E8 Funding Review

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E8 Funding offers qualified traders the opportunity to trade with E8 Funding’s capital resources in exchange for a large percentage of profits earned. Assisted by artificial intelligence (AI), the U.S.-based company was founded by traders who “have a passion for identifying hidden talent” in the forex trading community. 

The company offers access to Tier-1 liquidity and aspires to be the top proprietary trading firm in the world. E8 Funding has developed a user-friendly trading experience with all the essential data required for profitable trading, and it allows funded traders to use the MT4/5 platforms for forex and CFD trading. 

All you need to do to get funded is pay money to audition and then qualify for funding by proving you can trade profitably while managing your risk appropriately. 

E8 Funding bridges the gap between retail forex traders and professionals by offering its funding to undercapitalized qualified traders so that they can operate remotely from anywhere in the world. The company also provides all-in-one analytics and top-tier software solutions from its team of in-house engineers to help improve your forex trading experience and success. 

You can get set up quickly using the E8 Funding server on MT4. You will receive your trading credentials as soon as you sign up for any of the firm’s accounts. In addition, you can access your E8 Funding account on your phone, tablet or desktop computer through the company’s interactive app: the E8X dashboard.  

Screenshot of E8 Funding’s E8X mobile app. Source: E8 Funding.

You can choose from among three account types with different funding and characteristics: the E8 Account, the E8 Track and the ELEV8 Account. You gain access to these accounts by completing a two-phase evaluation process, and the initial upfront cost will depend on the account type and the amount of funding requested. 

The initial fee for the evaluation subsequently gets refunded for E8 Account and E8 Track if the evaluation process is completed successfully, although those traders who fail the evaluation do not get a refund. 

To work with E8 Funding’s capital, you must pass the first step of the evaluation process.  The evaluation occurs in two phases for the E8 Account and three phases for the E8 Track Account. Each phase has various objectives you will need to meet to qualify for funding as follows:  

Phase 1 Objectives for Regular Accounts

• 8% Profit Target – You must show an 8% closed profit in your trading account.
• 5% Daily Loss – You’re allowed a maximum running (floating) equity loss of 5% every 24 hours of Central European Time (CET). 
• 8% Maximum Loss – The maximum loss in account equity from the initial starting balance.
• Minimum Trading Days – You must trade at least 1 day during this period. A trading day counts when you close an open position during a 24-hour time period. 
• Maximum Trading Days – 30 days. This interval begins upon making your first trade. 

Phase 1 Objectives for an Extended Account    

• 8% Profit Target – You must show an 8% closed profit in your trading account.
• 5% Daily Loss – You’re allowed a maximum running (floating) equity loss within 24 hours of CET. 
• 10% Maximum Loss – The maximum loss in account equity from the initial starting balance.
• Minimum Trading Days – 5 days, and you must trade at least 1 day during this period. A trading day counts when you close an open position during a 24-hour time period. 
• Maximum Trading Days – 60 days. This interval starts when you open your first trade. 

Note that the Extended and Regular accounts have similar features. The main differences are that the Extended account permits a bigger Maximum Loss drawdown percentage, has 5 minimum trading days and offers the availability of the first withdrawal. The Extended account also has a longer timeframe of 60 maximum calendar days for Phase 1 and 120 maximum calendar days for Phase 2. 

The Phase 2 Objectives for passing the second step of the evaluation are similar to the Phase 1 Objectives. The main difference is in the Profit Target requirement, which drops from 8% to 5% for both the Regular and Extended account types. 

Once you have successfully completed both phases of the evaluation process, you can open one of three different types of E8 Funding accounts with capital amounts of $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 or $250,000. You can also fund the account in euro amounts of €20,000, €40,000, €80,000 or €210,000 or in pound sterling amounts of £18,000, £36,000, £72,000 or £180,000. 

The three available funded account types are discussed further in the sections below.    

• E8 Account

This account type can be a normal or extended account. It requires an upfront audition fee of $228 for a Phase 1 evaluation on a $25,000 account with a $2,000 profit target. If you pass the Phase 1 evaluation, the Phase 2 evaluation is free and has only a $1,250 profit target in a $25,000 account. If you qualify to open a funded account with E8 Funding, you will enjoy an 80/20 profit split in your favor with no Minimum or Maximum Trading Days. For the $25,000 account size, you will have a daily drawdown limit of $1,250 and an overall drawdown limit of $2,000, which is scalable to $3,500 at the funded stage. 

• E8 Track

In this account type, you will need to complete a three-phase evaluation instead of two. Most other features are identical to the E8 account with the exception of an additional phase with a $1,250 profit target and a 60-trading day maximum for the $25,000 account size.

• ELEV8 Account

Qualifying for the ELEV8 Account required an evaluation fee of $888 to potentially gain an initial funding deposit of $100,000. This account type requires a 2-phase evaluation with a 30-day Maximum Trading Day period and an $8,000 profit target in Phase 1 and a 60-day Maximum Trading Day period with a $5,000 profit target in Phase 2 to qualify. 

The forex pairs you can trade in an E8 Funding account include all of the major, minor and cross-currency pairs listed in the table below. Other tradable assets are also available and are listed in the table below. The typical dealing spread is also included in the table for each currency pair and asset. 

Table of the USD and cross currency pairs and other tradeable assets available for trading at E8 Funding with typical dealing spreads shown to the right of each asset. Source: E8 Funding. 

With respect to drawdowns, E8 Funding has an innovative scaling plan. Once you have made a profit in your account and your account is eligible, you can request a withdrawal. You will receive your full 80% profit split within 8 days and then after that every two weeks. 

