FTMO Alternative for US Traders

FTMO Is Back in the US, but Read the Fine Print

Short answer for anyone Googling "is FTMO available in USA": yes. FTMO closed its OANDA acquisition on December 1, 2025, and now serves US traders through FTMO US at ftmo.oanda.com. So if you've seen old threads saying FTMO rejects Americans, they're out of date. FTMO US is real, it's live, and US traders can sign up today. We're not going to pretend otherwise.

Here's the part FTMO's own pages soft-pedal. "Available in the US" doesn't mean available to every US trader, and the onboarding has teeth.

The catch shows up in a few places:

If you live in Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, Montana, or South Carolina, FTMO US is a closed door right now. Five states, gone. And even where you qualify, you're handing over a Social Security number, filing a W-9, and linking a traditional US bank account before you trade a single sim contract. Wise won't clear, and neither will Chime or any other neobank.

So what is FTMO, exactly?

If you're new to prop firms, here's the plain version. FTMO is an established prop firm founded in the Czech Republic in 2015, and for years it was the name people meant when they said "prop firm." It built its reputation on a two-step evaluation: pass a challenge, pass a verification, then trade a simulated funded account for a profit split. What changed is ownership. Since the December 2025 OANDA acquisition, the US-facing arm runs as FTMO US under OANDA's regulated entity, which is how Americans can finally sign up. The brand is legitimate and the track record is long. The friction is the catch, and the credibility isn't in question.

Both FTMO US and Stampede are simulated rewards models, so that's not the wedge. The real differences are concrete: which states get in, how much onboarding friction you hit, what platform you trade, and how fast the money lands.

That's where we line up. Stampede serves all 50 states plus DC, runs on Match-Trader instead of MT5, and pays on demand in minutes once you clear the gate. Stampede Instant starts at $39 for a $2,500 account and $99 for $5,000, with an 80% split, 6% static drawdown, and on-demand payouts from a $50 minimum after your first +8% and three trading days.

So if you're a US trader weighing FTMO US against a US-native option, keep reading. We built this for the trader FTMO's fine print leaves at the door.

Quick answers on FTMO's product range

Does FTMO offer instant funding? Not as its core product. FTMO is evaluation-first: you clear a challenge before you reach a funded account, so there's no skip-the-test, pay-and-trade tier in the FTMO US lineup. If pay-once-and-trade is what you actually want, that's the Stampede Instant lane described above. One non-refundable access fee, no challenge, mechanical rules from day one.

Does FTMO offer futures? FTMO US sits inside OANDA, whose US business has historically centered on retail forex and CFDs rather than exchange-listed futures contracts, and the FTMO US evaluation runs on MT5. So if you're hunting a CME futures-style account with contract-count limits, that's the Topstep and Apex corner, not FTMO and not us. Stampede trades the LHFX market set on Match-Trader: FX majors and minors, gold and metals, indices, oil, and crypto, on CFDs rather than exchange futures. Pick the lane that matches what you actually want to trade.

See the challenge, Instant funding, and exactly how payouts work.

Is FTMO Allowed in the US? How FTMO US via OANDA Actually Works

Short answer: yes, FTMO is available in the USA now. The old "FTMO bans Americans" angle is dead. On December 1, 2025 FTMO finished acquiring OANDA, and US traders are now served through a separate US-facing entity at ftmo.oanda.com. If you're asking "does FTMO accept US clients," the answer flipped on that date. Plenty of pages still repeat the pre-acquisition story, so here's how the FTMO OANDA structure actually works.

ftmo.com (the original) still doesn't onboard US persons. FTMO US is the OANDA-routed version built to take Americans. Same brand on the front, different legal home and a different rulebook underneath. The FTMO US OANDA setup is the one that matters for you, and the global site doesn't.

A few things FTMO US's marketing tends to gloss over:

It still doesn't cover all 50 states. FTMO US excludes five: Arkansas (AR), Delaware (DE), Louisiana (LA), Montana (MT), and South Carolina (SC). Live in one of those and the answer to "is FTMO allowed in the US" is still no for you specifically. Stampede targets all 50 states plus DC. (Where we operate.)

Onboarding is heavier. FTMO US asks for your SSN, an IRS W-9 tax form, and a US bank account. Wise and Chime are blocked, so the fintech rails a lot of traders actually use don't clear.

