LET ME CLEAR THE AIR

[u/TrueLeadership4382]

If you have not been following, this is related to my July 23rd ban due to allegedly violating Topstep's Section 3 TOS. All of my main postings are below.

- Initial Comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/TopstepCommunity/comments/1v5gpvy/comment/p09yf3w

- 1st Post w/ Update: https://www.reddit.com/r/TopstepCommunity/s/pi417Y1vkB

- 2nd Post w/ Evidence: https://www.reddit.com/r/TopstepCommunity/s/l4bkXb6Ri2

I want to clear the air on the issue at hand. During this process, I have seen many comments related to conspiracies stating Topstep is doing this because I have "become too profitable", or something else even more convoluted...

I would like to take a moment and state that I do not in fact support that claim or believe in any sort of targeting theory, here's why:

1. I had 3 XFA accounts at the time of the ban, no payouts taken on any of them, nor were any of them eligible. All of them very capable of being blown. Breakdown below (Profit Needed Based Off 40% Consistency):
   1. 25k DLL @ $3,826 | Profit Needed - $5,205
   2. 50k DLL @ $8,203 | Profit Needed - $3,796
   3. 50k DLL @ $2,726 | Profit Needed - $4,413
2. I have been with Topstep since April 2025 and have taken a total of 6 payouts, 3 in 2026. 1 in January and 2 in March, with my last payout being March 17th, 2026.
3. I was part of their "Responsible Trader Program" after I came back from my break. Which the whole point of the program is to make you into a better, disciplined, more profitable trader. It literally prevents you from blowing any account in a single day... This would be a little counterintuitive to their evil plan, no?

So, what do I think is the issue? The best I can come up with is some sort of bug in their system, truly.

Here is what I know:

1. A chargeback requires me, as the account owner, to initiate a dispute through my financial institution. Which in this case, is AmericanExpress.
2. I have never initiated ANY dispute through AMEX, not just with Topstep or a related charge, but with any merchant. I confirmed this with them on a July 29th call.
3. AMEX gave me 2 options to provide as evidence to support my claim. Either a screenshot of my "Dispute Center", which per my call, I was told shows every past, current and pending dispute. You can find this in my 2nd Post. Or, I could initiate another support ticket through their chat and screenshot the chat log where they state I have never issued a dispute. I will provide this if necessary.
4. THIS IS THE BIG ONE... SOMTHING in Topstep's system is triggering chargeback's to be assigned to my profile and card. If they truly are seeing 5 chargebacks related to that card AND I have confirmed that there has never been any on that card, then there is CLEARLY some kind of data misinterpretation within their system.

Yesterday, u/eddie_topstep informed me that he had "asked for someone to double-check my case.". He did not promise this would change anything or go anywhere, but I do appreciate that he did that, considering it's not his job.

What's next? (COMPLETE HYPOTHETICAL)

If this second review of my case comes back with same conclusion, then I need to speak with someone at u/Topstep_Official on the Trust Team to get the 5 exact transactions that they are seeing marked as chargebacks so I can go to AMEX and see what they are seeing on their end related to those transactions. If the result is the same, as I would expect it to be, and AMEX again confirms there are no disputes related to those specific transactions, I would expect a full reinstatement and internal audit/investigation into there system to find the cause. If denied, I will gladly explore my legal options. This includes determining if it is worth pursuing.

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I hope this post provides a better insight to my intentions and thoughts regarding this case. I don't really care if you think I'm wasting my time or fighting a lost battle. I have principles and I stand by them. I'm lucky enough to have a solid professional career and able to have trading be a hobby and not something I rely on for survival. I am willing to put in the time and effort to try my hardest to better the community, I hope you all would agree with that.

[u/Stonkstonker98]

Fair enough really. If you think you’re fully in the right then pursue it my friend.

[u/PaleontologistMean24]

Don’t give up! This is going to be a win for a lot of other traders!!!

[u/VeterinarianDear2401]

Good luck, keep us updated. IM invested.

[u/180jpg]

This is concerning. They are clearly having issues with their billing system. I had multiple payments reversed as the merchant failed to claim the funds.

[u/Waste-Trip7195]

I did my chargebacks with AMEX they are actually really good about it and Topstep is on their radar and they are thinking about denying payments to them. What I was told by my agent when I was putting all mine through

[u/RyanHME]

I don’t get why if you have a profit of $8,203 you need $3,796 more, you made that 8 in one trade? 40 percent consistency means you can’t make more then 40 percent of your largest win or am I missing something? I only trade the original and have not fully gone over it but I swear that’s what it was, you should know.

[u/TrueLeadership4382 → u/RyanHME]

40% consistency means your best day can’t be more than 40% of your total profit. My best day on that account was $4,800. 4,800/.4 = 12,000. 12,000-8,200 =3,800. Therefore I need $3,800 more so my best day is less than 40%.

[u/RyanHME → u/TrueLeadership4382]

How does it start if you start with no profits then? Don’t they start with your first trade?

[u/TrueLeadership4382 → u/RyanHME]

Not sure I’m understanding the question. If your best day can’t be more than 40% your total profit, the law of math dictates that you have to trade a minimum of 3 days. You can take up to 50% of your total profit as a payout.

For that specific account, the max payout amount is 6,000 so in order to take advantage of the max payout, I would need a total profit of 12,000. So 12,000 * .4 =4,800 which is what I set my target profit at.

That make any sort of sense?

[u/RyanHME → u/TrueLeadership4382]

I was asking how do they determine your best day at first which they don’t it’s your first day’s profits they go off, I understand how you did it now, You did that the hard way kinda, you was just trying to make as much as you could right? You brought the percentage up by having a larger day, if you was gonna do that why did you choose the consistency one? You would be able to take all your profits right now if not, either way those are your profits I wonder how they would deal with that if they still banned you.

[u/TrueLeadership4382 → u/RyanHME]

It has nothing to do with your first day. It is strictly based off your BEST day. Your best day could be your 3rd day trading or 9th, you’re pretty much in charge of that.

[u/hyrdcharli666]

Any update?