Many crypto prop firms use trailing drawdown, which chases your profits and adds constant pressure as your account grows. Static drawdown prop firms like CoinProp flip that script, no trailing drawdown means fixed limits from the starting balance. It’s simpler, less stressful, and lets you trade aggressively without the drawdown creeping up behind every win. If you hate that trailing headache, go with prop firms without trailing drawdown setup.
Every pro trader knows drawdown is part of the game. It’s simply the biggest drop in your account balance from its all time high, often called the “high water mark”. It’s the main way we measure risk and how much pain an account can take before it’s”game over”.
But in prop firms, the type of drawdown makes all the difference between a fair shot and a rigged trap.
Most firms these days use trailing drawdown, and it’s straight up toxic. Here’s how it works: as your account grows, your max allowed loss trails right behind your profits, either in real time or end of the day. The higher you climb, the higher the floor moves up with you.
You’re sprinting forward, stacking wins, feeling good. But that monster (the drawdown limit) is running right behind you at the exact same speed. Every step you take ahead doesn’t buy you safety, it just drags the kill zone up with you.
You can never stop, breathe, or actually enjoy the profits you just made. One normal pullback that would’ve been fine at a lower balance now wipes you out because the floor rose with your gains.
It’s not just math. It’s constant psychological pressure. You’re not only fighting the market, you’re fighting to protect profits you’ve already earned.
For crypto traders who swing big on breakouts, hold through volatility, or scale into winners, trailing drawdown is a death sentence.
That’s why any serious prop firm worth joining today has to be no trailing drawdown, pure static drawdown. The limit stays fixed from your starting balance, no chasing, no moving goalposts.
You bank a win? Great.
That profit is now real breathing room. You can manage risk like an adult without the system punishing you for being good at your job. Static drawdown isn’t a luxury. In crypto, it’s survival. If your prop firm still uses trailing, run. You deserve better.
If trailing drawdown feels like an endless nightmare of stress and chasing shadows, static drawdown is the breath of fresh air every real trader needs. CoinProp ditched trailing completely because we believe pros deserve a fixed safety net, not a moving target.
Here’s the deal: the max loss limit (your liquidation floor) gets locked in once, at the exact moment you get funded or start the challenge. It never moves up, no matter how much profit you stack.
Take a $100k account with a 10% static drawdown. Your floor stays glued at $90k forever. Hit +5%? Floor’s still $90k. Hit +30%? Still $90k. That profit is now real breathing room.
Static drawdown hands you actual strategic freedom. In trailing systems, every big win forces a tough choice: cash out quickly or risk a normal pullback nuking your whole run because the floor trailed your highs.
With static? You can:
Let big winners run and compound. Keep profits in the account to size up on the next monster setup without the drawdown creeping closer.
Ride out natural pullbacks. Crypto dips 10–20% all the time. Static lets you weather those storms without sweating a breach on every candle.
Static drawdown isn’t just easier math. It’s respect. CoinProp trusts your risk management skills instead of trying to claw back your gains the second you make them.
You survive longer, swing bigger when it counts, and build real, sustainable equity instead of playing defense against your own profits.
That’s not a gimmick. That’s how crypto trading was always supposed to feel.
In prop trading, trailing drawdown comes in two main versions. On paper, one looks “tolerable” and the other “lethal.” But throw crypto volatility into the mix, and both choke you the same way.
The loss limit only trails up when you close profitable trades. Open P&L doesn’t move the needle.
The limit follows your live equity. Even $200 in floating profit can yank the floor higher and put you one bad candle away from a breach.
A lot of traders breathe easy when they hear “we only do trailing on balance.” Truth is, even the “milder” version turns brutal after 5–6% profit. At that point, you basically lose the right to have a normal losing trade.
