A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell something at a set price on a set date in the future.

The "something" can be the S&P 500, gold, crude oil, natural gas, or the euro. Almost every major financial market on earth has a futures contract attached to it.

Here is what matters for you as a trader: you don't actually take delivery of anything. You open a position, the price moves, you close it before the contract expires, and your profit or loss settles in cash.

If the price went your way, you keep the difference. If it didn't, you lose the difference. That is the whole concept.

Futures contracts are standardized products listed on regulated exchanges: the CME, the CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX (all part of CME Group). Every contract has a defined size, a defined tick value, and a defined expiration date.

CFDs are bilateral instruments. The contract terms, the pricing, and the spread all come from the broker.

A futures contract is the same instrument no matter where you trade it. A single E-mini S&P contract has identical specifications everywhere, and the price quoted on the CME is the price quoted everywhere. That standardization is the reason institutional traders use futures. Same instrument, same specs, same rules.

Upcomers Futures launches with around 50 of the most liquid CME Group contracts, across eight groups. Here is the full lineup at launch.

Thirteen of these are Micro or smaller contracts (MES, MNQ, MYM, M2K, MGC, SIL, MHG, MCL, M6E, M6A, M6B, MBT, and MET). A Micro is a smaller version of its full-size parent. Most are one-tenth the size (MES is 1/10 of ES, MGC is 1/10 of GC, MCL is 1/10 of CL), so you get the same product and the same price action with one-tenth the dollar exposure per contract. Micros let you learn the markets and size risk finely without putting full institutional size on the table.

Contracts. In futures you don't trade in lots or shares, you trade in contracts. One E-mini S&P contract represents $50 multiplied by the current index value. So if the S&P trades at 5,000, one contract represents $250,000 of market exposure. You don't pay $250,000 to open it. You post margin, which is much less. Your profit and loss are calculated on the full exposure.

Tick value. A tick is the smallest price move a contract can make. For the E-mini S&P, one tick equals 0.25 index points, which equals $12.50 per contract. So if your trade moves four ticks in your favor, you make $50 per contract.

These two ideas explain almost everything about how futures work. We have a full guide called Tick size and tick value explained that walks through every instrument with concrete examples.

Profit split: Horizon and Apex currently have a fixed 80% split. Thunderbolt and Vanguard use the option selected at checkout. The split applies to eligible withdrawals under the account’s payout rules.

Purchase terms: Standard accounts have a one-time account purchase price. Turbo variants use an initial Challenge payment and a funded-account activation fee after passing. Check both amounts at checkout.

You get the same standard. The same Dynamic Risk Shield™ and the same payout infrastructure that already power Upcomers, now applied to CME futures.

Upcomers Futures accounts are simulated (sim-funded). You trade a funded balance on Upcomers X against live market prices, and you follow a clear set of risk rules. You are not putting your own capital into the market.

When you meet the payout conditions, eligible simulated profit can produce a real-money payout. Your account’s profit split, cap, and processing fees determine the amount you receive.

The current lineup includes Thunderbolt and Horizon evaluation programs, plus Vanguard and Apex Instant Funding. The evaluation examples below use Classic terms; Turbo variants have their own purchase and program terms.

Thunderbolt Classic. Our most popular path, with the fastest pass in the lineup. A single evaluation phase (one step) with a 6% profit target ($3,000 on a $50,000 account) and a one-day pass, so you can qualify in as little as one trading day. Daily drawdown limit is 3% in the challenge and 2% once funded ($1,500 and $1,000 on a $50,000 account), resetting at 5:00 PM ET. Funded accounts up to $400,000.

For Thunderbolt Classic funded accounts purchased on or after October 29, 2026, each payout requires at least 1% profit and at least 3 qualifying trading days, each with profit of at least 0.5% of initial account balance, plus a 35% Best Day limit. Accounts purchased before that date retain a 20% limit and no minimum trading days. All remaining payout conditions still apply; see Futures: Thunderbolt Classic complete rules.

Vanguard. Instant Funding with no evaluation or minimum trading-day requirement. A payout segment requires 6% profit and a best day no larger than 20% of segment profit. The EOD drawdown is 4% on $25K to $100K, 3.5% on $150K, and 3% on $200K to $400K. Daily drawdown is absent on $25K, 2.5% on $50K / $100K, and 2% on $150K and larger. See Vanguard Futures complete rules.

Horizon. A one-step evaluation with a 6% target and 2 qualifying days. Funded payouts require 3% segment profit and 5 qualifying days, with no Best Day Rule and a fixed 80% split. See Horizon Futures complete rules.

Apex. Instant Funding with 5 qualifying days, no Best Day Rule, a fixed 80% split, and a 3% EOD floor that never locks. Available up to $150K. See Apex Futures complete rules.

A qualifying day requires at least 0.5% profit on initial account balance. Thunderbolt Classic’s published Challenge Profit Share has separate eligibility terms. For a comparison, read How to choose your Futures program.

If you choose Upcomers X, you can trade in your web browser. If you choose Volumetrica, follow the Volumetrica setup guide and the credentials in your Dashboard.

Upcomers X is built for futures. It gives you a native order ladder (Depth of Market), real-time market depth (Level II, up to 10 price levels a side, the standard CME Globex depth), and the core order types: Market, Limit, Stop, and Stop Limit.

If you have used Tradovate, NinjaTrader, or Sierra Chart, the transition takes minutes. If you are new to futures, our Upcomers X guides walk you through login, placing your first order, and reading the ladder step by step.

The full rules live in the dedicated articles for Thunderbolt, Horizon, Vanguard, and Apex. The limits below summarize their funded accounts; evaluation rules can differ.

Trailing drawdown. Thunderbolt and Horizon funded accounts use a 4% End-of-Day floor. Vanguard uses 3% to 4%, depending on size. Their floors follow completed-day closing highs and lock once they reach the initial balance. Apex uses a 3% EOD floor that continues trailing without a lock. Open profits do not raise the completed-day high, but your live equity is still checked against the floor.

Daily reset: On Upcomers X, the trading-day rollover is 5:00 PM ET. A daily drawdown limit applies where specified by your program and size; $25K Vanguard and Apex accounts currently have no separate daily limit. Follow the session and cutoff times for your platform.

Maximum trade loss. Funded Thunderbolt, Horizon, Vanguard, and Apex accounts have a 1.5% limit on a single trade. On a $100,000 funded account, that is $1,500. Positions on the same instrument and in the same direction are counted together. Evaluation rules differ, so check the current phase’s rules.

For the exact numbers on each program, see the rules article for your product.

New to futures? Read Mini vs micro contracts for the building blocks.

Want to know how price translates into dollars? Read Tick size and tick value explained.

Ready to make your first calculation? See How to calculate P&L on futures.

Ready to pick a program? Read How to choose your futures program.

The world's biggest markets are open. Time to trade them.