Workable
FundingPips Zero for ICT / SMC traders
The 1h–4h cycle absorbs the 3% daily cap well, but trailing DD on multi-leg trades is the catch.
Persona: 1h–4h discretionary on market structure (Inner Circle Trader / Smart Money Concepts).
Rules at a glance
FundingPips Zero, the six numbers.
- Profit target
- 2.0%
- Daily loss cap
- 3.0%
- Max drawdown
- 5.0%(trailing)
- Payout cadence
- 14 days
- Recommended risk/trade
- 0.5%
- Status
- live
Persona context
How ICT / SMC traders think about prop firms.
ICT and SMC operators sit at 1h–4h timeframes with multi-leg setups (break-of-structure → fair-value-gap entry → liquidity-grab exit). Their cycle time means a single trade idea might take 8–48 hours to fully play out, so the rules that matter most are weekend-hold permissions, news-blackout windows that fall mid-setup, and the drawdown reference (trailing-DD firms penalise a paper-profit pullback that closes the open trade in your favour — but the floor moved). They tolerate a higher daily-loss cap better than scalpers do because they rarely take more than 2–4 setups a day. The consistency rule bites differently here: ICT/SMC trades tend to be larger and farther apart, so one outsized win can lock the account out of payout cycles for weeks.
- Weekend-hold rule
- Drawdown reference (trailing vs static)
- News window vs setup duration
- Single-trade size cap
- Multi-leg margin rules
The specific analysis
FundingPips Zero × ICT / SMC traders.
For ICT/SMC operators, FundingPips Zero is workable, the 3% daily cap rarely bites because two-to-four setups a day means a normal red day stays under 1.5%. The harder rule is the 5% trailing drawdown. ICT entries typically have wide initial stops (40–80 pips on EURUSD majors) and the structure-based exit usually waits for liquidity to be taken; in that holding window the trailing DD floor follows every paper-profit tick. A trade that ultimately wins +2R can still get prematurely closed at the firm's drawdown floor if it pulls back 40 pips from the high before reversing. News-blackout windows are usually outside the 1h–4h setup cadence, so this is less of a concern than for scalpers or news traders. The minimum 7 profitable days is achievable on an ICT pace.
Workarounds
- Mark the trailing DD floor on the chart before every entry, never enter if the floor is within 1R
- Take partial profit at 1R to lock in some progress and reduce floor exposure
- Skip setups within 30 minutes of any red-folder news on Forex Factory
- Time entries to the first 4 hours of the trading day to leave runway for the close
Account killers
- A multi-leg setup that takes 12h to mature can hit the trailing floor on a normal retrace
- Best-day consistency cap fires when one outsized SMC win eats > 15% of total profit
Run the math
Three calculators pre-flight your strategy.
- Firm-rule drawdown calculator , project equity floor and breach distance under FundingPips Zero.
- Firm-mode position sizing , recommended 0.5% risk-per-trade for a ICT/SMC.
- Prop firm vs self-funded cost , total cost to pass FundingPips Zero given your realistic pass-rate.
FAQ
Questions about FundingPips Zero for ICT/SMCs.
Is FundingPips Zero a good fit for ICT/SMCs?
The 1h–4h cycle absorbs the 3% daily cap well, but trailing DD on multi-leg trades is the catch. For ICT/SMC operators, FundingPips Zero is workable, the 3% daily cap rarely bites because two-to-four setups a day means a normal red day stays under 1.5%. The harder rule is the 5% trailing drawdown. ICT entries typically have wide initial stops (40–80 pips on EURUSD majors) and the structure-based exit usually waits for liquidity to be taken; in that holding window the trailing DD floor follows every paper-profit tick. A trade that ultimately wins +2R can still get prematurely closed at the firm's drawdown floor if it pulls back 40 pips from the high before reversing. News-blackout windows are usually outside the 1h–4h setup cadence, so this is less of a concern than for scalpers or news traders. The minimum 7 profitable days is achievable on an ICT pace.
What's the biggest rule risk for a ICT/SMC at FundingPips Zero?
A multi-leg setup that takes 12h to mature can hit the trailing floor on a normal retrace
What risk-per-trade percentage do you recommend?
0.5% of equity per trade is the conservative starting point for a ICT/SMC at FundingPips Zero. Use Glitch Executor's position-sizing calculator to confirm the lot size respects both your risk budget and the firm's drawdown cushion.
Does the firm permit trading through high-impact news?
FundingPips Zero enforces a news blackout around high-impact releases. Plan entries either fully before or fully after the release.
How does the drawdown rule work specifically?
FundingPips Zero uses a trailing 5.0% drawdown anchored to the highest balance reached, so the floor moves up as you become profitable.
Compare and shortlist
Where this fits in the wider research.
- Best prop-firm challenges shortlist
- FundingPips Zero, full rule + payout brief
- Current prop-firm partner offers
- FundingPips Zero drawdown calculator
Authored and reviewed by Ryan Tran (Strategy Lead, Glitch Executor). Last reviewed . Rule values pulled from the firm-rule registry in this repo; verify with FundingPips Zero directly before funding.
Same firm, different personas