Balance-based drawdown calculates your daily loss limit from the account balance at the start of the trading day, not from floating equity. This means unrealized profits on open positions are not counted against your drawdown until trades are closed. Rules may vary by program.
Matching Firms
19
Eligible Challenges
361
Avg Eligible Price
$461
Balance-based drawdown means the firm calculates your daily loss limit from the account balance at the start of the trading day, rather than from real-time equity. This approach does not count unrealized losses on open positions against your drawdown until those positions are closed.
A firm appears on this page if it offers at least one active challenge where the daily drawdown type is set to 'balance' or 'balance or equity.' Challenges with equity-based drawdown are counted separately. Challenges where the drawdown type is unspecified appear as unknown.
For traders who hold positions through temporary drawdowns (swing traders, mean-reversion strategies, or traders scaling into positions), balance-based drawdown provides more breathing room. Equity-based drawdown can trigger violations from unrealized losses even when the trading thesis remains intact.
Balance-based daily drawdown does not mean the overall maximum drawdown is also balance-based. Many firms use different calculation methods for daily vs. overall drawdown. Always check both drawdown rules for a complete picture.
Best Profit Split
100%
