score: 86%

Total Volume: 329.49 lots

One positive thing I can take from this account is that I never breached the maximum daily loss limit. My maximum daily loss was -$3,236.32 (-3.2%), while FTMO allowed -$5,000.

What eventually took me out was the maximum overall loss. My maximum loss reached -$10,347.38 (-10.3%), crossing FTMO's -$10,000 limit.

Looking back at the equity curve, I actually had a decent start. At one point, I pushed the account to around $102,000, but things changed afterwards. Once I entered drawdown, I wasn't able to stop the bleeding.

The biggest damage came during my final five trading days:

24/08: -$1,125.56

25/08: -$2,551.20

26/08: -$2,613.44

27/08: -$1,505.19

28/08: -$2,011.99

That's almost $10,000 lost within five consecutive losing days.

This is probably the biggest lesson I'm taking from this account.

My problem wasn't necessarily one massive trade that destroyed everything. It was continuing to take significant risk while already going through a losing streak.

Another thing that stands out to me is my 31.03% win rate combined with an average RRR of only 1.09. My average winner was slightly bigger than my average loser, but not enough to compensate for how frequently I was losing.

So moving forward, I need to work on two things: improving the quality of the setups I take and extracting more R from the trades I'm right on.

I'm also paying close attention to my risk management.

I traded 329.49 lots across 29 trades, and although lot size alone doesn't determine risk because my stop-loss distances vary, I can clearly see that I remained too aggressive during drawdown.

That's something I don't want to repeat.

Interestingly, FTMO still gave me an 86% discipline score – “Very Good.” I take something positive from that because it shows that I wasn't just randomly entering trades. But this account also taught me that being disciplined in executing a strategy doesn't automatically make that strategy profitable.

Execution, edge and risk management all have to work together.

My biggest takeaway from this account is simple:

I need to learn how to lose better.

Losing trades are inevitable. Losing streaks are inevitable. What I can control is how much damage those periods do to my account.

On my next attempt, I want to become much more defensive when I'm in drawdown. After consecutive losses, my risk should decrease instead of staying the same. I don't need to make everything back immediately.

The goal isn't to recover today.

The goal is to still have an account tomorrow.

I failed this FTMO trial, but I have the statistics, the trades and the mistakes in front of me. Now it's about studying them, making the necessary adjustments and coming back with better risk management and a stronger edge.

Back to the charts. Back to the journal. Back to work.

My Second FTMO $100K Free Trial — New Approach

After reviewing what went wrong with my previous FTMO Free Trial, I've decided to start another $100,000 FTMO Free Trial.

This time, I'm not coming into the account trying to immediately recover what happened on the previous one. This is a fresh account, and I'm approaching it with a different risk-management strategy.

The biggest lesson from my last attempt was that a losing streak should never be allowed to destroy my account before my trading strategy has enough time to play out.

I had an 86% discipline score on the previous account, but I still breached the maximum loss limit. That showed me something important: good execution alone isn't enough. How I manage risk during both winning and losing periods matters just as much as the setups I take.

So for this account, I'll be implementing a dynamic risk strategy.

Instead of risking the same amount regardless of my account's performance, my risk will adjust according to my equity.

When I'm in drawdown, my risk will decrease.

When I'm performing well and building profits, my risk will gradually increase.

The idea is simple:

Protect aggressively on the downside and allow myself more room to capitalize on the upside.

My previous account showed me exactly why this matters. I experienced several consecutive losing days, and because my exposure remained significant throughout that period, the losses compounded until I eventually breached the 10% maximum loss limit.

I don't want to repeat that mistake.

With dynamic risk, a losing streak should progressively become less damaging. As the drawdown gets deeper, I'll have less money at risk per trade. This gives my strategy more opportunities to recover without putting the entire account in danger.

At the same time, when I'm profitable, I can gradually increase my risk using the cushion I've already created rather than aggressively risking my starting capital.

The objective for this FTMO trial is +$5,000 (5%), while the maximum daily loss is -$5,000 and maximum overall loss is -$10,000.

But I'm not looking at that $10,000 maximum loss as money available for me to lose.

That's FTMO's limit—not my personal risk limit.

My own risk rules need to stop me long before I ever get close to that level.

This attempt isn't about avoiding losses. That's impossible.

It's about making sure that no individual loss, bad day, or losing streak has enough weight to knock me out of the game.

I want my edge to have enough trades to actually express itself.

If my strategy is profitable over a large enough sample size, then my job as a risk manager is simple:

Stay alive long enough for the probabilities to work in my favour.

New account.

Same strategy.

Better risk management.

Starting Balance: $100,000

Profit Target: +$5,000

Maximum Daily Loss: -$5,000

Maximum Loss: -$10,000

Now the focus isn't on passing as quickly as possible.

The focus is on protecting capital, executing my edge consistently, and letting the results take care of themselves.

The process can only keep getting better.