Key Terms & Glossary

A proprietary trading firm that lets you prove your skill on an evaluation account. Pass the evaluation and you receive a funded account, where you earn a performance reward on your results — without risking your own savings on the trades. At SMP Fund all accounts run in a simulated environment.

The test you buy to qualify for a funded account. We offer three packages — Prime (2 phases), Rapid (1 phase) and Instant (funded from the start). None has a time limit; you pass by meeting the profit target and respecting the risk rules.

One stage of the evaluation. Prime has two phases (Phase 1 target 8%, Phase 2 target 5%); Rapid has a single phase (8%). Instant has no evaluation phase. You move on only after passing the current one.

The account you receive after passing the challenge and completing KYC (it activates within 48 hours after approval). The risk rules are the same as in the evaluation, and you earn a performance reward on your simulated profit.

A trading account that follows real market prices but uses virtual money. Profits and losses count for your evaluation and payouts, but no real capital is placed on the market.

The profit, as a percentage of the initial balance, you must reach to pass a phase: Prime 8% (Phase 1) and 5% (Phase 2), Rapid 8%. On a $10,000 Rapid account that means reaching $10,800. On Prime phase 1 you pass only after you close every position yourself; profit above the 8% target is carried into phase 2. On Rapid, and on Prime phase 2, hitting the target closes every open position automatically and you are emailed.

Balance is your account money counting only closed trades. Equity is the balance plus the floating profit or loss of trades that are still open. Loss limits are usually checked against equity, so open losses matter immediately.

How far your account has fallen from a reference point (its starting balance or its peak). It is the main risk limit in prop trading: if the loss reaches the allowed drawdown, the account is breached.

The maximum your account may fall within one calendar day (server time). The drop is measured from your start-of-day equity — the balance plus any floating profit or loss at the server-day rollover — counting closed and floating results; the limit itself is a percentage of the start-of-day balance. Prime 5%, Rapid 3%. It is a hard limit: exceeding it terminates the account immediately, without a prior warning.

The maximum the account may lose versus the initial balance: Prime 10%, Rapid 6%, Instant 6%. On Prime and Rapid the floor is static; on Instant it trails your peak. Falling below the floor terminates the account.

A loss floor that rises as your account reaches new highs and never moves back down. Used by the Instant package (6%). Prime and Rapid use a static floor measured from the initial balance instead.

Maximum combined floating loss on currently open positions. The cap is 3% of the initial balance. Winning positions offset losing ones; stop-loss levels are not counted. Example: on a $10,000 account with a 3% limit, once all open positions together are at a $300 floating loss, every open position that is itself in loss gets a yellow flag. When it is reached, every open position that is itself in loss gets a yellow flag and an email; positions stay open and, if a flagged trade later closes in profit, that profit is not credited. It is a single yellow flag for the whole event, and the same open positions are not flagged again while they remain open. This alone does not terminate the account, but it counts as one of the 3 yellow flags (the 3rd closes the account).

The current profit or loss of trades that are still open. It changes with every price tick and only becomes real (realised) when you close the trade.

Automatic orders attached to a trade. A stop loss closes it when price moves against you by a set amount, limiting the loss. A take profit closes it when a target gain is reached, locking in profit.

A lot is the standard size of a trade (1 standard lot of a forex pair = 100,000 units). Leverage lets you control a large position with little margin. Our maximums are Forex 1:30, Metals 1:10, Energy 1:5 and Crypto 1:1, the same in evaluation and funded stages. Bigger lots mean faster losses.

The number of qualifying trading days a phase needs before it can be passed, even if the profit target is reached. It is set per program phase: Prime 5 per phase, Rapid 3, Instant none. Separately, a funded account needs 5 qualifying trading days since funding before a payout can be requested. See “Trading day” for what counts.

No single trading day may account for more than 35% of your net closed profit, on every package. Only closed trades count. Exceeding it is not a yellow flag and does not close the account — it only blocks withdrawals until the share is diluted by more profit. After a successful payout the cycle resets.

A warning for breaking a soft rule, for example Max Open-Trade Loss reaching 3%, correlated hedging, or using an EA without the Automation add-on. Where the rule strips profit, the profit of the flagged trades is removed and losses stay. Each account can hold at most 3 yellow flags; the 3rd is a red flag and terminates the account.

A violation that terminates the account immediately (a refund or reset only with admin approval), such as exceeding the daily loss limit or max total loss, a 3rd yellow flag, hedging with external prop firms, or latency/HFT abuse. Fraud (multiple profiles, copying between people, shared logins) also leads to a permanent ban. You can appeal within 7 days.

Opening or closing a trade within ±15 minutes of a high-impact event on the site's economic calendar (server time). On Prime and Rapid only 40% of the profit counts while 100% of any loss counts. On Instant it is not permitted: the platform does not block the trade, but its profit is not credited at all while any loss counts in full. It is never a yellow flag.

Your share of the simulated profit on a funded account. It starts at 80% (70% on Instant) and can be upgraded to 85% and then 90% under the published ladder — upgrades are requested by you and apply only to profit earned after approval.

A withdrawal of your reward, paid in crypto after KYC. The first payout is possible 21 days after the account is funded (and, for your very first payout ever, at least 21 days after signup), then every 14 days. You also need 5 qualifying trading days since funding. Payouts 1–2 are capped at 3% of the initial balance, 3–4 at 5%, and from the 5th there is no cap. Minimum $50; a flat $5 fee applies.

Increasing the size of your simulated funded account after recorded milestones. You request it and it is reviewed based on profit, consistency and compliance history. For example, a $25K Rapid or Prime account can upgrade to $50,000 after reaching at least $2,500 profit.

Buying the same package again after a failed evaluation account, at an admin-configured discount and with no limit on the number of attempts. Switching to a different package is always at full price. Breach history is not cleared by a new purchase; fees are generally non-refundable (a refund or reset only in special cases with admin approval).

A calendar day (server time) on which you opened at least one position that was held at least 5 minutes and sized at least the lot floor (0.05 lots, higher on large accounts). If the position has a stop loss, the distance to it must risk at least 0.25% of the initial balance ($25 on a $10,000 account). Profit or loss does not matter.

Identity verification required before a funded account is issued and therefore before funded payouts. It is not required to buy a challenge or start an evaluation. Failed or mismatched KYC voids the related challenges (a refund or reset only with admin approval).

Not trading for too long. On an evaluation account, after 10 days without a trade you get a reminder and the account shows as deactivated (credentials hidden) until you reactivate it from My challenges; after 20 days a second reminder; after 30 consecutive days it is closed automatically (a refund or reset only with admin approval). A funded account gets warnings at 20 and 40 days and is deactivated at 60 consecutive days without trading, so eligible rewards can be settled by payout.

A pip is the smallest standard price move of a forex pair (usually 0.0001). The spread is the gap between the buy and sell price — a small built-in cost of every trade. Slippage is when a trade fills at a slightly different price than requested, common during fast markets.