Elite Trader Funding Review 2026: All Five Models and the 23% Rule

PickMyFuturesProp · 2026-06-17

Elite Trader Funding offers five different evaluation models and lets you keep up to 100% of profits — but the 23% payout rule and per-plan activation fees are what you actually need to understand first.

Elite Trader Funding (ETF) is one of the longest-running futures firms out there — US-based, around since 2022 — and its whole personality is choice. Where most firms give you one or two account types, ETF hands you a deliberately wide menu of five evaluation models. That's a strength if you know exactly what you want, and a trap if you don't read the fine print. With code PICK you get 25% off, and ETF runs frequent ~80% promos on top of that, so entry is cheap.

Five models, and who each one fits

• 1-Step (Live Trailing) is the flagship and the cheapest path, but it uses live intraday trailing drawdown — your loss limit tracks your peak in real time, so giving back an unrealized gain can hurt. Best for traders who don't sit on open profit.
• EOD (End of Day) uses end-of-day realized drawdown and adds a daily loss limit — friendlier if you hate intraday trailing.
• Static is the rare one: a fixed drawdown floor that never trails and no daily loss limit. Predictable to the dollar.
• Diamond Hands uses EOD realized drawdown and allows overnight and weekend holds — the swing-trader option.
• Direct-to-Funded (DTF) skips the evaluation entirely: one-time fee, funded from day one, overnight holds allowed.

Across all of them you can keep up to 100% of your profits, up to a $25,000 cap.

The 23% rule nobody reads

Here's the thing that catches people. To pass you need a minimum of 5 trading days, but your *first payout comes after 8 qualified days — and a day only "qualifies" under the 23% rule: it counts only if you earned at least 23% of your best day's profit. In practice that means a couple of huge days followed by tiny ones won't fast-track you; ETF wants steady, repeatable trading. It's not a dealbreaker, but it makes payouts slower than the headline "5 days to pass" suggests. Also note: a 10-second minimum hold* on every trade, and overnight holds only on DTF and Diamond Hands.

Fees

This is the other gotcha. Most plans carry a per-plan one-time activation fee ($177–$307) after you pass — or you can opt for $87/month instead. Resets are a cheap $47 (DTF resets run higher). Budget for the activation fee; it's easy to forget it's coming.

So who's it for?

ETF rewards traders who'll read the per-plan rules and pick deliberately. Want the cheapest start and don't hold open profit? 1-Step. Hate intraday trailing? EOD or Static. Swing trader? Diamond Hands. Want to skip the eval? DTF. Pull ETF up in the comparison against the others I track and match the model to how you actually trade — with this firm, picking the right plan is most of the battle.