Thunderbolt Classic is a one-step evaluation program. You clear a single evaluation phase and then trade a funded account. Thanks to the one-day pass, it is quick to clear (Vanguard has no evaluation at all).

You can trade through news. Positions cannot be held through the daily break or over the weekend: every open position is closed automatically at 4:50 PM ET (3:50 PM CT). If you want to skip the evaluation entirely, look at Vanguard.

There are two stages: the challenge (your evaluation) and the funded account you earn by passing it. The rules tighten slightly when you move to funded, so read both sections below.

In the challenge you trade an evaluation account. Your job is to reach the profit target without breaking either drawdown rule. There is no separate minimum trading-day requirement and no maximum time limit to pass. You can pass in a single trading day if all challenge conditions are met.

Profit target: 6%. You need to grow the account by 6% to pass. On a $50,000 account that is $3,000 in profit. On a $100,000 account it is $6,000.

Trailing drawdown: 4%. This is your Dynamic Risk Shield™ in the challenge. Your account must stay above a trailing floor set 4% below your highest end-of-day closing balance. On a $100,000 account that floor starts at $96,000 and moves up once per day, at the 5:00 PM ET rollover, as your closing balance makes new highs (see the mechanics section below).

Daily drawdown: 3%. In the challenge you cannot lose more than 3% measured from where your account started the trading day. On a $100,000 account that is $3,000 in a single day, and on a $50,000 account that is $1,500. The day resets at 5:00 PM ET. Once you are funded, this daily drawdown tightens to 2%.

Challenge trade-loss controls: The funded 1.5% realized-loss rule is separate from challenge risk controls. During the challenge, follow your assigned drawdown, open-position and trading-idea limits. See Max Trade Loss.

Minimum trading days: None (the one-day pass). Thunderbolt Classic is the only Upcomers Futures program with a one-day pass. You need to place trades on at least one day, and if you hit the 6% target that fast while respecting the rules, you can pass in a single day.

Every open position is closed automatically at 4:50 PM ET (3:50 PM CT), 10 minutes before the daily session close, every trading day including Friday. You cannot hold a position through the daily break or over the weekend during the challenge. The automatic close is not a rule violation.

Once you pass, you move to a funded account. There is no profit target anymore. Your focus shifts to trading inside the risk rules and meeting the payout conditions.

Trailing drawdown: 4%. The funded trailing floor is set 4% below your highest end-of-day closing balance and is recalculated once per day, at the 5:00 PM ET rollover. On a $100,000 account it starts at $96,000, and once a day closes at about $104,167 or more it locks permanently at your $100,000 starting balance.

Daily drawdown: 2%, reset 5:00 PM ET. Tighter than the challenge's 3%. No more than 2% loss from your start-of-day balance, and the day rolls over at 5:00 PM ET.

Max Trade Loss: 1.5%. The funded realized-loss limit is 1.5% of initial account size. Other risk controls remain separate.

Profit split: 80%, 90% (default) or 100%, depending on the option selected at checkout. Use the split assigned to your account.

The same 4:50 PM ET automatic close applies on the funded account, so positions are not held through the daily break or over the weekend. Accounts scale up to $400,000.

The trailing drawdown is our Dynamic Risk Shield™. On Thunderbolt Classic it is an End-of-Day (EOD) trailing floor that follows your highest closing balance higher as you profit. Here is what that means in practice.

End-of-Day. The floor is recalculated only once per trading day, at the 5:00 PM ET rollover (the CME trading-day boundary). It is set 4% below the highest closing balance of any completed trading day, counting closed profit and loss only. Unrealized profit or loss on open trades never moves it, and a position still open at the close does not raise or lower the closing balance that is used. During the day the floor is fixed, and today's close can only raise tomorrow's floor. When a day closes lower, or a withdrawal lowers the close, the floor stays where it was. It only ratchets up, never down, until it locks. On your first day, before any day has closed, the floor is 4% below your starting balance.

Checked in real time. Although the floor only moves at the rollover, your live equity, including open positions, is checked against it at every moment. If your equity touches or falls below the floor at any point during the day, the account breaches and open positions are closed. In practice, an intraday spike in open profit does not drag the floor up behind you, but a big intraday loss can still breach the account.

It locks at your starting balance. Once a day closes high enough that the floor reaches your initial balance (a close about 4.17% above your starting balance), the Dynamic Risk Shield™ stops trailing and locks permanently at your initial balance. After it locks it is static and no longer moves, so it never chases your profits again. This is the same lock model as the CFD Dynamic Risk Shield.

Example on a $100,000 funded account (4% trailing). The floor starts at $96,000, 4% below your $100,000 starting balance. If your first day closes at $102,000, the floor moves at 5:00 PM ET to $97,920 (4% below $102,000). If your equity then spikes to $105,000 on an open position during the next day but that day closes at $101,500, the floor stays at $97,920, because only closing balances count and $101,500 is not a new closing high. Once a day closes at about $104,167 or more, the floor reaches your $100,000 starting balance and locks permanently at $100,000. From there it stays put no matter how high your balance goes, so all the profit you make above $100,000 is yours to keep without the floor moving up behind it.

The number that matters day to day is not your account size, it is the gap between your current equity and that floor. That gap is what you are really trading.

