The short answer: After you get an Upcomers Futures account, you receive a welcome email with your DXtrade login link, username, and a temporary password. You log in on the web using only your username and password. There is no server dropdown to pick. Once inside, change your temporary password, build a watchlist of the Upcomers symbols, set up a chart and the DOM, and turn on a couple of price alerts. This article walks you through all of it.
Most important: the very first time you log in, DXtrade sends you through a one time CME market data onboarding. It is the first thing you do and nothing streams until it is done. It is the first section below.
DXtrade is the platform where all Upcomers Futures trading happens. It runs in your browser (no install needed) and is web only, there is no mobile app. You access it at https://futures.upcomers.com/.
Your free Trial Phase (test mode)
When your account is ready, before the real challenge starts, you get a free Trial Phase. It is a test mode: open the platform, explore it, try placing a few trades, and get comfortable with everything.
Nothing in the Trial Phase counts. No profits are kept and no trades carry over. Everything resets the moment you start the real challenge, and you are not in the challenge yet.
When you are ready, click the pink Start Challenge button on your dashboard to begin for real. Take your time, there is no rush.
The Trial Phase applies to the Thunderbolt Classic and Thunderbolt Legacy challenge accounts. Vanguard is instant funding, so there is no Trial Phase and no challenge to start. You go straight to your funded account.
One time setup: the CME market data onboarding
The very first time you log in, DXtrade does not drop you straight into the trading screen. It sends you to a short, one time dialog (powered by DXfeed) that signs you up for live CME market data.
This is required by the exchange. Your prices are real live CME data even though your account is simulated, and CME requires everyone who receives its live data to register as a subscriber. Every DXtrade futures trader goes through it once.
You start it from the DxFeed market data card on your dashboard. On the dxFeed screen, choose I am Non-Professional (the correct status for an individual trading their own account), then fill in your personal details, tick the three agreements, and submit. Your data activates within a few minutes.
Once you submit, DXtrade sends you back to the platform and your live prices switch on (usually right away, though activation can occasionally take up to about 90 minutes). You will not see this dialog again on future logins, and the same login is reused across all your accounts and challenge tickets. If your quotes ever look frozen right after your first login, it usually means this step was not finished, so log out and back in and complete it to the end.
For more on the Non-Professional CME market data agreement and what to do if your data does not activate, see the dedicated article: DXtrade onboarding, the CME market data agreement.
How you receive your DXtrade credentials
Your DXtrade account is created by Upcomers, not by the platform vendor. After you buy a Thunderbolt Classic, Thunderbolt Legacy, or Vanguard account, you receive a welcome email at the address you used at checkout. That email contains everything you need to log in:
Your DXtrade login URL (the link that opens the Upcomers trading terminal).
Your username (this may be an account number or an assigned login, not necessarily your email).
A temporary password that you should change after your first login.
Vanguard (Instant Funding): there is no challenge to pass, so your account is issued right after purchase. For Thunderbolt Classic and Thunderbolt Legacy, your evaluation account is issued the same way at purchase. Your welcome email with your DXtrade credentials is sent to your checkout address once your payment is processed, and your account and data are typically available a few minutes later.
Backup source: your credentials are also available in your Upcomers dashboard, so you can retrieve them there if the email is lost.
Keep them private. Your credentials are personal and non-transferable. Account sharing or resale is a zero-tolerance violation. Your account is designated under your name and you must trade under your own identity, preferably from the same IP address. Sharing your password or access can result in account closure, so do not pass your credentials to anyone.
Log in for the first time (web)
Important: DXtrade has no universal login page and no server or environment dropdown. The server is built into your Upcomers login URL. If you are coming from MetaTrader, forget the "select server" step, there isn't one here. You must use the exact Upcomers URL from your welcome email. A generic address or another firm's URL will not work.
Steps:
Open your welcome email and click the DXtrade login link, or paste the exact Upcomers DXtrade URL into a desktop browser. Any modern browser works, no download needed.
On the login screen you see two fields: Username and Password. Best practice is to copy and paste both from the email so you avoid typos. Watch for a stray trailing space, and remember passwords are case-sensitive.
Click Log In.
You land directly in the trading terminal. There is no separate server-selection step.
If you have more than one account (for example an evaluation and a funded account), DXtrade asks for your login the first time you switch to a new account, then remembers it so later switching is quick.
Upcomers login URL: https://futures.upcomers.com/ (always use the exact link from your welcome email).
Change your temporary password
Do this right after your first login to replace the temporary password from the email.
Open the Settings menu (the hamburger icon, three lines, at the top-right).
Click Change password.
Enter your current (temporary) password, then your new password, and submit.
Forgot your password later? The platform vendor cannot reset it. Password resets and credentials are handled in your Upcomers dashboard, or contact Upcomers support (in-app chat, help center, or [email protected]) and they will sort it out.
Get to know your workspace
DXtrade is a modular, drag-and-drop terminal. Four terms make everything else easier:
Workspace: a canvas of panels. Add more with the "+" button next to the workspace tabs.
Widgets: the panels themselves (chart, watchlist, positions, orders, account info, market depth, alerts, and more). Add one by clicking it or dragging it onto the canvas.
Layout button (top-right, next to the Settings menu): save, load, rename, and delete your saved layouts with Save Layout As.
Settings menu (the hamburger, top-right): holds Change Password, Language, the light/dark theme toggle, order execution and rejection sounds, and Log out.
