What happens when you blow a funded account
You owe the firm nothing beyond the fee you already paid. A breach on a funded account ends that account immediately, forfeits any payout not yet approved, and at most firms leaves your other accounts untouched. Coming back means a new evaluation or a paid reset, not a second chance on the same account. Here is the sequence, firm by firm, and the one decision that prevents it.
The word "blow" hides a sequence of separate events. Understanding them matters because the cost is not the account balance you see on screen — it is the pending payout, the fee to return, and sometimes the consistency history you built.
What happens the moment the drawdown floor is hit?
The platform flattens open positions and disables trading on that account. On intraday-trailing accounts this can happen mid-session on unrealised loss; on end-of-day accounts the check runs at the session close against the closing balance. Either way the account is marked breached and moves out of the funded pool. There is no grace period and no appeal for a rule-based breach — the floor is a number, and the number was crossed.
Do you lose a pending payout?
Usually yes, if it has not been approved. Most firms process payout requests against an account in good standing; an account that breaches between request and approval loses the request. Apex's payout review runs 5 to 11 days after the request (rules checked August 2026), which is a long window in which a breach cancels the withdrawal. Firms with faster processing — Lucid Trading routinely clears requests in about 15 minutes once approved (DamnPropFirms, July 2026) — shrink that exposure. The practical rule: request the payout before the next high-risk session, not after it.
What happens to your other accounts at the same firm?
At every major futures firm, accounts are independent: a breach on one does not close the others. What can carry over is the consistency or account-cap history — if you run several accounts under one identity, the firm's cap on funded accounts (Apex up to 20 Performance Accounts, Tradeify 5 per household, Lucid 5 across plans) is counted on live accounts, so a blown one frees a slot. Cross-account hedging is the exception: a breach caused by opposing positions across accounts can trigger review of the whole cluster, not just the breached account.
What does coming back cost?
| Path back | What it means | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| New evaluation | Start from zero: pass the target again, meet minimum days again, new activation fee at firms that charge one | Evaluation fee + activation fee where applicable |
| Paid reset (evaluation stage) | Same evaluation account, balance and drawdown restored to start; days and progress wiped | Reset fee, typically below the evaluation fee |
| Reset on funded account | Rare; most firms do not offer it. Funded breach = new evaluation | — |
| Reinstatement | Only at firms with an explicit policy; usually time-boxed and subject to review | Varies; verify per firm |
The number that matters is not the reset fee alone. It is the reset fee plus the weeks of qualifying days you rebuild, plus the payout you did not collect. A $150 reset on an account that had $2,000 in unrequested profit cost $2,150, not $150.
If you breach at a specific firm
| Firm | What ends | Path back | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex | The breached PA or evaluation; other PAs untouched | Evaluation: paid reset. PA: new evaluation | Pending payout cancelled if not yet approved (5–11 day review window) |
| Topstep | Express Funded or Live account | New Combine; Express breach does not affect other Express accounts | Winning-day count for daily payouts (30 in Live) restarts |
| MyFundedFutures | The breached account only | Evaluation: reset; sim-funded: new evaluation | Standard Rapid trails intraday in sim-funded — most breaches happen there |
| Tradeify | The breached account only | Reset (evaluation) or new evaluation | Five accounts per household — breach frees a slot |
| Lucid | The breached account only | New evaluation; no activation fee on re-funding | Payouts clear in ~15 min, so the pending-payout window is the shortest in the group |
| FTMO | The breached account; others reviewed only if hedging suspected | New challenge | $400k exposure cap across accounts is checked on review |
The pattern is the same everywhere: the account ends, the fee is gone, nothing else is owed, and the other accounts survive unless the breach was caused by cross-account activity. The three paths back are a paid reset (evaluation stage only), a new evaluation, or — at firms with an explicit policy — reinstatement inside a time window. Discounted retries of 20–50% are common but not universal; check before assuming.
One habit removes most of the financial pain: request payouts before high-risk sessions, not after. The profit you did not withdraw is the only real money a breach takes.
The decision that prevents it
Every breach is a sizing decision made earlier. A position sized against the account balance instead of against the distance to the floor will eventually meet a normal losing streak and cross the line. The DLL sizing checker computes the size your current buffer actually allows; the buffer rules guide explains why that distance, not the headline drawdown, is the constraint. On a systematic strategy this is one input in code, set once — which is the whole argument for coding it rather than deciding it live.
Related
- Why intuitive trading is always biased
- Why your prop account blew on a green day
- Why most prop firm traders fail the challenge
FAQ
Do I get my evaluation fee back if I blow a funded account?
No. Evaluation and activation fees are non-refundable at the major futures firms. Coming back means a new evaluation or, at the evaluation stage, a paid reset.
Does a breach on one account affect my other funded accounts?
Not directly — accounts are independent at Apex, Topstep, MyFundedFutures, Tradeify and Lucid. The exception is a breach caused by cross-account hedging, which can trigger review of all linked accounts.
Can I still withdraw profit after a breach?
Only if the payout was already approved. A pending request on a breached account is typically cancelled. Request payouts before high-risk sessions, not after.
Is a reset better than a new evaluation?
At the evaluation stage a reset is usually cheaper and keeps the same account. On a funded account most firms do not offer resets, so a new evaluation is the only path.
Firm rules verified against official documentation and current third-party rule trackers in September 2026. Prop firm rules change frequently; confirm on the firm's site before purchasing an evaluation.