It's MT5-only. Every FTMO US account runs on MetaTrader 5. Stampede runs on Match-Trader rather than MT5.

It's a simulated rewards model, same as us. FTMO US doesn't act as a broker and doesn't take deposits. You pay an evaluation fee, trade a simulated account, and get paid a reward on simulated performance.

What countries are banned by FTMO? FTMO publishes a restricted-country list on ftmo.com (OFAC-sanctioned jurisdictions and a handful of others). If you're a US person, that global list isn't your concern anyway. You belong on FTMO US rather than ftmo.com. (Our restricted countries.)

Where Stampede's wedge is: payout speed. FTMO US is a perfectly real option if you're outside those five states, hold an SSN and a US bank, and like MT5. We bet most US traders want fewer hoops and faster money. Stampede Instant starts at $39 for a $2,500 simulated account, runs an 80% flat split, and pays on-demand once you clear the gate. First payout is at +8% profit and 3 trading days, $50 minimum, then it's on-demand after that.

New to prop firms? Start with what a prop firm is.

FTMO US vs Stampede: The Side-by-Side

Both are simulated, reward-based prop firms. That part's the same. What differs is who can buy, what you trade on, how you get onboarded, and how fast you get paid. If you're shopping for an FTMO alternative that's built for US traders, here's the comparison that decides it.

A few rows decide the purchase.

States. FTMO US runs through OANDA now, and it's a real option for most Americans. But it still leaves out five states: Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, Montana, and South Carolina. If you live in one of those, FTMO US isn't for you. Stampede is a prop firm that accepts US clients in all 50 states plus DC. No regional asterisk.

Platform and onboarding. FTMO US is MT5 only, and getting in means handing over an SSN, an IRS W-9, and a US bank account. Wise and Chime won't clear. Stampede runs on Match-Trader, and checkout looks like buying anything else online. You pay a service fee for the evaluation. It's a fee for a service rather than a deposit, and that distinction is the whole point. See the challenge for how the evaluation works.

Payout. This is the wedge. The FTMO payout runs on a cycle. Stampede pays on-demand from your first profitable funded trade, $50 minimum, same-day processing with a target measured in minutes. No caps, no winning-day gates. Speed is the brand, and it isn't a feature we sell back to you. See payouts for the mechanics.

One more row worth slowing down on: drawdown. Stampede uses static drawdown on every plan, never trailing. FTMO's mechanic depends on which plan you pick. Per FTMO's published specs at ftmo.com, the 2-step caps loss at 10% static, while the 1-step uses end-of-day trailing. Trailing is the mechanic traders resent most, because the line moves up under your wins and quietly tightens the rope. The static percentage you get on Stampede tracks the plan you pick: Instant and Sprint run 6% static, Classic runs 10%, Sprint Turbo runs 3%. Different numbers, same mechanic. Static doesn't move once it's set. Your floor is your floor, and there's no trailing line to confirm plan by plan. Here's static vs trailing if you want the full breakdown.

On the FTMO profit split: we cite roughly 80-90% as their published competitor figure, not a Stampede number. Stampede's split is 80/20 flat, with the one 90/10 add-on you can buy permanently at checkout.

Current pricing lives on the pricing page.

Payout Speed: Paid Like a Broker, in Minutes

Here's the one line that should decide this for you: FTMO US and Stampede both run a simulated rewards model, but only one pays you on demand. FTMO US settles profit on a scheduled payout cycle. Stampede pays from your first profitable funded trade, processed same day, targeting minutes. That's the wedge, and it's what traders screenshot.

On Stampede Instant, the rules are printed and they don't move:

Hit the gate once, and after that it's on-demand. No monthly window. No "request and wait." Withdraw $50, withdraw more, your call. The one consistency rule is printed right there: no single day can be more than 25% of your net profit at payout, and that loosens to 30% once you've been paid once. One number, checked only at payout, same for everyone.

The split question people ask as "ftmo profit split" misses the real cost. A high headline split you can only collect on a schedule is worth less than a clean 80% you can pull today. Prop firm payouts are where firms quietly claw value back. We don't.

And every payout here is mechanical. The +8% gate, the 3 trading days, the $50 floor, the consistency check: same numbers for everyone, published, no judgment call. There's no desk that decides you withdrew "too fast" or traded "too aggressively." We didn't build a discretionary denial into the system, so none exists.