Your account bar at the top shows live metrics. The main ones to know:
Metric | What it means |
Balance | Your closed account value. |
Equity | Balance plus the profit or loss of your open positions. |
P&L | Profit or loss on your currently open positions. |
Used Margin | Margin currently tied up in open positions. |
Free Margin | Equity minus Used Margin. |
All Upcomers accounts are USD-denominated. DXtrade opens with a default layout, and you are free to rearrange, add, and remove widgets to build the workspace that suits you.
Build your Upcomers watchlist
When you open the Watchlist widget you see a default list that is predefined by Upcomers and cannot be edited. To trade a custom set of symbols, create your own list.
Click the downward arrow next to the watchlist name.
Choose Create custom list and give it a name.
Add instruments by typing symbols into the Symbol field.
Upcomers Futures gives you a large universe of liquid CME Group futures (around 50 symbols) across index, metals, energy, FX, rates, grains, livestock, and crypto. They are all USD-denominated and trade on CME, CBOT, COMEX, and NYMEX (all on Globex). Type any symbol below into your list:
Group | Symbols |
Index | ES, MES, NQ, MNQ, YM, MYM, RTY, M2K |
Metals | GC, MGC, SI, SIL, HG, MHG, PL, PA |
Energy | CL, MCL, QM, NG, QG, HO, RB |
FX | 6E, 6B, 6J, 6A, 6C, 6S, 6N, M6E, M6A, M6B |
Rates | ZB, ZN, ZF, ZT, UB |
Grains | ZC, ZS, ZW, ZL, ZM |
Livestock | HE, LE, GF |
Crypto | BTC, MBT, ETH, MET |
Several micro contracts (for example MES, MNQ, MGC, and MCL) are one-tenth the size of their full-size versions and carry one-tenth the risk per tick. Not every micro is a clean one-tenth, though. M6E is one-tenth the contract size of 6E but about one-fifth the risk per tick, and SIL, MBT, and MET use different ratios. Check the tick value of each symbol before you size a trade. If you are new, micros are a lower-risk way to start.
Two handy watchlist tips:
Right-click a symbol (on your custom list) to open an order, view its chart, see instrument info, or create an alert.
Use the Link button to color-link the watchlist to your chart, so clicking a symbol updates the chart automatically.
Set up your chart
Open a chart by right-clicking a symbol in your watchlist and choosing View chart, or by typing a symbol into the chart's own symbol field.
Timeframe: pick from the timeframe dropdown (1 minute through 1 month).
Chart type: Candle, Bar, Line, and others.
Indicators: click the indicators button and drag the ones you want into the added list.
Trading from the chart: in Chart settings, turn on "Trading from chart" if you want to place and drag orders directly on the price scale.
Add the DOM (Depth of Market)
The Market Depth widget is the price ladder, or DOM. It shows the live order book: the resting buy quantity (bids) on one side, the resting sell quantity (asks) on the other, with prices in the middle. On futures, DXtrade shows several levels of aggregated market depth on each side (CME Globex distributes up to 10 levels for most contracts). This is the total quantity resting at each price level, not a list of every individual order.
Add the Market Depth widget to your workspace.
Load a symbol by selecting it in the widget, or link it by color to your chart and watchlist so they all follow the same symbol.
Your own resting orders and open positions are highlighted on the ladder relative to price.
You can trade straight from the ladder: click a price on the bid or ask side to place an order at that level, and drag your working orders up or down the ladder to adjust them.
Turn on price alerts
Alerts notify you when a symbol reaches a price you care about, so you do not have to watch the screen all day.
Right-click a symbol in your watchlist and choose Create alert, or open the Alerts widget and click Create Alert.
Set the condition: pick the instrument, choose Bid or Ask, choose Above or Below, and enter the price level.
Optionally set an expiration date and time and a description, then click Create.
Note: Broker Price Alerts are a separate channel for alerts sent by the broker rather than ones you create yourself.
Your first-session checklist
Run through this once before you place your first order:
Logged in with the exact Upcomers URL, username, and password.
Changed the temporary password to your own.
Created a custom watchlist with the symbols you plan to trade.
Opened a chart and set your timeframe and indicators.
Added the DOM for your main symbol.
Set at least one price alert.
Saved your layout with Save Layout As so it loads next time.
Confirmed your account bar (Balance, Equity, P&L) looks correct.
One timing detail to know before you trade: on Upcomers Futures, the daily drawdown resets at 5:00 PM ET (the futures-industry standard), not at a UTC time. This is different from Upcomers equity or MT5 products, so do not assume a UTC reset.
Trouble logging in? Common fixes
Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
"Invalid credentials" | Typo, trailing space, or wrong case | Re-copy from the welcome email, delete stray spaces, remember passwords are case-sensitive |
"Account not found" or "Server not available" | Wrong login URL | Use the exact Upcomers URL from your email or dashboard, not a generic address |
Page loads but will not authenticate | Stale browser cache or cookies | Clear your cache, try a private window, or use another browser |
Credentials email never arrived | Wrong email, spam filter, or not yet issued | Check spam, pull credentials from your dashboard, or contact support |
Because your account is issued by Upcomers, an "account inactive" or "phase not started" state is a dashboard matter, not a platform bug.
Need help?
If you cannot log in or your credentials did not arrive, reach out through Upcomers support (in-app chat, help center, or [email protected]). The DXtrade vendor cannot access your account, reset your password, or create logins, so all account issues are handled by Upcomers.