Static vs Trailing Drawdown: Which One Ends Accounts

"Drawdown" is the amount you can lose before an evaluation account closes. The word hides a big difference: whether that limit stays put or follows you.

Trailing drawdown

A trailing drawdown moves up with your highest balance. Suppose a $2,000 trailing drawdown on a $50,000 account:

• You start at $50,000; the floor is $48,000.
• You run up to $51,500; the floor moves to $49,500.
• You give back $1,500 and close at $50,000, exactly where you started.

You're flat, but your room to lose has shrunk from $2,000 to $500. "Intraday" trailing moves on open profit tick by tick; "end-of-day" trailing moves on closing balances. Both punish a common pattern: running a trade up and giving some back.

Static max loss

A static max loss never moves. On a OnePass Daily 1K account it's $200 below the starting balance, for the whole life of the account. In the same example, you'd finish flat with exactly the room you started with.

Daily loss limits

Many firms add a daily limit on top: lose more than a set amount in one day and the account fails, even if the overall drawdown is fine. OnePass has no daily loss limit.

Which is easier to pass?

With the same dollar amounts, a static limit is never stricter than a trailing one: the floor can only be in the same place or lower. What matters next is the target-to-max-loss ratio and the costs per trade. OnePass publishes both for every account:

OnePass accounts are simulated trading evaluations: you trade a simulated account on live market prices, and you're paid a reward if you pass under the rules. Past results of other traders don't predict yours, and most evaluations are not passed.