That matters because of what you're actually buying protection from. The real fear isn't the challenge fee. It's handing money to a firm that stalls the ftmo payout question into oblivion, moves the goalposts, or just goes quiet. The fastest payout prop firm wins that anxiety outright. Speed you can prove is speed people share, and a screenshot of a same-day withdrawal is the only marketing that converts skeptics.

See the exact mechanics on our payouts page, or start a challenge and get funded.

Pricing and Challenge Rules, Printed Right Here

You came here to do the math, so here it is. No "starting from," no hidden tiers. Stampede runs three plans on one ladder from $5K to $200K, and every one of them uses static drawdown. Your loss floor is a fixed dollar number set at the start. It doesn't trail your equity up and then quietly tighten on you mid-trade, which is the mechanic traders complain about most. More on that in static vs trailing drawdown.

If you've priced an FTMO challenge, the concept will feel familiar: a paid evaluation, profit target, loss limits, then a funded sim account. We'll state our numbers and let you pull FTMO's from their page. We're not going to quote a competitor's fee at you.

The fee ladder

That fee is a service fee for the evaluation. It's never a deposit, you're not funding an account, and we don't hold it as a balance. It's non-refundable on every plan. The fee buys the evaluation, and what you keep is your 80% split.

Worked example: $50K Classic

Pay $39 for $5K or step up. Take the $50K Classic at $279. Step one is an 8% target, so you grow the sim account to +$4,000 without losing 5% in a day or breaching the $5,000 static floor (10% of $50K). Step two drops the target to 5%, same loss rules, minimum 3 trading days each step. Pass both and you're funded. Split is 80/20 standard, with a permanent 90/10 add-on at checkout for +20% of the fee. Payouts are on-demand from your first profitable funded trade, $50 minimum, processed same-day. No payout caps, no consistency rule on the challenge, no winning-day gates.

The full ladder and the add-on live on pricing, the step-by-step lives on challenge, and the plain-English rule glossary is at prop firm rules.

Leverage: FX 1:100, indices 1:50, metals 1:30, oil 1:20, crypto 1:2, scaled by asset class. We never run FX past 1:100.

The One Thing FTMO US Can't Offer: A Path That Ends in Real Capital

FTMO US is a rewards model. So is Stampede. But there's one wedge a pure rewards firm structured around OANDA can't match, and it's the whole reason we exist: Stampede is the only one that ends in real capital.

Here's the honest version, because the honest version is the selling point.

Most funded traders are not consistently profitable. That's true everywhere, at every firm, and anyone who tells you different is selling you a dream. We don't. The vast majority of funded accounts stay simulated forever, and that's fine, you still get paid your 80% split on demand the same way.

But the consistent few earn a different path. When a funded trader proves out over time, the firm puts its own capital behind that trader's edge. That means the firm runs its own capital on A-book, funded through LHFX and STP'd to its liquidity providers, with the trader paid under a separate performance contract. Read that carefully: the firm is LHFX's client, not you. Your trades are never executed or A-booked on real markets. You trade the sim, you get paid, and your sim track record informs how the firm deploys its own money. That line is the law here and we don't cross it.

No OANDA prop firm structure offers this. FTMO US, FTMO OANDA, ftmo us oanda, whatever you want to call it, the path ends at the rewards payout. Ours keeps going.

The on-ramp is the scaling ladder. On Stampede Instant, your account doubles at every +10% net profit, up to a $50K cap. Hit the cap as a consistent trader and you route into the challenge and graduation territory.

Start the climb on the challenge, or read exactly how funded accounts work before you put a dollar down.

Is FTMO Legit, and Is Stampede a Real Alternative?

Short answer: yes on both. Here's the honest version.

Is FTMO legit, and is FTMO regulated? FTMO is an established prop firm with a long track record, and its US arm, FTMO US, runs on the OANDA structure after the 2025 acquisition. OANDA is a regulated US broker, so the rails behind FTMO US are real and accountable. One thing every FTMO review should say plainly, and ours does: the evaluation itself is a simulated, rewards-based model. Your challenge account isn't live money on a real exchange. So when people ask "is FTMO trading simulated or real," the answer is simulated. That's not a knock on FTMO. It's how every prop firm works, ours included.

