Every Upcomers Futures account has a floor it cannot fall below. On Thunderbolt Classic, that floor is the trailing maximum drawdown we call the Dynamic Risk Shield™ (4%, End-of-Day). On Vanguard, the floor is a 3% End-of-Day trailing drawdown. If your account touches the active floor, the account fails (on a challenge) or is closed (on a funded account). A drawdown breach is enforced by the system automatically: the moment your account hits the floor, all open positions are closed at market with no manual step.

What makes it "trailing" is that the floor is not fixed. It starts a set distance below your starting balance, and as your account grows the floor rises with it. On Thunderbolt Classic and Vanguard, it follows your highest closing balance of any completed trading day, updated once a day at 5:00 PM ET. It only ever moves up. When your account gives profit back, the floor stays where it was. Once each program reaches its lock level, the floor stops moving. This is what protects your gains once you have earned them.

One thing to keep in mind from the start: you are not risking the full account size. What matters is the gap between your current equity and the floor. That gap is your real room to lose, so size your trades against it, not against the headline account number.

The trailing drawdown starts as a percentage of your starting balance, which sets your starting cushion in dollars. On Thunderbolt Classic, the percentage is the same in the challenge and the funded stage. Vanguard has no challenge stage and uses 3% EOD trailing on the funded account. On a $50,000 account that is $2,000 on Thunderbolt and $1,500 on Vanguard; on a $100,000 account it is $4,000 and $3,000.

Vanguard is instant funding, so it has no challenge stage. You start on the funded rules with a 3% End-of-Day trailing drawdown from your first trade.

Thunderbolt Classic and Vanguard use EOD trailing. The floor is recalculated only once per trading day, at the 5:00 PM ET rollover (the CME trading-day boundary), from the highest closing balance of any completed trading day, counting closed profit and loss only. It does not move during the trading day, and unrealized profit or loss on open positions never moves it; a position still open at the close does not raise or lower the closing balance that is used. If a day closes at a new highest balance, the floor moves up and stays 4% (Classic) or 3% (Vanguard) below that close. If the day closes lower, the floor stays where it was. On your first day, before any day has closed, the floor sits that percentage below your starting balance. Your live equity, including open positions, is still checked against the floor in real time, so an intraday spike in open profit does not drag the floor up, but a big intraday loss can still breach the account.

Does the floor stop at your starting balance? Yes, on every program. On Thunderbolt Classic and Vanguard, the floor locks permanently at your starting balance once a day closes high enough: about 4.17% above it on Classic ($104,167 on a $100,000 account) and about 3.09% above it on Vanguard ($103,093 on a $100,000 account). Until each program reaches its lock level, the floor only ever moves up as you profit, never down.

One caution about payouts: a payout lowers your balance but it does not lower the floor. Say your floor sits at $50,000 and your balance is $53,000, so you have a $3,000 cushion. Withdraw $2,000 and your balance is $51,000, so your cushion is now $1,000. The floor stays where it was at $50,000. A large withdrawal can leave you sitting close to the floor, so plan payouts with that in mind.

Funded trailing drawdown is 4%, so on a $50,000 account the shield starts $2,000 below your balance.

Start: balance $50,000, floor at $50,000 minus $2,000 = $48,000.

A day closes at $51,000: at the 5:00 PM ET rollover the floor moves up to 4% below that close, $48,960.

A day closes at about $52,083 or more: 4% below that close is $50,000, so the floor reaches $50,000, your starting balance, and locks there permanently. From this point it is static and no longer trails.

You keep climbing: the floor stays locked at $50,000. It does not trail higher and it never follows you back down, so you can trade without the drawdown chasing your profits.

Because Thunderbolt Classic trails End-of-Day, open profit does not move the floor. If your equity spikes to a new high on an open position and then you give it back before the 5:00 PM ET close, the floor does not move at all. Only a higher closing balance raises it.

The trailing drawdown is separate from the daily drawdown, and both apply to the same account. The trailing floor is your overall limit; the daily limit caps how much you can lose in a single trading day. You must stay above both.

Each daily limit is measured from the higher of your equity or balance at the 5:00 PM ET reset, then set that percentage below it for the session.

On a $50,000 account, a 3% daily limit is $1,500 and a 2% daily limit is $1,000, measured from that day's reset level.

Max trade loss: on top of these, every program caps the most any single open trade may lose. It is 1.5% of account size on Thunderbolt Classic and Vanguard. On a $50,000 account that is $750. This is a hard rule: a single trade that loses more than its limit triggers an automatic breach and closes the account, even if your overall equity is still profitable. Positions on the same instrument in the same direction count together as one trade, so you cannot split an oversized position to get around it.

If your account was closed on a drawdown breach and you believe it was a platform error, you can ask us to review it. Contact support at [email protected] with the subject "Drawdown Breach Review Request" and include your Account ID.

Not sure how the shield applies to your account? Start a chat with our team from the help center and we will walk through your numbers.