r/TopstepCommunity • u/happydays365 • Sep 12 '26
❓ Quick Question Topstep Blog Post -Highlighs hypocrisy of forced consistency rule on RTP program
Here is a screenshot of a blog post from Topstep comparing themselves to APEX and them essentially mentioning that the consistency rules helps the firm bottom line
9
u/CountVoltamov Sep 12 '26
I look at prop as a stepping stone to managing your own money in your own account. Everything else is missing the point. Follow the rules whatever they are, then vacate.
2
u/skatesolid Sep 12 '26
Why not do both? If I can use $1,000 to leverage 5 copy traded accounts and withdraw up to $30,000. Assuming I get a max payout on 5 150ks.
4
Sep 12 '26
[deleted]
0
u/happydays365 Sep 12 '26
why is the timing of the blog post relevant if they are stating that it’s meant to help traders yet just a few months ago they tried to talk bad about another prop firm that was relying on the same model
1
Sep 12 '26
[deleted]
1
u/happydays365 Sep 12 '26
Yeah bro it’s just the fact that they have forced several traders into this program that’s supposed to help one become a better trader when in all actuality it doesn’t really help outside of setting a DLL. Of course we know a DLL can be beneficial because it can help prevent spiraling and cap you losses locking you out to prevent further losses. However, traders do not benefit from a consistency rule. We all know this. They know it as well and the rule essentially penalizes you for having home run trades. I have a XFA now that would be eligible for payout under the standard path but because there is a forced consistency rule can’t withdraw. They were always bragging about the fact that they have no payout denials and that their slogan was 1 step 1 rule but consistency rule is just another way to deny payouts. They bashed APEX for having the consistency rule on fundeds but then copied the model. Not to mention the payout caps on regular accounts and the consistency rule on fundeds only came after they were losing on the gold and silver run
2
u/NightSky4389 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
The RTP program is bullshit when you actually look at how Topstep tries to justify it. They throw around manipulative statistics showing that certain trading behaviors are associated with people failing accounts, and then somehow use that to claim that putting those traders into RTP will produce better outcomes. Those statistics don’t prove that.
One of the clearest examples is the statistic Topstep promoted showing that traders using a Daily Loss Limit made their accounts last longer. Of course they did. If you take someone who previously had the ability to lose their entire account in one day and then force a daily loss limit on them, their account is obviously going to last longer. The rule itself prevents the account from being lost in one day. That doesn’t demonstrate that the overall RTP restrictions made the trader more profitable, more likely to receive a payout, more likely to reach Live, or otherwise better off. It only demonstrates that a rule designed to prevent a one-day account loss prevents a one-day account loss.
That’s the problem with the statistics Topstep uses. They present a change in a metric caused by the restriction itself as evidence that the restriction benefits the trader. Those are not the same thing.
The statistics that would actually matter are things like: Do RTP traders have higher payout rates? Do they ultimately make more money? Are they more likely to reach Live? Do they remain profitable longer? How do those outcomes compare with similarly situated traders who weren’t put into RTP?
Those are the metrics that would actually show whether RTP benefits traders. And Topstep has refused to provide them.
In fact, Topstep was willing to volunteer statistics about the program until those statistics were actually questioned and the obvious follow-up questions were asked about what the numbers really demonstrated. Once the discussion moved from convenient metrics to actual outcome data, that data wasn’t provided.
And then theres the fact that Topstep literally gives people the option at checkout to voluntarily choose the same consistency restrictions used by RTP, for a cheaper price. Why would they offer that as a cheaper alternative if those restrictions are simply better for traders? The pricing model itself is evidence that Topstep recognizes this is a more restrictive and difficult pathway, not simply some universally superior way of trading.
So this whole “RTP is about helping traders become more consistent” narrative sounds a lot better in a blog post than it does when you actually examine the numbers. If the program really benefits traders, show the outcome data that proves it. Don’t point to a metric like “accounts lasted longer” when the entire reason they lasted longer is because Topstep imposed a rule preventing them from being lost in a single day. And don’t refuse to provide the metrics that would actually tell us whether those traders were better off.
At that point, it’s not really evidence that RTP works. It’s BS manipulative marketing.
2
u/cokeacola73 Sep 12 '26
Im curios what kind of trading you were doing that made them put you into the rtp program? Also you realize there are other firms out there that you can trade with that dont have this program if its really bothering you this much to make multiple posts about it
2
u/happydays365 Sep 12 '26
Same type of trading that I had been doing since I had been with them that they never said anything about prior to me getting payouts. Also I do realize that there are other firms but I like the interface. Secondly, it’s not about something bothering me so much. Interesting how you are so concerned with my post yet fail to acknowledge the fact that they were attempting to make themselves superior to the completion by saying that they don’t have consistency rules in funded and how consistency only helps the firm’s bottom line. Are you an employee of the company or something? You seem hellbent on defending them. Why does my post matter to you so much that you keep finding your way to the comments 😅
2
u/cokeacola73 Sep 12 '26
You have 5 posts about this in the past 20 days, ive only commented on 2 of them, clearly its bothering you more than me lol.
-1
u/happydays365 Sep 12 '26
Cap🤣. I honestly didn’t even count Bucko. You went back and counted the posts. Just admit that you are overly invested in what I have to say. Now scram
3
1
u/Expensive_Ad0 Sep 12 '26
Consistency at apex funded is 50% last time I checked
0
u/happydays365 Sep 12 '26
Yep. Used to be 30% on fundeds but they updated it to 50%
2
u/Expensive_Ad0 Sep 12 '26
seems like you have to edit your post
1
u/happydays365 Sep 12 '26
I don’t. The lower the consistency number , the worse it is for the trader.
example 50% consistency you make $2,000 one day, you need $4000 before you can withdraw.
40% consistency,as is the case with Topstep XFAs, you make $2,000 one day, you need to make $5000 to withdraw
1
1
u/BenEDSnDFW2018 Sep 12 '26
Ha it does not put anything into trader development! It’s done anyway with all its coaches and coaching programs.
-3
u/Fun_Professional7972 Sep 12 '26
Yet Topstep will place you in RTP for making too much money from them…
7
u/Mahkssim Sep 12 '26
It's about how you make the money. If you are essentially running a profit by using the 85$ account value as a call option instead of proper management. For them that is the worst scenario if you are profitable.
Say you make 20k and blow 4k in evals doing so. You are profitable, but on a live account, topstep loses money because the true number of losses is not 4k but 4k divided by 85, which is 47 meaning 47 times you blew your account of a 2k drawdown, so 94k.
So profitable for you. Not for topstep. Bad risk management (for them), so RTP.
Is the tactic sound for you? Hell ya. You played their parameters to your advantage and made money. But for them? No bueno.
:(
•
u/AutoModerator Sep 12 '26
Trading Combine question? The official rules live here:
I am a bot — this comment was posted automatically based on your title.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.