Watch your buffer after a payout. A withdrawal lowers your balance but the trailing floor sits where your highest closing balance left it, so a payout eats directly into your cushion. On a $100,000 account with the floor at $100,000, a balance of $103,000 gives you a $3,000 cushion. Withdraw $2,000 and your balance is $101,000, so your cushion is now $1,000. Size your payouts around the buffer you want to keep.

The challenge works exactly the same way with the same 4% band: the floor trails your highest closing balance higher, once per day at 5:00 PM ET, and then locks at your starting balance once it reaches it.

Futures do not reset at midnight UTC the way some other Upcomers products do. The daily drawdown on Thunderbolt Classic (3% in the challenge, 2% once funded) resets at 5:00 PM ET, the standard end of the trading day for CME futures (5:00 PM ET is 4:00 PM CT). This is the moment CME rolls the trading day and runs end-of-day clearing, not the point where daily settlement prices are set (those are struck earlier, at each product's daytime session close).

Your daily loss is measured from the higher of your equity or balance at the 5:00 PM ET reset snapshot. Your daily limit is that starting figure minus the daily drawdown percentage (3% in the challenge, 2% once funded), and you breach if your equity falls below the limit at any point in the day. On a $50,000 account that starts the day at $50,000, that is $1,500 in the challenge and $1,000 once funded. When the daily limit is hit, all open positions close at market automatically. At 5:00 PM ET the counter resets and a fresh trading day begins.

Because every open position is closed at 4:50 PM ET, you start each new trading day flat, and the new day's daily drawdown is measured from your balance at the 5:00 PM ET reset.

The funded realized Max Trade Loss is 1.5% of initial account size: $750 on $50,000 or $1,500 on $100,000. A breach can end the account even when overall results are profitable.

A stop does not guarantee the realized loss remains below the cap. Leave room for slippage and do not split related positions to evade risk controls. See Max Trade Loss for examples and the distinction from challenge controls.

To keep payouts sustainable, Thunderbolt Classic uses a 35% Best Day Rule (20% on accounts purchased before October 29, 2026). No single trading day may account for more than 35% of your total profit since your last payout, measured at the time you request one.

This is a soft rule. It does not fail or close your account. It gates payout eligibility. If one day is responsible for more than 35% of your profit, you keep trading and add more balanced days until no single day exceeds the 35% share, then you can request your payout.

Example. You want to withdraw with $5,000 of total profit. 35% of $5,000 is $1,750, so your single best day must be $1,750 or less. If your best day made $2,000, you are above the limit for now. Trade more profitable days to raise your total until that $2,000 day is 35% or less of the total, then request the payout.

If you are coming from a firm that used a 40% or 50% Best Day Rule, note that Upcomers Classic is stricter at 35%.

There is no fixed payout interval on Thunderbolt Classic. You can request a payout at any time once you meet all of the conditions below.

Thunderbolt Classic accounts purchased before October 29, 2026 keep the previous payout rules: a 20% Best Day Rule and no minimum trading days.

The $50 minimum applies to the requested account-profit amount before the assigned profit split. Bank or crypto payout fees are a separate step; see How to request a payout.

Keep your account active. If there is no trading for an extended period, the account is automatically closed and any progress or unrealized profit is forfeited.

The inactivity window is 14 calendar days, not trading days. It starts from the moment you purchase the account, even before your first trade, and it resets every time you close a trade. A resting or unfilled pending order does not count, it has to be a closed trade. You receive a warning email before the account expires, and there is no fee tied to inactivity. Inactivity closures cannot be appealed.

The percentages above translate to these dollar figures on the two most common account sizes.

What is the profit target?

6% in the challenge. There is no target once you are funded.

Is the one-day pass real?

Yes. You need trades on at least one day. If you reach 6% that fast while respecting the rules, you can pass in a single day. Classic is the only Upcomers Futures program with a one-day pass.

Can I hold trades over the weekend?

No. Every open position is closed automatically at 4:50 PM ET (3:50 PM CT) each trading day, Friday included, so no position is held through the daily break or over the weekend. The automatic close is not a rule violation.

When can I request a payout?

Any time, once you have at least 1% profit and at least 3 trading days with at least 0.5% profit each since your last payout, your best day is within 35% of total profit, all positions are closed, and the amount is at least $50. Accounts purchased before October 29, 2026 keep a 20% Best Day Rule and no minimum trading days.

Is there a max trade loss in the challenge?

The funded 1.5% realized-loss rule is separate from challenge risk controls. During the challenge, follow your assigned drawdown, open-position and trading-idea limits. See Max Trade Loss.

What breaches my account?

Both phases can breach the 4% trailing floor and their applicable daily limit: 3% in the challenge, 2% funded. Funded accounts also have the 1.5% realized Max Trade Loss rule. Other assigned controls and prohibited-strategy rules still apply. The Best Day Rule affects payout eligibility rather than closing the account.

What is my profit split?

up to 100%. You keep up to 100% of what you withdraw.

Not sure Classic is the right fit? Read How to choose your futures program to compare it with Vanguard.

New to futures? Start with Tick size and tick value explained and How to calculate P&L on futures so the dollar figures above make sense on every instrument.

Ready to trade? See How to log in to Upcomers X and How to place a trade in Upcomers X.