Here's how the drawdown limits evolve as the account grows (assuming progress toward a profit target):
Start
Current Balance: $10,000
Static Drawdown Limit: $9,500
Trailing on Balance Limit: $9,500
Trailing on Equity Limit: $9,500
+4% Profit
Current Balance: $10,400
Static Drawdown Limit: $9,500
Trailing on Balance Limit: $9,900
Trailing on Equity Limit: $9,900
+6% Profit
Current Balance: $10,600
Static Drawdown Limit: $9,500
Trailing on Balance Limit: $10,100
Trailing on Equity Limit: $10,100
+8% Profit
Current Balance: $10,800
Static Drawdown Limit: $9,500
Trailing on Balance Limit: $10,300
Trailing on Equity Limit: $10,300
Breathing Room Left
Static: 13%
Trailing on Balance: ~4.6%
Trailing on Equity: Usually <3%
It’s crystal clear. At +8%profit, the static model still gives you 13% of wiggle room all the way down to $9500. Trailing versions push you back down to under 5%, sometimes way less.
One everyday crypto pullback and boom, your run ends right before the finish line.
That’s the brutal truth of markets: no strategy, in crypto or anywhere else, wins 20–30 trades in a row without a few losers or drawdowns. Trailing drawdown basically demands the impossible: trade with zero pullbacks, zero normal losses.
Static drawdown is the cleanest, fairest way to manage risk in prop trading. The max drawdown is a fixed dollar amount set once, based on your starting balance, and it never moves, no matter how much profit you stack.
You get real freedom to manage positions, let winners run, and ride out the volatility that’s just part of crypto. No punishment for doing your job well.
At CoinProp, we run pure static. Because pros shouldn’t have to fight the rules on top of fighting the market. Simple. Fair. Built for winners.
We're pitting two giants against each other: FTMO (forex heavyweight) and Topstep (futures king). Let's break down their drawdown setups to see which one gives traders more room to breathe.
This is the core difference, the rule that defines how much pain your account can take overall.
FTMO keeps it classic and trader-friendly with a fixed max loss limit (usually 10% overall, called Maximum Loss). It's locked to your starting balance and never moves up, even if you stack massive profits.
Example on a $100k account (10% max loss = $90k floor):
You grow to $120k? Floor stays $90k. That extra $20k profit is pure cushion, you get more breathing room the better you perform.
Big win: Wins feel like actual progress. You can ride volatility, scale positions, or weather storms without the system punishing success. It's calm waters for building long-term equity.
Topstep uses a trailing max loss limit that follows your profits, usually end-of-day in the evaluation and can shift in funded accounts. It trails up as you make money but typically stops trailing and locks once you hit breakeven or a set profit threshold.
Here’s the real kicker after it locks: you can’t freely withdraw profits without paying a price. If you pull out your earnings, the locked floor stays put at that higher level. Suddenly your effective drawdown cushion shrinks dramatically, you’re left with almost no room for normal losses.
Traders basically face a tough choice: keep the profit in the account forever (treating it as permanent cushion) or withdraw and reset your drawdown to near zero, turning every future trade into a high-wire act where one slip ends the run.
It forces ultra-conservative play post-lock, which works for some in futures but feels restrictive if you want to actually enjoy or compound your wins.
It boils down to your style: FTMO's static drawdown rewards consistency with growing safety nets, perfect if you want peace and flexibility as profits roll in. Topstep's trailing (and post-lock withdrawal penalty) demands iron discipline from day one, keeping you sharp but always limited in how you handle success.
Whichever you pick, mastering drawdown is the real key to going funded and staying there. Trade smart out there.
CoinProp follows the same classic, trader friendly approach as FTMO: pure static drawdown with no trailing whatsoever.
Your loss limit is fixed from the starting balance and never moves up as you profit, giving you real, growing breathing room.
No moving goalposts, no punishment for winning. Just clean, predictable risk
management built for pros.
Choosing a static drawdown isn’t about picking the “easier” rule. It’s about choosing the professional, sustainable way to manage risk in a market as wild as crypto. This setup delivers seven massive strategic advantages that separate surviving traders from the ones who actually thrive.
Static drawdown gives you crystal-clear risk visibility. The loss limit is locked in from day one and never moves. You always know exactly how deep a pullback can go before you’re in trouble. That clarity is the foundation of real confidence and focus.
Unlike trailing, your cushion doesn’t shrink as you win. It stays fixed, letting you ride out crypto’s natural swings and normal losing streaks without sweating a sudden breach.
Only static lets you run textbook position sizing. Your risk calculations stay valid no matter how much the account grows. The floor never shifts under your feet.
