- Most denied payouts come from rules the trader could have checked first: too few qualifying days, a consistency cap, or a balance under the buffer.
- The serious ones are conduct reviews: hedging across accounts, trading alongside other people, news spikes and exploiting simulated fills. These can cost the account, not just the payout.
- The last gate is identity and payment: your name on the bank account, your country, and how you log in.
A payout request isn’t a withdrawal button. At every firm it starts a review, and that review can say no. Below is what firms say they check, quoted from their own help centres, and a checklist to run before you press request.
How a payout review works
Gate 1: you haven’t met the payout rules yet
These are written in the payout policy, and they’re the most common reason for a “no”:
- Not enough qualifying days. Topstep’s standard path needs 5 winning days of $150 or more before each payout.
- A consistency cap. On Topstep’s Consistency path, your biggest day must stay within 40% of the profit. On MyFundedFutures’ Builder plans you must stay within 50%. Our consistency guide has a checker.
- The buffer. At MyFundedFutures, a Rapid 50K must keep a $2,100 buffer before anything is withdrawable, with a $500 minimum withdrawal above it.
- No profit since the last payout. Topstep requires at least $0.01 of profit since your previous payout on the standard path.
- Hitting a daily loss limit. At Topstep this delays the request until the next session.
Gate 2: the conduct review
This is where firms look at how you made the money. Each firm words it differently, but the same behaviours come up again and again:
| Behaviour | What firms say |
|---|---|
| Hedging across accounts | Tradeify bans opposing positions on the same or a correlated product, in one account or several, and can put every account involved into violation. Topstep bans opposite trades across accounts. |
| Trading with or copying other people | Topstep bans trading similarly in partnership with others. MyFundedFutures bans collaborating on identical or opposite strategies. Tradeify only allows copy trading between accounts you own. |
| News spikes | MyFundedFutures restricts trading during tier 1 data releases. Topstep bans trading maximum size into major scheduled news. On Lucid’s LucidDaily, trading red-folder news is a hard breach. |
| Exploiting simulated fills | Topstep bans scalping algorithms that exploit unrealistic sim fills and hundreds of rapid trades for queue position. MyFundedFutures bans high-frequency trading and gaming slippage-free fills. |
| Microscalping | Lucid uses automated checks to flag very small, very fast trades with large size. |
| Account stacking | Topstep bans repeatedly blowing one account aggressively and moving straight to the next. |
These rules exist because funded accounts are usually simulated. A strategy that only works because the simulator fills you at prices a real market wouldn’t is exactly what reviewers look for.
Gate 3: identity, country and payment
- Your name on the account. Topstep only pays into a bank account in your own name.
- Your country. Some countries can’t receive payouts. Check the firm’s eligibility list before you buy, not after you pass.
- How you log in. Policies differ completely. Tradeify doesn’t allow logging in through a VPN or VPS. FTMO says VPN and VPS use is generally allowed. Read your own firm’s rule.
- Payout onboarding. Firms that pay through Rise need your Rise account set up first, and some ask you to sign agreements before the first payout.
Pre-payout checklist
Tick what’s true for your account before you request. Anything left unticked is shown below as something to fix.
Work through the list: every unticked item is a common reason for a denied payout.
Five habits that protect your payout
- Read the payout policy before your first funded trade, not on payout day.
- Trade the same way you did in the evaluation. A sudden change in size or style is what reviews notice.
- Keep one strategy direction across accounts. Two accounts on opposite sides is hedging, even by accident.
- Avoid the first seconds after major data releases unless your firm clearly allows it.
- Keep records. If a payout is questioned, a trade log with your reasons is your best answer.
Next: how the money reaches you in our payout methods guide, and the rules that come with a funded account in after you pass.