Stampede's trust signals, in plain numbers.

No discretionary denials. The rule that lets you withdraw is the same rule for everyone, printed where you can read it before you pay $39 to $179.

Want the rest? Read about us, the terms, or what a prop firm actually is. Then join the stampede.

FTMO US vs Topstep vs Stampede: Where Each One Fits

The "ftmo vs topstep" search hides a fork: those two firms aren't even the same product. Here's the honest routing.

FTMO US. Forex and CFD, simulated and rewards-based just like us. The OANDA acquisition closed and FTMO now runs a US arm at ftmo.oanda.com, so the "FTMO rejects Americans" line is dead. But it's an OANDA-routed, MT5-only platform, and the OANDA prop firm footprint stops at 45 states. AR, DE, LA, MT, and SC don't get in.

Topstep. A different animal: a US futures prop firm. If you live and die on ES, NQ, or CL during the cash session, this is your lane. Futures props don't run leverage ratios at all. They give you exchange margin and cap you by contract count, so the math is buying-power-per-contract, not the 1:100-style leverage a forex trader thinks in. Topstep is built for the futures day-trader, full stop.

Stampede. Forex and CFD on Match-Trader, all 50 states, no excluded list. Static drawdown that never trails, on-demand payouts processed in minutes once you clear the gate. And the breadth: the full LHFX market coverage, FX majors and minors, gold and metals, indices, oil, and crypto, instead of the crypto-only or futures-only menu most firms hand you. We're also the only one of the three with a real-capital graduation path: clear the sim consistently and the firm runs its own capital behind you, funded through LHFX as its client.

So route yourself honestly. Pure futures scalper? Topstep probably fits better, and we'll say so. US forex or CFD trader who wants fast payouts and access in every state including the five FTMO US locks out? That's the stampede.

Want funded today with no evaluation? Stampede Instant funding is the no-challenge format, $39 to $179 by size. Or take the challenge. Compare the futures side on our Topstep alternative page.

FTMO US and Stampede: Frequently Asked Questions

Is FTMO allowed in the US? Yes. Since December 1, 2025, FTMO serves US traders through FTMO US, built on its OANDA acquisition at ftmo.oanda.com. It runs in 45 states. Five are excluded: Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, Montana, and South Carolina.

Which prop firm accepts US clients? Stampede does, in all 50 states plus DC. FTMO US covers 45. If you're in one of those five excluded states, FTMO US isn't an option and Stampede is.

Does FTMO accept US clients through OANDA? Yes. FTMO US is the OANDA-backed entity at ftmo.oanda.com. Onboarding needs an SSN, an IRS W-9, and a US bank account. Wise and Chime won't clear.

What countries does FTMO restrict? FTMO publishes a restricted-country list on its site. US persons aren't on it anymore, they route to FTMO US.

How much is a 100K FTMO account? Check FTMO's pricing page for the current US figure. Stampede's $100K Classic challenge is $479. Our pricing is printed in full, no checkout surprises.

What's the difference between FTMO US and Stampede? States (45 vs 50 + DC), platform (FTMO US is MT5-only; Stampede runs Match-Trader), onboarding (FTMO US wants SSN + W-9 + US bank; ours is lighter), and payout speed. Both are simulated. Stampede's wedge is getting paid in minutes.

Is FTMO trading simulated or real? FTMO US is a simulated rewards model. So is Stampede. You trade a simulated account against published rules.

What's FTMO's profit split and how fast are payouts? FTMO advertises roughly a 90% split (confirm on their site). Stampede pays 80/20 standard, with a permanent 90/10 add-on at checkout for +20% of the fee. Payouts are on-demand and processed in minutes, $50 minimum.

Are there FTMO alternatives for US traders? Yes. Stampede is built US-first.

Is Stampede a legit FTMO alternative in the US? Stampede is operated by DG Analytics Ltd (Singapore), serves all 50 states + DC, runs mechanical published payouts, and states it's simulated openly.

Can US traders get funded without FTMO? Yes. Take the challenge, or skip evaluation with Stampede Instant: $39 to $179 for $2.5K to $10K, 80% flat split, 6% static drawdown.

Is Stampede regulated or simulated? Simulated challenges. The fee is a service fee for the evaluation, never a deposit.