This is the killer tactical edge: once you’re in profit, you can increase position sizes with confidence. Bigger equity means bigger trades, without the drawdown sneaking up and turning a smart move into a rule break.
No more “running from the monster” every time you book a winner. The constant pressure of a trailing floor vanishes. You trade with a clear head, dodging overtrading and revenge plays that kill most accounts.
Trailing basically bans swing trading, those strategies need room for pullbacks. Static gives you that space. Hold positions through volatility without the system punishing you for normal market behavior.
Static drawdown aligns perfectly with real skill. It rewards steady risk management and sustainable performance, not some unrealistic streak of perfect trades. The prop firm wins when you win long-term, not when they hope you give the money back.
Static drawdown isn’t a perk. It’s the only setup that treats you like a professional trader instead of prey.
At CoinProp, we run pure static because that’s how crypto should be traded: bold, calculated, and free.
After breaking it all down, the verdict is crystal clear: trailing drawdown, whether on balance or equity, fundamentally clashes with any trader chasing real consistency and systematic growth. It doesn’t just complicate risk management; it turns your hard earned profits into the starting line for a fresh wave of stress. That never-ending risk marathon has no place in a pro trader’s world.
The fix is simple and obvious: go with a prop firm that runs no trailing drawdown.
CoinProp gets this completely. By sticking to pure static drawdown, we don’t just make the single-phase challenge easier, we hand you real freedom. You move toward your target with full breathing room (13% cushion on a typical 5% nominal drawdown), knowing your profits are actually yours and not bait for a moving trap.
If you’re done with platforms that punish you for winning and ready for one that respects real risk management and strategic freedom, now’s the time to see the difference yourself.
Hit up CoinProp’s 14-day free trial and feel what it’s like to trade without a trailing monster on your back. The race is over.Time to run free.CoinProp’s waiting.
Q1. Does CoinProp use any kind of trailing drawdown?
No way. Not at all. CoinProp stays completely clear of that toxic trailing drawdown mechanic, whether it’s on balance or equity. We run 100% **static drawdown** to give you maximum freedom and zero unnecessary mental stress.
Q2. How is static drawdown actually better than trailing?
Static drawdown locks your loss limit (the liquidation floor) once and for all at the start. As you stack profits, that floor never moves up. You keep real breathing room to handle normal market pullbacks and volatility without the system tightening the noose every time you win.
Q3. What do the static drawdown rules look like on funded accounts?
Exactly the same as the challenge phase. Once funded, static drawdown stays in place. You can let profits sit in the account, scale up your positions, or manage margin better, without worrying that your gains will suddenly drag the loss limit higher and turn a smart trade into a breach.
Q4. How does trailing drawdown mess with scalping or swing trading strategies?
It wrecks both. For scalpers, the constant equity fluctuations (especially trailing on equity) crank up the risk on every little move. For swing traders, who need room for deeper pullbacks, trailing basically paralyzes the strategy. Static drawdown gives both styles the space they actually need to breathe and perform.
Q5. What happens to static drawdown if I stack a ton of profit on a funded account?
Static drawdown is always calculated off your original starting balance (say $100k). Even if you grow the account to $150k or more, your loss limit stays locked at the same dollar amount, like $95k on a 5% drawdown. Those extra profits become pure breathing room, not a reason for the rules to tighten up on you.
Q6. How does the daily drawdown work, and is it static too?
Yep, daily drawdown at CoinProp is simple and fixed, usually 4–5% of the initial balance. It resets fresh every day and doesn’t trail your profits. So if you ended yesterday up big, today’s daily limit is still the same flat amount. No creeping pressure.
Q7. Can I hold positions overnight or over the weekend in the challenge or funded account?
Absolutely. Crypto never closes, so we don’t force you to either. No overnight or weekend holding restrictions. Static drawdown gives you the room to swing trade or hold longer-term plays without extra stress from random rules.
Q8. Do I get any warning if I’m getting close to the drawdown limit?
The live dashboard shows your drawdown status in real time, every second, so you’ll usually spot it coming yourself.
Got more questions? Jump in our Discord or hit the Help Center.
We keep it simple because trading crypto is hard enough already.
