A breach happens when an account crosses one of its published risk limits, for example its daily drawdown or its maximum drawdown line. Below is exactly what that means for the account, for any progress on it, and for your next step.

When an account breaches a rule, that account is closed. If it was in evaluation, the evaluation ends and does not pass. If it was a funded, reward-earning account, its funded status ends. The account stops trading, and you cannot resume on that same account.

A breach is scoped to the account it happened on. It does not affect any other account you may hold. For an ordinary drawdown breach it carries no penalty beyond closing that account: no fine, and nothing further to settle. A breach tied to a prohibited strategy is treated differently. Where an account is reset because of a prohibited strategy, a permanent 50% penalty applies to the next and all ongoing withdrawals from that same account.

What you have spent is the one-time fee you paid to start the challenge. That fee gives you access to the evaluation and, once you pass, to a funded account. A breach does not create any further charge.

On the two challenge products, One Step and Two Step, your evaluation fee is refunded in full, and it comes back with your third reward. That refund is the reward for seeing it all the way through: pass the evaluation, reach a funded account, and earn your way to a third reward. The fee refund applies to One Step and Two Step only, not to the Instant products.

This means timing matters. Should you breach before you have reached your third reward, the fee for that account is not refunded, because the milestone that triggers it was not yet reached. Should you breach after your third reward has already cleared, that refund stands.

A breach is not the end of the road. You are welcome to buy a new account at any size and begin a fresh evaluation. On One Step and Two Step there is no time limit and no minimum number of trading days, so you may take a new evaluation entirely at your own pace.

The rules are published in full and are there to be met. Every risk limit is clear and applies on real, live-market prices. Before you commit to another attempt, it is worth reviewing what is allowed and how the limits work. Drawdown is measured on your account equity, which includes the profit and loss of any open positions, and the daily drawdown resets at 00:00 UTC. The trailing maximum drawdown gives your progress a floor that follows your account upward and then locks in your favour. Knowing exactly how each of these is measured makes the next account straightforward to manage.

Not all breaches are treated the same way. There are two kinds.

A drawdown breach is part of normal trading and carries no judgment. A conduct breach is different, because it undermines the integrity of the simulation for everyone. The exact treatment of any profit connected to a conduct breach is governed by our terms, so do review them if you are unsure where an activity falls.