Once you’ve received your profit cut, E8 then redeposits the funds you withdrew so you can continue trading with the balance you earned before splitting the profit. With each withdrawal, you also earn a 1% additional drawdown risk allowance in your account, which can rise up to a 14% total drawdown overall. 

To contact E8 Funding customer service, you can text directly with a representative from the firm using a convenient live chat feature located right on the website. Customer service hours are somewhat limited, however, especially given the typical 24-hour forex trading day. They run from Monday through Friday from 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST), as well as on weekends from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. CST. 

The company’s Texas-based U.S. office can also be contacted via the U.S. postal service and email to [email protected]. You can also get in touch with E8 Funding via the company’s social media presence on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.  

Once you open an E8 Funding account, you can set up two-factor authentication (2FA) that provides an added layer of security whenever you log in to your account. You can also change your MT4 or MT5 password whenever you wish.  

Since any trading account capital you will be using as a funded trader comes from E8 Funding, the company requires that you complete a thorough Know Your Client (KYC) check at Deel.com before disbursing your profits. Deel is available in 150 countries worldwide, although Deel is not available in certain countries where you will not be able to open an E8 Funding account. 

Keep in mind that without having clearance from Deel’s third-party biometric verification and meeting the requirements of the KYC process, you will not be able to withdraw your profits from your E8 Funding account. Accordingly, you should use your true identity, and it would make sense to ensure you can pass the KYC check at Deel before you pay E8 Funding any evaluation fees to begin a trading evaluation. 

All E8 Funding account types have different minimum investments that traders need to make upfront in order to be evaluated for funding. Also known as evaluation fees, these costs range from $138 to $988 depending on the account size you select and qualify for. 

You also need to be aware of the account’s profit targets and drawdown limits, which will depend on the initial funding amount you qualify for. The table below conveniently summarizes the account size and evaluation fee parameters so you can choose the best option for your unique situation. 

If you pay the evaluation fee and pass the trading evaluation, as well as the KYC verification process at Deel, then you should qualify for funding by E8. Once you are funded by the company, you can then begin trading any of the available forex currency pairs and other tradable assets listed in the table above in your live and well-capitalized E8 Funding account. 

While you are not responsible for sharing in trading losses when funded by E8, any profits you earn in your E8 Funding account are split at the firm’s advertised 80/20 ratio. You get to keep 80% of the gains you earn trading, while you only need to lay out the evaluation fee and qualify to get started.

E8 Funding’s innovative evaluation process that provides qualified retail traders with substantial amounts of trading capital is an excellent way to use your forex and CFD trading skills for your own benefit. Also, the 80% profit share cut E8 offers is impressive, as long as you are able to qualify for funding. 

In addition to providing traders with the appropriate funding for professional trading, the use of MT4 and MT5 platforms gives forex traders a familiar platform to operate on with its renowned Expert Advisor (EA) and automation capabilities. E8’s support of this platform makes for an excellent user experience as a retail prop trader. 

The E8 Funding website is also easy to navigate and provides all the necessary information to begin the process of becoming a successful prop trader with a quick 5-minute setup time. E8’s detailed evaluation process will also give you a realistic view of your acumen as a trader that can help you determine if trading is a good business for you to invest your time in.

E8 supports its stable of prop traders with sophisticated artificial intelligence and professional risk management techniques. This feature alone can make this prop trading firm well worth looking into as an educational experience. 

E8 Funding also provides an excellent mobile app that lets you see only your own account and its progress. You can even use the app to keep tabs on and compete with E8 Funding’s best-performing traders. 

E8 Funding vs. Competitors

E8 Funding compares favorably against competitors, such as My Forex Funds (MFF). While you can get a slightly higher but comparable profit split of 85/15 through MFF, versus 80/20 at E8, you can only get a funded account of up to $100,000 at MFF. 

Many other prop trader funding competitors ask for a 10% return on their trader evaluations, which makes E8 Funding’s 8% return criteria significantly easier to achieve. Other companies, like FTMO for example, might give you a higher profit split of up to 90%, but they also require a 10%-20% return and you must trade for at least 10 days to pass the company’s trading challenge hurdle. 

Other prop trader funding firms might offer lower profit shares of 50% to 75% with higher return requirements and more stringent trader evaluations, so E8 generally compares favorably to such firms. 

On the downside, E8 Funding does not presently offer social trading or trading platform flexibility that some of its competitors might support. For an overall comparison, check out the chart below to see how E8 Funding measures up to other competing prop trader funding firms. 

The high rating given E8 Funding makes sense because the firm offers a complete funding package for retail traders who pay an upfront evaluation fee and successfully complete their trading evaluation and KYC verification process at Deel.

E8 Funding’s support for the popular MetaTrader platforms also makes the trader evaluation process relatively straightforward for the many retail forex traders who already use MT4 or 5.  These excellent platforms are available in desktop, web and mobile formats to suit just about everyone, and they provide automation capabilities in addition to a comprehensive suite of useful technical analysis charts, indicators and signal generators.  

In addition, most traders will appreciate the promptness of profit payments that E8 Funding makes within 8 days and subsequently every two weeks. Another strong feature of E8 Funding is the maximum drawdown that can scale up to 14%. Overall, if you are a profitable retail forex or CFD trader looking to fund your trading business, then E8 Funding could be the right capital partner for your needs. 

Frequently Asked Questions

The post E8 Funding Review by Jay and Julie Hawk appeared first on Benzinga. Visit Benzinga to get more great content like this.